Problems with anger management

by Joshua Labrecque

Robert Kristiansen III was shaking with anger as his 12th grade classmate made fun of him. He had enough and threw a desk at him.  “Leave me alone!” he cried. 

Kristiansen is a 20 year old sophomore in college and at about 5’4 has a meduim build. He has been dealing with anger problems since he was young. This started in sixth grade when he ripped a water bottle in half because someone poked a hole in it. He has also punched someone in the face for getting him mad back in ninth grade for picking on him.

Kristiansen said, “I’ve been dealing with it for a while. I don’t mean to lash out but sometimes I can’t control it.” He said the reason he gets mad is because people make him mad easily. 

He started going to anger management counseling to help himself starting this year. He wanted to lengthen the time between the stimulus, which causes him to get mad, and his reaction to it. Kristiansen said since going to the classes he’s gotten a lot better at controlling it. He is very thankful for the counselor that’s helped him. 

One thing he does  to calm himself down is squeeze a foam star in his pocket. He carries it with him everywhere he goes just to be safe. 

Once, after a friend took a piece of food from his plate, Kristiansen bursted out shouting, “Leave my food alone!” and needed a full minute to calm down. His friend Nate replied, “Dude you have so much food. Let me have some.” Kristiansen said, “Stop before I get really mad at you.” He squeezed the foam star in his pocket as this was going on. 

He’s talked about his situation in public speaking for one of his assignments. Kristiansen is not afraid to let people know what’s going on with him. He said that he thinks people don’t make fun of him when they hear about it. 

He said that the message he want to send to people is to spread awareness for people with anger management problems. He wants people to be patient with friends or family that have this problem and help them if they need it. For those suffering from anger management issues, Kristiansen said, “Try to control it the best you can so you don’t cost yourself an important relationship.”

Journalism student Joshua Labrecque is doing well in this time of crisis. He hopes everyone is staying safe and being smart about what they do during these hard times.