Frequent and intense anger can lead to a variety of social and physical problems.  Individuals who engage in high levels of anger are more likely to have trouble maintaining social relationships (e.g., marital conflict, parent-child conflicts, and problems with colleagues at work) and it can lead to hypertension and coronary heart disease.  

Expressing anger can have important value in our society.  However, long-term anger is typically problematic leading to significant mental health concerns.  Psychological treatments such as assertiveness training, barbing, and other cognitive-behavioral techniques have been shown to be effective in reducing anger responses.  The primary goal of these effective techniques is to teach the client how to use alternative expressions to indicate frustration and upset instead of verbal and physical anger.