The best way to relax, according to scientists

BarcelonaWe've all heard it before: a poison rises in your gut, your pulse quickens, your jaw tightens, and it feels as if you're about to explode like a pressure cooker. Since time immemorial, humans have strived to find ways—more or less successful—to channel anger: counting to ten before speaking, punching a pillow, yelling into the wind (or at the unfortunate person in front of us)... But, according to a study published in the journal Nature, the solution could be found in a practice as simple as it is ancient: write the thought that has angered us on a piece of paper, tear it up and throw it away.

"We expected that our method would suppress anger to some extent," says Japanese psychologist and study co-author Nobuyuki Kawai, "but we were surprised to find that anger was almost completely eliminated." The research, co-authored by Yuta Kanaya and Nobuyuki Kawai, builds on research linking the written word to anger reduction, but also on how interacting with a physical object can help us control our mood.

"This system is good because many people express these emotions at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and with the wrong intensity," psychologist Assumpció Salat tells ARA. "The results confirm what is said about many psychological schools of thought: when we accumulate or generate negative or less harmonious emotions, the important thing is that we don't repress them."

The observation is based on a Japanese tradition called hakidashisara, originating from the Hiyoshi shrine in Kiyosu City. During this celebration, people break small discs representing things that anger them. But we don't have to go that far to find rituals in which frustration or anger is symbolically transferred to an object, only to destroy it later. According to Salat, "all cultures have rituals to heal emotions, guilt, and even childhood trauma." Burning letters from an ex-partner or getting rid of a loved one's belongings after their death are examples of what some psychologists call "delayed magical contagion." The way we interact with these objects impacts our mood, and even the relationship we establish with this emotional bond. In this case, getting rid of the piece of paper onto which we projected our anger could also make the original emotion disappear.

Useful for everyday life

The experiment worked like this: the researchers asked a group of fifty students to write their opinions on a relevant social issue, such as whether smoking should be allowed in public spaces. Fake evaluators then deliberately harshly assessed their essays, including unpleasant comments such as, "I can't believe an educated person could think like that. I hope you learn something in college."

Next, they asked the students who felt hurt by criticism to write down their negative thoughts on a piece of paper. One group kept it, while the second was asked to tear it up and throw it away. This reduced the feeling of anger slightly. They concluded that symbolic elimination "plays a fundamental role" in reducing anger.

A natural feeling

In any case, Salat maintains that "anger is a very natural, human emotion, and we should never reject it." This feeling, which "comes from the most primitive brain," can be useful: it allows us to defend ourselves when we're in danger, overcome difficult situations, and helps us set limits. The problem arises when this feeling persists long-term, because it can end up being destructive, both toward others and toward ourselves. In fact, several studies confirm that a prolonged state of heightened anger can disrupt our ability to make decisions, aggravate preexisting cardiovascular or digestive problems, and even lead to anxiety disorders or depression.

That's why "it's healthy to be able to express, remove, or clean them up," says Salat. In this sense, another advantage of the piece-of-paper technique is verbalizing what angers us, since putting it into words implies taking "a step toward recognizing and rationalizing" the emotion. For Salat, this can be the beginning of a process of self-knowledge—preferably with a psychological orientation—during which we can learn to minimize or even eliminate these emotions.