Growing up I went through 12 surgeries for cleft lip and palate. I was also molested by a pedophile. At college I was raped. Needless to say I was one hell of an angry person. I threw things when I was angry, and self injured. One day I got this bright idea and here's what that was.

I bought a 3 ft high helium balloon and a sharpie along with other balloons that weren't helium. On the 3 ft balloon I wrote every reason I was angry, and why I was justified in my anger. On the smaller non-helium balloons I targeted specific individuals. I.E. why I was angry at the pedophile, the rapist, my mom etc. I tied all the smaller balloons to the helium balloon and then went outside and let them go and watched them float away for God to deal with. The release was immense. Since that day I have not had an angry outburst or otherwise misdirected my anger at anybody. I've done the same thing with suicidal thoughts and it actually kept me from attempting suicide. I just watched in peace as my suicidal thoughts floated away. Very powerful.

I hope this helps somebody like it helped me. Thanks for listening.

Love and Hugs,
Tara

[lynn P.]

I'm so happy this worked so well for you and I think it's a great idea. Thank you for sharing this helpful tip.

[Perna]

How creative! Yes, thanks for the tip.

[Blondie50]

Great Idea!! I used to use a "God Box". I had an old cigar box. Every time something came along in my life that felt too large to handle I would write it down on a small piece of paper, fold it up, and put it in my God box. Once I noticed I wasn't putting as much into the box I opened it up and read all of the things that had happened and worked out. It was a great way for me to symbolically hand it over to God. I haven't had a God box for years, however after recent events in my life am seriously considering starting another one. Thanks for the reminder that we can let go My anxiety attacks of late could use this self-help method again ... sleep would be a nicety in my life :-/

[alone_i_breath]

i like this idea ..i love it ...but what attracks me the most is the title "releasing my anger"... because every body gets angry , it not so special, everybody can pick something they dont like & hang everything on it & come and say I AM ANGRYYY...

but not every body owns an angry impuls...not all of use have this ple of angerment & cant function normaly because of it ....some anger feeling can be released with a scream or you can punch a mirror, & u`ll be okay in less than a moment ...

what youre taking about my friend is something diffrent..you have this anger that ben collected years ago ..feelings of continuos helplesness & disappointment for along time ...i would like to call it "rage" because we cant talk about it to others, cus` they will stop lestining & say that this is nigative thinking , we cant just ignor it ..because its taking over everything els in our souls ...so all we can do is to release it ...

i liked the way u released ur anger & stopped ur self from attempting to hurt ur self ..
i wish i can be strong like this ..all i ever do is hurt others so i can feel that im not the only one with pain...i wish i can learn how to get the best of my anti-social feelings .... & i would like to know more way to release my anger maybe ill try one ...

[CupcakeQueen]

Originally Posted by tara_922

Growing up I went through 12 surgeries for cleft lip and palate. I was also molested by a pedophile. At college I was raped. Needless to say I was one hell of an angry person. I threw things when I was angry, and self injured. One day I got this bright idea and here's what that was.

I bought a 3 ft high helium balloon and a sharpie along with other balloons that weren't helium. On the 3 ft balloon I wrote every reason I was angry, and why I was justified in my anger. On the smaller non-helium balloons I targeted specific individuals. I.E. why I was angry at the pedophile, the rapist, my mom etc. I tied all the smaller balloons to the helium balloon and then went outside and let them go and watched them float away for God to deal with. The release was immense. Since that day I have not had an angry outburst or otherwise misdirected my anger at anybody. I've done the same thing with suicidal thoughts and it actually kept me from attempting suicide. I just watched in peace as my suicidal thoughts floated away. Very powerful.

I hope this helps somebody like it helped me. Thanks for listening.

Love and Hugs,
Tara

O.O Wow. You've been through a lot. I feel awful that those things happened to you. You had every right to be pissed. I would be, too.

I'm glad you found a way to get better on your own. That's very inspiring. I have been sexually abused twice. I just kind of never really had much problem after. I mean, the first time, I was 8. I sat in my room & didn't talk at all for a few days. My mom asked me what was wrong, so I told her, & she brought my dad to go pound on my "boyfriend's" door. He was a year older than me & TRIED to rape me in front of all our friends at the park by our building. (He lived down the hall with his parents. Also, all our friends were guys, & they were cheering him on, except his best friend. His best friend kept switching between trying to help me & trying to help him.) Apparently, his parents were having sex on the couch in front of him when my parents went to talk to them about what had happened, & he had an older sister who was molested by the father all the time. After my parents comforted me, I was fine. I don't remember having any problems stemming from it.

The second time, a guy tried to take advantage of me while I was drunk, but my current boyfriend helped me a lot in dealing with that. I was fine within a week. There were a few times in high school where I had to stop during sex because I remembered the first incident & how it felt, how scared I was, but that hasn't happened in years. I never really had to "release" those things, & I'm lucky enough that I've never had to have surgery. Hospitals make me very uncomfortable.

However, I have had major outbursts of anger over the smallest things since I was 10. I have tried anti-depressants, counting to ten, taking deep breaths, bottling it up, & nothing seems to help. I have ridiculously intense mood swings out of nowhere for no reason, & it's only in the comfort of my own home when we don't have any company over. I have had roommates both here & at my mom's, & I still get the outbursts, but when I lived with my dad, I never so much as raised my voice. I was perfectly "normal" the few times I lived with him for a few months at a time. I live with my boyfriend now, & I thought the problem was my mom because she has a lot of anger herself, but my boyfriend is the most laid-back person I've ever met, & I still get like this. :/ I have no idea what's wrong with me, but I'm afraid to go to a doctor because a councellor messed up my family BIG TIME when I was 12. I wasn't allowed to see or speak to my brother for a few years. I'm getting closer to being ready to see a doctor about it. Do you have any other suggestions for some anger management. I don't know why I'm so angry/sad. I have no reason to be. I just wish I WASN'T.