Talking to patients about psychological issues is often just as important as treating them for physical impairments. In this short discussion, I want to share a few thoughts on why physiotherapist and students should learn more about anger. We may encounter it many times from those who seek physiotherapists. Now, we already know that psychologists treat people with these kinds of problems, but that doesn’t mean that physiotherapists should not know how to handle situations where they encounter angry people. Let me first start of by saying that anger by most is looked at as a negative emotion, and it seems as if the modern society that we live in wants anger to disappear from the world. This however, is an impossible thing to do, and the anger of each individual needs to be brought to light and looked at. There are many reasons as of why people get angry, usually it is anger directed towards other people, anger directed towards objects, maybe society as a whole, anger towards oneself that comes with frustration etc. (Svartdal, F (2016, 6. Des. From Store norske leksikon https://snl.no/aggresjon) Uncontrollable anger directed towards other people, or anger used to destroy things is seen as wrong, so that is why patients and people as a whole, who struggle with this, need different outlets that are controllable.
Anger can be a very useful emotion. It can even be a positive emotion to have, if you just learn how to channel it into something productive. Anger is said to be a survival mechanism. Some say It was created by evolution so that we could fight back or to take back resources that has been taken away from us. This way of looking at anger is not completely supported by modern science unfortunately. Anger is energy, and this energy can be directed towards getting things done and working. Many people do not realize this, because many let their anger express itself uncontrollably, or they try to shut down their anger by using their bodies in order to hold back and depress the emotion. This can manifest as raised shoulders, grinding your teeth or clutching your fists and other types of “muscular holding”. Physiotherapists knows that anger held back over long periods of time, can result in all kinds of muscular tension and imbalances in the body. Instead of saying that anger is wrong and to tell people to get rid of it, rather, tell people how to use their anger in order to perform at something. Many people use lifting weights and martial arts as an outlet for their anger, others do sports like boxing and some focus on their work. Anger management therapy is available to some. The bottom line is, people who are angry needs an outlet and it needs to be redirected towards something that does not cause harm, but rather do a lot of good for oneself and others. Could physiotherapists provide a controllable outlet for patients with anger and motivate them to find more joy in physical activities? During my time in school, I do not think I have heard anyone talk about this, so I am writing about it now.
I chose a pot of boiling water as a metaphor for anger. You can look at anger as an energy that drains fast if you express it uncontrollably. Boiling water evaporates, and depending on how much water there is, the pot will sooner or later be empty. The water could symbolize the amount of energy you have available.
Anger is like a double-edged sword, so choose wisely where you want to swing it.
The video in the link below describes the science and physiology of anger:
2 thoughts on “Bjøring H. Erlend. Anger in patients – Where do physiotherapists fit in?”
Hi there Erlend Bjoring
Thank you very much for your insightful piece on why physiotherapists should be knowledgeable about anger with regards to working with patients.
Content:
From reading your point of view on anger, I think the content is appropriate and I fully agree with what you have discussed. The introduction to your assignment was clear and well thought out, as your opening statement reflects upon what content would proceed. Your statement is accurate and I strongly believe that if patients do not have the correct mind set, patient treatment would pose as a challenge, not only from a physiotherapists point of view but from a holistic health approach. It has made me aware that psychological issues such as anger need to be noted when working with patients as it may impact the treatment.
I commend you for emphasizing that it is important for physiotherapists to know how to deal patient anger and suggesting that anger should be brought to the “light”. It is a logical concept and many people find it difficult to grasp. Patients are often reluctant to confront their anger, thus leading to stressful situations and as you mentioned, may be the cause of various types of muscle tension. Your perception about anger as a positive emotion made me think in a different way. I do agree that releasing your anger through sporting activities is an excellent idea, but also think that it is important to speak to someone if you are struggling with anger on a daily basis.
Your photo and text support one another and are clearly related. The pot of boiling water as a metaphor, evidently illustrates anger. It is a brilliant example because it portrays anger as an element. I do however think that you could consider carrying your metaphor from the beginning of the writing piece, instead of only explaining it at the very end. Explaining your content in conjunction with your metaphor would enhance your writing.
Argument:
Claims that you have mentioned are portrayed in an appropriate manner. It is easy to read your writing piece and it correlates with the topic.
To answer your question from your text “if physiotherapists can provide a controllable environment outlet for patients with anger?” I would say yes, because when people part-take in various activities such an exercise programmes that a physiotherapists prescribes, they can channel their anger through doing those exercises. Exercising helps to relieve stress thus in turn cause patients’ to be less angry and would also have a beneficial effect on muscle tension, as this would decrease.
I do not disagree with anything from your piece, overall your idea was open minded and I would say that you chose a good topic to speak about, as many people would not think that anger plays a role in physiotherapy. It gives readers a better understanding that there are many aspects such as anger that need to be taken into consideration when it comes to working with patients. Overall, I think that the piece was a good effort and I enjoyed reading it.
Aspects you might like to add:
You may want to consider writing on how the Norwegian government/ health system incorporates psychological issues such as anger into its teaching at universities.
Writing and references: The text is easy to read; however, I do suggest breaking it up into more paragraphs. The wording is fairly grammatically correct, as there are a few errors here and there, which you can always correct for example in line three “physiotherapists” should be “physiotherapy”. I could suggest Grammarly, which is an online grammar checker, this tool is tremendously helpful as it corrects your grammar whilst writing assignments and is a great help to me, especially now at university when we do a lot of academic writing. I completely understand if there are mistakes because English may not be your first language.
References support your topic and clearly explains what anger is and how anger can be aimed at specific aspects. I do suggest that you could include more in-text references, as this will help students research the topic and they can then refer back to in-text reference within the writing piece.
Overall, I think that your writing piece was good and I enjoyed reading it, it expanded knowledge on how as a physiotherapist should consider different aspects when it come to working with patients in a clinical setting.
Thank you and best wishes for your studies ahead.
Kind Regards
Kayla Gilbert
Hi Kayla. Thank you for your feedback and suggestions.