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More people
should have therapy for "problem anger” urges charity
March
26, 2008
by Staff Reporter
More
people should receive psychological therapy for "problem anger”,
a charity has urged.
The
Mental Health Foundation recommends that people referred to the
new Access to Psychological Therapies Programme, which ministers
say will treat 900,000 people with depression and anxiety over the
next three years, should also screen people for severe anger.
A
new report by the charity states there is "mounting evidence”
linking anger with heart disease, stroke, cancer and violence, including
murder.
The report, entitled Boiling Point, cites research claiming the
pressures of modern life in western societies is leading to people
being angrier.
The
charity, headed by research psychologist Dr Andrew McCulloch, says
it is not advocating that problem anger should be a classified as
a mental disorder, but that is associated with other mental health
problems.
"We
need greater acknowledgement of problem anger as a valid reason
for referral to health care and greater use of anger screening tools
as part of the assessment process,” reads Boiling Point.
Royal
College of GPs mental health spokesman Carolyn Chew-Graham told
the BBC there was very little treatment available for patients who
consult their GP with an anger problem.
"Patients
with anger management problems do not fit the criteria for referral
to a primary care mental health team which tend to focus on people
with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression,"
Dr Chew-Graham said.
Some mental health providers already provide anger management services.
Boiling
Point makes a total of 10 recommendations for policy makers.
Read for
yourself
Boiling
Point
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