Ryan Martin: Why we get mad -- and why it's healthy
Ryan Martin: Por qué nos enojamos y por qué enojarse es saludable
Dr. Ryan Martin is the chair of the psychology department at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
get a text from a friend, and it reads ...
un mensaje de texto que dice:
I'm SO MAD right now!"
¡Estoy enojadísimo ahora mismo!".
and you ask for details.
preguntan los detalles.
about what happened to them
o en su cita de anoche.
or on their date last night.
to understand why they're so mad.
por qué está tan enojado.
whether or not they should be so mad.
si debería estar tan enojado o no.
essentially what I get to do every day,
es lo que hago todos los días,
a good part of my professional life --
una buena parte de mi vida profesional
también mi vida personal--
they have when they get mad,
que tienen cuando se enojan,
si pelean o rompen cosas,
when they get mad,
or breaking things,
o escriben en mayúsculas en internet.
in all caps on the internet.
de a qué me dedico,
contarme sus historias,
their anger stories.
they need a therapist,
y con lo que estamos familiarizados.
and it's something they can relate to.
los primeros momentos de vida,
since the first few months of life,
conseguir lo que queríamos,
in our cries of protests,
you won't pick up the rattle, Dad,
la sonaja, papá? ¡La quiero!".
as my mom can certainly attest to with me.
mi madre es testigo.
at some of the worst moments of our lives.
en los peores momentos de la vida.
part of our grief.
y normal de la aflicción.
in some of the best moments of our lives,
de los mejores momentos,
como bodas y vacaciones,
like weddings and vacations
frustrations --
de la vida cotidiana:
cosas que caen muy mal en el momento,
when things go OK.
cuando todo marcha bien.
with people about their anger
he aprendido que, para muchos,
that I've learned that many people,
de los presentes aquí hoy,
in this room right now,
porque ven cómo interfiere en su vida,
it interferes in your life,
quizá en formas que dan miedo.
maybe even the ways it's scary.
I see anger a little differently,
veo al enojo de forma distinta.
something really important
sobre el enojo a continuación:
y sana en sus vidas.
force in your life.
we actually have to back up
vamos a retroceder
nos enojamos en primer lugar.
in the first place.
al trabajo del investigador del enojo,
of an anger researcher
who wrote about this back in 1996
quien escribió al respecto en 1996
sobre cómo lidiar con el enojo.
with problematic anger.
and I bet most of you,
se simplifica de esta manera:
when people drive this slow,"
maneje tan lento",
the milk out again."
la leche afuera otra vez".
people just need to stop messing with me."
el problema es que la gente me molesta".
those types of provocations,
esos tipos de provocaciones,
my friends and colleagues and even family,
a mis amigos, colegas y familiares:
that really get to you?
to point out one of the advantages
una ventaja de ser investigador del enojo.
generando una lista que incluya
generating a comprehensive list
that really irritate my colleagues.
me respondieron cosas como:
"La gente que hace ruido al masticar".
that one's mine.
muy lento", esa es mía.
there is no rage like roundabout rage.
como la ira de las glorietas.
no son nada triviales.
aren't minor at all.
about racism and sexism and bullying
el sexismo, el acoso
big, global problems we all face.
los problemas globales que tenemos.
maybe even oddly specific.
extrañamente específicas, quizá.
against the counter of a public bathroom."
en el lavabo de un baño público".
two ways to plug them in,
dos maneras de conectarlas,
take me three tries?"
whether it's general or specific,
y encontrar similitudes entre ellos.
that are unpleasant,
injustas, que ofuscan nuestros objetivos,
where our goals are blocked,
and that leave us feeling powerless.
y que nos hacen sentir impotencia.
we're feeling in these situations.
que sentimos en esas situaciones.
that we're scared or sad,
tiempo estar asustados o tristes,
they aren't making us mad.
no son lo que nos enoja,
over the same things, and we don't.
por las mismas cosas, y no es así.
than the reasons you get angry,
son distintas de las suyas,
something else going on.
en el momento de la provocación.
at the moment of that provocation matters.
are you hungry, are you tired,
¿tienen hambre?, ¿están cansados?,
are you running late for something?
¿se les está haciendo tarde para algo?
el efecto de la provocación empeora mucho.
is not the provocation,
no es la provocación,
le damos en nuestra vida.
primero decidimos si es bueno o malo,
is it blameworthy, is it punishable?
si es culpa de alguien o castigable...
it's when you evaluate the event itself.
cuando evaluamos el evento en sí.
in the context of our lives
en nuestro contexto.
we decide how bad it is.
determinamos cuán malo es.
that's ever happened,
to imagine you are driving somewhere.
que van conduciendo.
