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Are we talking about anger management here? ----- SINGAPORE - Eight people, all who have trouble controlling their temper, are attending an anger management class. A counsellor is conducting the session. In a typical setting, this would not seem out of place. At the Institute of Mental Health 's (IMH) Child Guidance Clinic (CGC), however, such sessions are attended by children aged seven to 12 years old. In spite of their young age, all of them have anger issues that are serious enough to warrant special attention. There are no exact figures on children and teenagers in Singapore with anger issues. Dr Ong Say How, Consultant and Deputy Chief at IMH's Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry , explained that this is because "anger" is not considered a clinical diagnosis. At the CGC, children and teens with such problems are usually referred to anger management groups, which run for about eight sessions. Each year, about 16 youth attend these sessions...

By Dr James Dobson We've often heard the old suggestion that we should count to 10 when we get angry. It can be very valuable to have a cooling-off period before acting on those feelings. The reason for waiting is that anger is not only emotional , it's biochemical as well. The body is equipped with an automatic defence system called the " fight or flight " mechanism, which prepares the entire organism for action. When we're upset or frightened, adrenaline is pumped into the blood stream , setting off a whole series of physiological responses within the body. In a matter of seconds, the individual is transformed from being calm to a state of alarmed reaction. All of these biochemical responses are involuntary. What isn't involuntary however, is our response to these sudden changes. We can choose to hold our tongue; to remove ourselves from the provocative situation, particularly when we're dealing with children who anger us. We can control the impulse to...