Research on RAGE

Means

In psychiatry, rage is a mental state that is one extreme of the intensity spectrum of anger. When a person experiences rage it usually lasts until a threat is removed or the person under rage is incapacitated. The other end of the spectrum is annoyance (DiGiuseppe & Tafrate, 2006). Psycho-pathological problems such as depression increase the chances of experiencing feelings of rage (Painuly et al., 2005).

History

Research has shown that the human species has experienced rage since the initial sex stages of evolution;[citation needed] The fight-or-flight response to threatening stimuli shows this (Hill, 2002). Both men and women experience an overwhelming release of hormones when confronted with a threatening situation that will result in physical violence or fleeing from the threat. The threats faced in modern society have evolved since the origin of the human race but the fight or flight response remains the same. Rage is also a state of mind in which large amounts of epinephrine are released and the body, as previously stated, reverts to a more primal instinct. In this state of mind one doesn't think clearly; the brain processes one idea at a time and thus is unable to accomplish more, though in this state of mind it is motivated by emotions rather than personal goal.

Symptom & Effects

Rage can sometimes lead to a state of mind where the individual experiencing it believes, and often is capable of doing things that may normally seem physically impossible. Those experiencing rage usually feel the effects of high adrenaline levels in the body. This increase in adrenal output raises the physical strength and endurance levels of the person. One's senses become extremely acute due to the high amounts of adrenaline in the body, and, on the opposite end, this also reduces one's sensation of pain. People in rage may also experience events in a sort of slow motion. An explanation of this "time dilation" effect is that instead of actually slowing our perception of time, high levels of adrenaline increase our ability to recal specific minutae of an event after it occurs. Since humans gauge time based on the amount of things they can remember, high-adrenaline events such as those experienced during periods of rage seem to unfold more slowly. (Eagleman, et. al., 2007)
A person in a state of rage may also lose much of his or her capacity for rational thought and reasoning, and may act, usually violently, on his or her impulses to the point that they may attack until they themselves have been incapacitated or the source of their rage has been destroyed.
A person in rage may also experience tunnel vision, muffled hearing, increased heart rate and hyperventilation. They often focus only on the source of their anger. The large amounts of adrenaline and oxygen in the bloodstream may cause a person's extremities to shake.

::Resource::