section_path: Coping strategies/Suppression
section_name: Suppression
paragraph_text: Suppression
  
  Modern psychologists point out that suppression of anger may have harmful effects. The suppressed anger may find another outlet, such as a physical symptom, or become more extreme. John W. Fiero cites Los Angeles riots of 1992 as an example of sudden, explosive release of suppressed anger. The anger was then displaced as violence against those who had nothing to do with the matter. There is also the case of Francine Hughes, who suffered 13 years of domestic abuse. Her suppressed anger drove her to kill her abuser husband. It is claimed that a majority of female victims of domestic violence who suppress their aggressive feelings are unable to recognize, experience, and process negative emotion and this has a destabilising influence on their perception of agency in their relationships. Another example of widespread deflection of anger from its actual cause toward scapegoating, Fiero says, was the blaming of Jews for the economic ills of Germany by the Nazis.
  
  Some psychologists criticized the catharsis theory of aggression, which suggests that releasing pent-up anger reduces aggression. On the other hand, there are experts who maintain that suppression does not eliminate anger since it merely forbids the expression of anger and this is also the case for repression, which merely hides anger from awareness. There are also studies that link suppressed anger and medical conditions such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, and cancer. Suppressed or repressed anger is found to cause irritable bowel syndrome, eating disorders, and depression among women. Suppression is also referred to as a form of "self-silencing", which is described as a cognitive activity wherein an individual monitors the self and eliminate thoughts and feelings that are perceived to be dangerous to relationships. Anger suppression is also associated with higher rates of suicide.