Steven Stosny defines, in his book “Treating Attachment Abuse” (1995), a therapeutic model for patients with a history of physical and emotional abuse in close relationships and provides a chemical explanation of how anger acts as a sort of “psychological rescue.” One of the hormones that the brain secretes during anger is norepinephrine, experienced by the body as an analgesic.

In fact, if a person experiences physical or psychological pain (or the threat of such a pain), the internal activation of the anger response will precipitate the release of a chemically formulated chemical for pain relief. Therefore, anger is like a two-edged sword: terribly detrimental to relationships, yet a mechanism of the body to allow many vulnerable people to survive emotionally in the midst of pain.

Anger is one of the visible behaviors of children with a history of abuse and abandonment. That is why, during the last therapeutic intervention, we specifically addressed self-control exercises (such as abdominal breathing) and children were also encouraged to express their anger through drawings expressing their feelings.