Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Angry? You bet.
Here's a great post from RA Warrior. If you're a warrior, you'll be reassured that your anger is normal and that the studies suggesting an RA personality are bunk. If you're a friend or family member, perhaps you'll understand a little how autoimmune arthritis and the resulting fall-out in our lives can stir up emotions that you aren't used to seeing in the person you love.
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Anger is most assuredly one of the emotions that RA brings out in those who have it. Oddly enough, I'm not one of them. I get frustrated, but for me, anger is one of those emotions that simply doesn't give enough bang for the buck. I can be angry, but it doesn't accomplish much except to have a negative effect on the people around me. And it certianly doesn't lessen my pain or make the rheuma go away.
ReplyDeleteThe way I see it, I can be angry about having rheuma, or I can acknowledge it, make the changes necessary to accomodate it, and move on. It's doing the latter that keeps me going each day. Anger would only eat me up from the inside out and alienate those I need the most -- it's not any more their fault than it is mine that I have RA.
My frustration becomes more pointed when I read things like "people with RA have lower pain thresholds and internalize their anger, which stresses them and makes their pain seem worse." Gah. Wonder what *their* pain threshold is? Wimp or Hercules? (shakes her head) At any rate, if I get angry, or too frustrated, believe me I let it out. The air has been known to turn blue around me. It helps to vent. But I don't turn it against others. There's simply no point.
-Wren
Blue air. Oh yeah! That's one of my specialties. Learned it from my papa. And it does help, doesn't it? Like shooting in the air--directs the anger somewhere non-destructive.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought. Certainly stewing in anger isn't helpful, but I have found anger to be a helpful cue that there's something I need to deal with. Sometimes it's as simple as needing more rest or some alone time. Sometimes it's more significant like setting a boundary with someone. So I do get angry, but I'm trying to respond to it as signal that something needs tending.
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