Anger Management and Slayer

This is a bit personal but I believe I have no other avenue to explore this issue. In a nutshell I was attending an anger management group before going solo with a therapist (I won't go into detail here about why, basic info really). I like the therapy but recently she told me something that didn't sit right. When asked what I like to do in my spare time, I responded with music, and eventually she found out that my preference is metal. Now, I had to be honest with her. Thrash is my favorite music, and for me really violent, fast, aggressive metal is where it's at. She had a problem with this. Apparently this kind of music isn't recommended for someone dealing with anger...so say various studies. It's the same concept of taking a hammer to a wood pallet to deal with stress--contrary to popular belief, this sort of activity does not decrease one's "store" of aggression, but merely reinforces and adds to it. This sounds roughly old-fashioned, but I'm quite serious about keeping my anger at bay. So I guess I have to give up my Slayer...?

TL; DR: therapist told angry me no more angry music; what do you guys think.

I'd call bullsh*t and find a new therapist. But that's just me.

I say get another therapist.

If you have something that helps you in those situations and it isn't hurting you, then I say keep it up.

I don't really think musical tastes indicate anything about personality traits... I listen to Burzum, but I don't burn churches down. Extreme example, but I think the analogy works.

Obvious BS. *facewall* I could write a book on this sort of thing but my brain would obliterate itself by the time I realized none of those kinds of people would have the faculties to comprehend it.

I'll shamelessly admit I was hoping to hear all this lol.

She's really a great therapist, and strangely enough this isn't coming from just her, but the entire counseling community. I've got a buddy who works as a psychiatrist at Corcoran State Prison who tells me it's a textbook detail. He rides the fence on the whole issue, but I guess this theory is culled from multiple studies yada yada. Point being, if I find a new therapist then I might get told the same thing.

As for something that I do in those situations that might help...well, I listen to Slayer

The same methods don't work for everybody. The main part of my life when I listened to thrash was when I had uncontrollable anger issues, I found listening to violent music to be a cathartic release and kept my rage issues under control. It worked for me.

There is also a big difference between using thrash as a tool for controlled anger release vs. playing thrash for inherently violent offenders at a prison. If you played Slayer for a guy in jail for continually beating his wife and kids then I could see how it could fuel his aggression instead of providing a release from it.

I dunno, it might be worth a shot for a time. Maybe not for the same reasons that she is saying though. Sometimes a fast in a particular area of life can do wonders in adding perspective. Picking something that means a great deal to you and willfully abstaining for a little while might reveal some personal truths about yourself that you may have missed/avoided otherwise. And/or it would more or less prove her theory right/wrong and further direct you to the root cause of the anger.

The best part would be throwing it in her face if her theory is total bs. That would be fun.

The main thing that would quell some of my anger is hopeless idiots ceasing to be in my face every day of my life. I know though in the "real world" everything bad that happens is always absolutely definitely because of you and you alone, unless you do something good, THEN others will take credit.

I'm listening to Slayer right now. In your FACE, therapist lady.

IN YOUR FAAAAACEEEEE IN YOUR FACE IN YOUR FAAACEEEE






gently of course, very gently in your face, not angrily








but still IN YOUR FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

If it weren't for beer, tobacco & Heavy Metal there would be bodies stacked up in my yard like cord wood. I mostly listen to stoner & doom nowdays, but I enjoy some Slayer when I need to get somewhere in a hurry!

Quote :

If it weren't for beer, tobacco & Heavy Metal there would be bodies stacked up in my yard like cord wood.

Wut dis guy sez, right here... minus the tobacco (gave that up a couple of months ago).

Well one thing I told her was that metal isn't my only go-to for anger issues. Sometimes it's jazz. Sometimes it's silence. Sometimes it's soft rock. Steely Dan's Aja does wonders. But the bigger point here is that it all has the same effect as metal.

Another idea that's worked for me is to listen to an overly-exaggerated form of 'hyperanger' music, such as Slipknot or Five Finger Death Punch. Two minutes in and I realize how much of a fool I was in the first place. Three minutes in and I laugh hysterically and apologize to anyone I've hurt. My favorite is that awful Linkin Park song SHUT UP WHEN I'M TALKIN' TO YOU etc. I shut it off halfway and think, "God, but I'm an idiot."

Music is mental therapy, period. Funny thing about Slayer, and a lot of thrash, is I don't even see them as all that angry. These base components like fast drums or a scream or a growl or a tritone or whatever it is doesn't instantly equal angry, frantic is much different.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

Music is mental therapy, period. Funny thing about Slayer, and a lot of thrash, is I don't even see them as all that angry. These base components like fast drums or a scream or a growl or a tritone or whatever it is doesn't instantly equal angry, frantic is much different.

Good point.

Judging from your other post in the 'Rock of Ages' thread, I'd suggest avoiding musicals, not Slayer.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Judging from your other post in the 'Rock of Ages' thread, I'd suggest avoiding musicals, not Slayer.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Judging from your other post in the 'Rock of Ages' thread, I'd suggest avoiding musicals, not Slayer.

f*ckin' lol :rofl:. Remember, though...it's not musicals, it's just Rock of Ages...

dude, I want some chicken dinner right NOW.

Is your therapist a psychiatrist or a psychologist?

Psychiatrist.

F*ck chicken dinner! I love, I love, I love, I love Kraft dinner!!!

corplhicks wrote:

Psychiatrist.

Okay. Just wondering. I think Psychologists are frauds.

Frankly, if Slayer makes you feel better, keep listening to them.

corplhicks wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Judging from your other post in the 'Rock of Ages' thread, I'd suggest avoiding musicals, not Slayer.

f*ckin' lol :rofl:. Remember, though...it's not musicals, it's just Rock of Ages...

Just to be on the safe side, I'd avoid ALL musicals in general.

I'm no doctor, but I like to play one on teh interwebs.

Witchfinder wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Psychiatrist.

Okay. Just wondering. I think Psychologists are frauds.

Frankly, if Slayer makes you feel better, keep listening to them.

Yeah I made sure to pay the extra for someone authentic. Unfortunately authenticity does not equal an open mind, I guess.