Why You Should Count to 10 When You're Angry

Thomas Jefferson gave the wise advice to "Count to 10 when you're angry and Count to 100 if you're very angry." This is a common practice with children, but researchers say it works for all of us if it's done properly. According to researchers, counting to 10 gives a part of the brain called the amygdla a chance to slow down and pass information on to the frontal lobe of the brain for reflection and response. The amygdla acts like a secretary with three basic decisions: Is this really good for me? Is this really bad for me? Do I need to send this to the Frontal Lobe of the brain for more thought and reflection. When you're angry, the amygdla loses the ability to perform this third decision and instead of sending things to the frontal lobe for more study it makes very impulsive snap decisions that usually get us into trouble. More perilous is the fact that amygdla always escalates problems turning mole hills into mountains. This decision making pathway is still developing in teens, which explains some of the impulsive things they tend to do and provides parents a conciliatory answer to the question, "What on earth were you thinking when you did that?" Doctors have three recommendations for dealing with anger. Count to 10 and breathe deeply to give your brain a chance to process the situation. Engage in a physical task such as walking briskly or exercising to increase blood flow. Finally, if you're having difficulty letting go of an angry thought, engage in a distracting activity to buy some time to engage your frontal lobe.