Getting hurt: “Nothing makes me mad like when my sister punches me.”

Getting teased: “When people make fun
of me, it really hurts because I’m a human being too”; “I get mad when my best friend starts making fun of my crush.”

Failing or struggling with something: “I get angry when I don’t understand my homework”; “When I get angry, it’s mostly in math!”

Fighting about possessions: “When my brother takes my CD player and doesn’t even ask, it makes me really mad.”

Loss of control: “What makes me angry is when the show I want to watch is cancelled”; “I get mad when my mom forces me to go somewhere I hate.”

Being cheated or lied to: “It makes me mad when people are jerks and lie about something you didn’t do.”

Being told what to do: “Having to clean my room makes me angry.”

Being told “no”: “My parents sometimes dislike my friends, and I get angry that I can’t get together with them.”

Being bothered or annoyed: “My family makes me mad the most because sometimes they really bug me”; “It makes me angry when my sister bothers me and she doesn’t listen when I tell her to leave me alone.”

Sound familiar? Yup, it’s true. Most of the things that make us angry are things that make other people angry, too. So the question is, how do you deal?

Here’s one way that’s not so good: Keeping It In.