"For women, anxiety is our socially sanctioned feeling. The VA group that I ran was wisely entitled by my supervisor at the time-the late, great Dolly Sadow, Ph.D.-"Using Anger Constructively." She knew that anger held wisdom to guide our behavior and energize us into action. For chronically anxious women, masked anger becomes not only confusing but paralyzing. Women lose a connection to what they need, and their distress has nowhere to go but inward."
Women experience higher rates of anxiety than men, but chronic baseline anxiety can reflect suppressed anger rather than only biological differences. Social norms often allow men to express anger while women are assigned anxiety as a socially sanctioned outlet for distress. When anger is masked, it can become confusing and paralyzing, leaving needs disconnected and distress directed inward. Anger and its acceptability can vary by gender and by racial-ethnic cultural norms, affecting how emotions are expressed and interpreted. Identifying anger beneath anxiety can provide guidance, energize action, and support new boundaries and significant life changes.
Read at Psychology Today
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