The 3 Cues of Approaching Anger

People who have difficulty with anger often claim that it comes without warning and happens in a "split second". This is rarely the case. An anger episode always has warning signs, which may include the following:

Cognitive (thinking) Cues
- These cues are thoughts that may lead to anger, not actual angry thoughts. They may include thoughts of frustration or subtle negative evaluation of a situation (e.g., becoming frustrated in traffic on the way to work or home and arriving ready to experience anger).
Physiological Cues
- Early physical reactions are often very good indicators that an angry outburst is about to happen. Increased heart rate, muscle tension (particularly facial muscles) and short, shallow breathing can all signal approaching anger. Different individuals may also show different early reactions.
Behavioural Cues
- These cues include early warning signs rather than behaviour that occurs during anger. Early behavioural cues may include being fidgety, tapping with the fingers, pacing and other individually specific signs (e.g., scratching the head, cracking fingers...etc).

The 3 Cues of Approaching Anger

Cognitive (thinking) Cues
- These cues are thoughts that may lead to anger, not actual angry thoughts. They may include thoughts of frustration or subtle negative evaluation of a situation (e.g., becoming frustrated in traffic on the way to work or home and arriving ready to experience anger).

Behavioural Cues
- These cues include early warning signs rather than behaviour that occurs during anger. Early behavioural cues may include being fidgety, tapping with the fingers, pacing and other individually specific signs (e.g., scratching the head, cracking fingers...etc).

The 3 Cues of Approaching Anger

Cognitive (thinking) Cues - These cues are thoughts that may lead to anger, not actual angry thoughts. They may include thoughts of frustration or subtle negative evaluation of a situation (e.g., becoming frustrated in traffic on the way to work or home and arriving ready to experience anger).

Behavioural Cues- These cues include early warning signs rather than behaviour that occurs during anger. Early behavioural cues may include being fidgety, tapping with the fingers, pacing and other individually specific signs (e.g., scratching the head, cracking fingers...etc).

Cognitive (thinking) Cues
- These cues are thoughts that may lead to anger, not actual angry thoughts. They may include thoughts of frustration or subtle negative evaluation of a situation (e.g., becoming frustrated in traffic on the way to work or home and arriving ready to experience anger).

Behavioural Cues
- These cues include early warning signs rather than behaviour that occurs during anger. Early behavioural cues may include being fidgety, tapping with the fingers, pacing and other individually specific signs (e.g., scratching the head, cracking fingers...etc).