Anger is about feeling one has been hurt/violated whereas frustration is about feeling one is personally not able to do or get something. Frustration, for me, is more immediate, is internal only; a two year old is frustrated when s/he can't make something work, can't get the third block to balance on the first two and gets angry and throws the block. S/he throws the block because s/he is hurt/violated that the blocks won't cooperate and do as s/he wishes; s/he wants something and it has been denied but the initial realization that all is not well and building understanding s/he may be denied is the frustration. The response to the frustration, was anger; hopefully one learns as one grows older to respond to one's anger caused by frustration by asking for help (or deciding to take a block-stacking course), rather than by throwing the block which doesn't solve the problem causing the frustration.
Only the person feeling frustrated knows they are frustrated and frustration doesn't have to result in anger. I can be disappointed, rather than angry; anger is an emotion to help us realize and resolve a problem, is a pathway to get it out. If I'm disappointed that I can't get the card house beyond the first level (check my avatar :-) I might just frown and get up and walk away. That doesn't solve my problem, I will have chosen to just "give up". An observer probably doesn't know I was frustrated and might not imagine I was disappointed; they could think I just got tired of playing with cards, that I was bored, perhaps. But if I take my hand and slap what I've built, make it fall down, they might realize that I was frustrated at not being able to build it higher and am angry now, but they also might think I am having fun; that I built the card house for the purpose of destroying it and the unholy "joy" that can come from wrecking something sometimes. That's why it's important to know ourselves and communicate things clearly to others around us. If I smash the card house and declare, "I'm angry that I can't build it higher" the anger's clear but not necessarily the frustration. I may be a practiced card house builder and know that I can only build to three levels so don't get frustrated when level four collapses, I just get bored with trying and maybe rail at the laws of physics or my inabilities that make me feel certain that I can only build three levels.
You, hearing about my anger, are now in a position to help me, literally or by making me feel better or helping me understand further about myself and the limits I may have placed on myself unwittingly (by only considering myself). You could say; "Hey, I can build to four levels, would you like me to show you how?" or "Gee, that's too bad, I think you do well getting to three levels, I can only do two" or, "You're angry at yourself? That's not very helpful, why don't you join the card house builder's club?' or "Does that frustrate you that you don't feel you can build higher? Do you feel like you should be able to? How come?"
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"Never give a sword to a man who can't dance." ~Confucius
Last edited by Perna; Oct 13, 2010 at 10:36 AM.
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