Anger and anxiety: what 2020 revealed about mental health

The year that broke people

Muzamil opens with the reality of 2020 ending. COVID devastated the economy. Forest fires ravaged KPK. Air pollution choked cities. People were locked inside, and mental health suffered in ways that remain invisible. “The economy has a little dip, we’ll recover, we’ll go back to normal,” Muzamil reflects. “But the psychological impact you have, it will probably impact you for 10 years.”

More people are seeking help

When Ali Ilyas looks at his platform, one trend stands out: more people are open to therapy than ever before. “Mental health issues worldwide increase, screen time increase, depression rates increase, but at the same time, people who I interact with are becoming more and more open towards seeking therapy,” he says. It’s a small silver lining. People are no longer hiding their struggles.

The anger that nobody talks about

The year was marked by anger. George Floyd protests. Farmers protesting in India. Pakistan’s political movements. Internationally and locally, people were enraged. But Ali draws a distinction. “When we talk about the protests of George Floyd, or the farmers with India, these are movements, right? They’re movements based on a righteous stand on something that is horrible in society.” That’s collective, purposeful anger.

The messages Muzamil receives are different. People say, “I feel very, very angry. I don’t know why, and I don’t know how to deal with it.” That’s individualized anger with many triggers.

How anger actually works

Ali lays out the anger arousal cycle with clinical clarity. It starts with a trigger. External (someone said something hurtful) or internal (you remember something irritating). Then escalation kicks in. Your body prepares for fight or flight. Adrenaline flows. Your voice gets louder. Then comes the crisis phase, the moment you lose control and say things you regret. Your judgment is impaired.

The recovery phase follows. Your adrenaline drops. Your body tries to rebalance itself. Some people’s blood pressure even dips. Finally, post-action depression. You look back and process what happened.

When genes meet circumstance

“Genes load the gun, and the environment pulls the trigger,” Ali says. You might have a genetic predisposition to anger, but without environmental triggers, that gene remains dormant. Which is why childhood experiences matter so much. Muzamil notes that angry people often had difficult childhoods or family situations where they couldn’t express themselves.

Knowing your number

Muzamil tells his personal story. He’s normally patient. But 2020 changed that. In Turkey, he lost his phone four stories underground with no signal. The panic attack was immediate. Half an hour later, he had to meet someone and smile. Later, when he discovered his pants had been taken, he snapped. He was punching walls, throwing things. “I have never been that person ever in my life, and this year did that to me.”

Ali’s solution is simple: know your anger threshold. “Imagine 0 to 10, 0 being not angry at all, 10 being homicidal. Which number is it just you’ve lost control?” Muzamil’s is five. The moment you get close to 3.5 or 4, walk away. “Tell them, listen, let’s talk about this later. This is going to take some time.”

Your body holds the answer

Anger lives in your body. When you escalate, your muscles tense. Your breathing changes. Ali recommends progressive muscle relaxation. The moment you feel your anger level rising, deliberately relax your muscles. Release the tension. This physical shift can lower your anger level in real time. “If you can change your body, it can have some level of an impact on your anger as well.”

The trolls and the trapped

But what about people who can’t walk away? Trolls who make new accounts after being blocked. Family members you can’t escape because you’re locked inside together. “You can’t just go to them and say, listen, let’s talk later,” Muzamil says. Ali’s answer is practical. Find privacy. The bathroom. Your phone with a lock. Apps like Headspace for meditation and gratitude journals. “Just allow yourself to feel your emotions and recollect yourself.”

What 2020 taught us

Anger isn’t something to eliminate. It’s a signal. It tells you what’s acceptable, what’s not, where you stand morally. The myth that venting will make anger go away is wrong. Unleashing anger reinforces it. Real anger management means knowing your triggers, recognizing when you’re approaching your limit, and creating space to feel and process.

As 2020 ends, Muzamil reflects on the power of resets. Time is a construct. The year doesn’t change you on January 1st. But that mental trick, the idea that you can restart, helps humans reset their perspective. “Deprogram the idea that you have to wait for Monday. You can start now,” he says.

The psychological impact of 2020 will be felt for years. But understanding anger, and how to work with it rather than be destroyed by it, is the first step toward recovery.