Dr's Casebook column with Dr Keith Souter: Use your five senses to control your temper

It is easy to then end up doomscrolling, spending too much time scrolling through negative news. Anger can be the result and some people find controlling their temper very difficult.

It is not pleasant seeing someone lose their temper. People who are always angry and confrontational may not be doing their health much good. Indeed, the scientific evidence is highly indicative that by frequently losing their cool, losing their temper and by being hostile, they definitely are putting their health at risk.

Hostility means more than just being angry and aggressive, although that tends to be a part of the overall picture. The essence of it is a personality that is characterised by cynicism, suspicion, resentfulness and impatience with others. It is something that can be measured using a test called the Cook-Medley Hostility scale.

One study over a four-year period looked at men with known coronary heart disease and found that those with high hostility scores were more than twice as likely as those with low scores to become ill from, or be hospitalised due to their heart problems. Interestingly, it seems that people with high hostility scores are less likely to modify their behaviour or curb their habits, or take advice. This seems to be a function of their underlying suspiciousness and inability to trust others.

It seems that anger has an immediate effect on blood pressure, via the release of stress hormones. It is thought that long term hostility may also be involved in producing persistently raised blood pressure.

Recognising your anger as your temper rises is the main thing. Try to stop and not react before the heat of the moment makes you say or do something you will regret. Try to consider what the hostility is doing to you.

There is a simple exercise that can help. It is called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. This is a sensory-based mindfulness grounding strategy that can calm the nervous system, reduce immediate stress, and prevent your temper from rising by anchoring you in the present moment. It works by distracting the brain from intense, irrational emotions and shifting focus to the physical environment by using the five senses. Go backwards from 5 to 1, like this.

5 - Name five things you can see around you, such as a chair, a picture, a person.

4 – Name four things you can feel or touch, such as your feet on the floor, the texture of a cushion, your clothes on your skin.

3 – Name three things you can hear, like birdsong, traffic, a fan.

2 - Name two things you can smell, like soap, food, even fresh air.

1 – Name one thing you can taste, such as the aftertaste of coffee or tea, toothpaste.

If you incorporate this into your daily routine you may be surprised at how more relaxed you can become, so you don’t lose your temper. If you lose hostility it will help your overall health.