Anger Today I’ve watched a video from TedTalks where an anger researcher Ryan Martin was talking about why people get mad and why it’s healthy. All minor and global reasons for anger considered, they all have one thing in common: people say they get angry because they are provoked. Provocations are mainly unpleasant situations, or situations that feel unfair, that leave us to feel powerless or where our goals are blocked. However, what matters is our pre-anger state or in other words what we are doing or feeling in a situation where we get provoked as well as how we interpret a provocation. Interpretation or appraisal has 2 stages: primary appraisal it’s when we evaluate the event itself and the secondary appraisal where we decide what the event means in the context of our lives. In its turn, the secondary appraisal is greatly influenced by irrational beliefs or cognitive distortions. People who suffer from chronic anger tend to catastrophize the situation, put the blame where it doesn't belong, overgeneralize, put their needs ahead of the needs of others, and use inflammatory labeling. The speaker said that anger is an evolutionary advantage that helped our ancestors to survive, so it can’t be considered as something bad and unhealthy. Instead, anger can be used as a motivator as it makes us alert to injustice and energizes us to confront it. I liked the speaker’s idea that anger can be and should be channeled into something more positive to fight rampant injustice and atrocities and to make the world a better place. As for me, being a placid person I don’t often get mad. Instead, I tend to be easily irritated and frustrated. If I have a freakout, recommendations to calm down and let it go never work for me. I need to talk the problem out. However, I admit that if a person is enraged venting is not the best solution. In this case, it’s better to suppress your anger and get away as soon as possible to stay alone and to analyze what drove you mad.