Mark Beckford, Gleaner Writer

With mounting concerns regarding the problem of aggression in the society, an anger management workshop put on by The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, on Saturday, was a welcome response.

The seminar, which was held at Paddington Terrace in St. Andrew, comprised three sessions dealing with the causes of anger, the effects of anger and how to deal with anger.

Workshop coordinator, Dev Ki Ramshia, believes that anger is a conditioned emotion and as such can be controlled. She said this would result in a more peaceful and tolerant society.

"There are many factors that trigger anger inside of us: jealously, hurt, manipulation and a sense of betrayal."

Ms. Ramshia says the inability of persons to control this emotion, affects people both physically and emotionally.

Disallow manipulation

She says one way of dealing with anger is to not allow oneself to be manipulated or to manipulate others.

"If I insult somebody and they refuse to accept the insult, who does that insult stay with? Me! so therefore, can someone be insulted unless they choose to be insulted? So I can't anger someone unless he/she chooses to be angry."

Ms. Ramshia also says too many negative images of aggression and violence are being fed daily into the sub-consciousness of individuals, which is impacting how they think and eventually behave.

"Mahatma Gandhi said, 'An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind', so we cannot fight fire with fire. We need to create a wave and an awareness of positive values," she says.

She also believes there should be more collaboration between the government and the media to highlight more positive images to the society.

Ms. Ramshia has recommended that there should be more emphasis on family values and morals in society to effect positive changes.

Konata Beluchi, a participant at the workshop, echoed the sentiments of Ms. Ramshia, saying that there should be a large push by the leaders of the nation to promote these ideals.