I should tell you,
that was going to make you mad,
para hacerlos enojar,
a lot like driving.
on your way somewhere,
hacia algún lugar
other drivers, road construction --
otros conductores, obras en construcción,
and unwritten rules of the road,
escritas y no escritas,
right in front of you,
violadas frente a Uds.,
people you will never see again,
que nunca volverán a ver,
for your wrath.
en blanco fácil de nuestra ira.
thus teed up to be angry,
is driving well below the speed limit.
por debajo de la velocidad mínima.
why they're driving so slow.
de que conduzca tan lento.
it's bad and it's blameworthy.
que es malo y culpa de alguien.
it's not that big a deal.
you don't get angry.
secundaria; no se enojan.
to a job interview.
a una entrevista de trabajo.
it hasn't changed, right?
still bad, still blameworthy.
sigue siendo algo malo, culpa de alguien.
to cope with it sure does.
con ello sí que cambia.
to that job interview.
a la entrevista de trabajo.
el empleo de sus sueños,
y montones de dinero.
piles and piles of money.
your dream job
y Uds. caerán en banca rota.
marcha atrás, volver con los padres...
move in with your parents.
no es una persona, sino un monstruo".
just to ruin your life.
para arruinar sus vidas.
the one where we make the worst of things.
cuando esperamos lo peor.
types of thoughts that we know
tipos de pensamientos
where it doesn't belong.
la culpa a donde no pertenece.
sino también objetos inanimados.
perdieron las llaves del coche
you lost your car keys and you said,
they ran off on their own.
corriendo por sí mismas.
they use words like "always,"
y dicen cosas como "siempre",
"this always happens to me,"
"nunca obtengo lo que quiero",
on the way here today."
me tocaron en rojo".
propias antes que las de los demás:
ahead of the needs of others:
is driving so slow,
so I can get to this job interview."
para que pueda llegar a la entrevista".
de expresiones agresivas.
idiotas, monstruos,
I've been told I'm not allowed to say
que no dijera en esta charla TED.
as cognitive distortions
como distorsiones cognitivas,
are totally rational.
completamente racionales.
when we're treated poorly,
cuando nos tratan mal,
when we're treated poorly.
cuando nos tratan mal.
to remember from my talk today, it's this:
de mi charla de hoy:
both human and nonhuman,
humanos y no humanos,
nos alerta de un peligro,
communicates to you
nos comunica que ha sido suficiente.
to confront that injustice.
para confrontar la injusticia.
about the last time you got mad.
en la última vez que se enojaron.
you started to sweat.
también, comienzan a sudar.
conocido como el sistema "pelea o huye",
as your fight-or-flight system,
la energía necesaria para responder.
the energy you need to respond.
slowed down so you could conserve energy.
el ritmo para ayudar a conservar energía.
to get blood to your extremities.
hacer llegar la sangre a las extremidades.
of physiological experiences
de experiencias fisiológicas
porque ayudaron a nuestros ancestros
forces of nature.
fuerzas de la naturaleza.
your ancestors did
nuestros ancestros hacían
pelear físicamente,
or appropriate.
every time you're provoked.
un bate cada vez que nos provocan.
weren't capable of.
no humanos no eran capaces.
to regulate your emotions.
de regular sus emociones.
podemos detenernos y canalizar el enojo
and you can channel that anger
hablamos de cómo evitar enojarnos.
from getting angry.
que se calme o se relaje,
and that it's wrong to feel it.
es malo y que es malo sentirlo.
of anger as a motivator.
como una motivación.
motivates you to get a drink of water,
nos motiva a beber agua,
motivates you to get a bite to eat,
nos motiva a buscar alimento,
to respond to injustice.
a responder a la injusticia.
to find things we should be mad about.
encontrar cosas por las que enojarnos.
and not worth getting angry over.
y no vale la pena enojarse por ellas.
environmental destruction,
el acoso, la destrucción del ambiente,
those things are terrible,
is to get mad first
es primero enojándonos
into fighting back.
para combatirlas.
with aggression or hostility or violence.
hostil o violento para combatirlas.
that you can express your anger.
de expresar el enojo.
you can write letters to the editor,
escribir cartas a los editores,
and volunteer for causes,
voluntario para las causas,
you can create literature,
literatura, poesía y música;
que se preocupe por los demás
that cares for one another
those atrocities to happen.
que ocurran esas atrocidades.
you feel yourself getting angry,
que sientan que van a enojarse,
to what that anger is telling you.
el enojo les trata de decir.
into something positive and productive.
en algo positivo y productivo.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ryan Martin - PsychologistDr. Ryan Martin is the chair of the psychology department at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Why you should listen
Dr. Ryan Martin teaches courses on mental illness and emotion, including a course on anger. He researches and writes on healthy and unhealthy expressions of anger. His website, All the Rage, covers recent research on anger and provides anger management tips on how to handle anger most effectively. He also hosts the popular psychology podcast, Psychology and Stuff.
Martin was trained as a counseling psychologist at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he first started studying anger after earning his undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in criminal justice from the University of St. Thomas. He has worked with clients -- angry and otherwis -- in a variety of settings including community mental health centers, college counseling centers and a VA Hospital.
Martin is a professor of psychology and an associate dean for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. His work has been featured in the New York Times, NPR's Invisibilia podcast, BBC Radio's Digital Human and elsewhere. When he's not thinking about feelings, he runs and spends time with his family.
Ryan Martin | Speaker | TED.com