Anger Management Assessment

Anger Management Assessment and Evaluation

If you need an anger management assessment, this is not something you can do at home. A professional assessment needs a clinical interview. A healthcare provider will interview you in person (or by phone). Only then might you discover your diagnosis or potential causes of the anger.

Ideally you should find a psychiatrist who will make the assessment, diagnosis, and develop a treatment plan. After you are assessed, they will recommend the best course of treatment or trained professionals for assistance.
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Anger Management Classes Online

There are plenty of people giving out anger management classes online, and to hook new students they offer free assessments. You can take these free tests, but there is often something they are trying to get you to purchase afterwards.  These self-assessment tools are often not helpful.

The kind of questions you’ll get from these tests are situational questions. A situation is first presented: someone accidentally spilled their drink on you, children are noisy, traffic is holding you up, and so on. 

You are asked “How do you feel?”, or what would be your typical reaction to that situation. You could say you don’t feel angry in the least, you’re a little annoyed, you feel angry, you feel very angry or you feel furious. 

How would you react? Are you still able to be polite, would you ask for help, or will you take action on your own? Would your action be physical or would you be satisfied with a snide remark. 

Finally, you’ll have to guess how long this incident will linger in your thoughts. Will you forget immediately, or keep thinking about it for hours afterwards? Will it bother you for more than a day? 

Assessment for Self Improvement

If you feel you get angry too often and it has become a problem that disrupts your life, you should consider an evaluation with a psychiatrist that has spent years of training for this type of problem.

Anger issues can fall under impulse control disorders that are difficult to manage on your own.   Other common causes can include anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and depression.

If you have other issues aside from anger management, especially alcohol or substance abuse, it is a mountain of a burden to handle on your own. You will want to start building a treatment team to help manage your symptoms synergistically.  This may include a psychiatrist, primary care doctor, counselor, and support groups.  It is important to find support, even if it’s just help from an online support group.  Online support groups are becoming more common since Covid-19 began. 

Assessment for Someone You Know

If you suspect someone you know has anger issues, you should be supportive by helping them establish care by trained medical professionals.

If it happens only once, it could be an isolated incident. Frequent outbursts should prompt an assessment.  Escalating substance use, alcohol, isolating, and hitting things are definite red flags.  Observe for isolation and self-harm, which is self-violence.  Studies show that women are more likely to self-harm and become verbally aggressive when compared to men.  Men are more likely to be physically aggressive and cause harm to others.  All types of aggression are a concern and a form of violence. 
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If you believe yourself to be in danger, take care of your safety first.  It does not matter if the other person has a mental illness or not, your safety is the primary goal.  Then you can begin planning and looking for ideal mental health physicians in your area.