Underneath the Anger of a 'Remain' Voter

The EU referendum result has come as a shock to many, especially to the 48.1% of people who voted to remain. Following the result, my Facebook newsfeed has been filled with posts of rage. Anger-fuelled arguments between remain and leave voters are slowly dying down but are still happening.

Why do I feel so angry?

As written on this website, anger is often called a 'secondary emotion', because we turn to it to 'protect ourselves from or cover up other vulnerable feelings'. We might also feel:

• Afraid
• Attacked
• Offended
• Disrespected
• Forced
• Trapped
• Pressured

Anger as a secondary emotion is really common. For instance, if I feel hurt because someone says something rude to me, I might go from hurt to anger and respond in anger.

Why does this happen?

This is a natural response. To show that we feel hurt by something, especially when we feel vulnerable, might lead to further hurt. Therefore to protect ourselves and still feel we have expressed our unhappiness, turning to anger serves us a purpose. 

However, this can be unhealthy. Imagine a workplace where your boss is under a lot of pressure. If this comes out as anger towards the rest of the team (which is actually quite common), this can have negative effects on the staff - their welfare and in terms of the business, less efficiency.

How about the EU referendum results?

From a more detailed analysis of our reactions, there are a number of things coming up (at least amongst the people I know) - people feel:

• Unheard
• Divided
• Scared

Personally, I am scared of:

• The split between British people and their opinions causing tensions within the UK. 
• The uncertainty as to what will happen to EU national students living in the UK.
• Uncertainties about my future ability to work or live abroad within the EU.
• Economic damage to the UK and my personal finances being affected by this - what will happen when I want to get onto the property ladder in a few years?
• Issues with national security - I am afraid of the idea of my safety being compromised. 

Writing down this list brought up a lot of fear for me. Fear is a difficult feeling, and to make it easier it could all be condensed into an angry statement like this:

"I just can't believe that people would be so stupid as to vote out!"

But this seems to have jumped a little. And though it might be natural to feel angry, it is worth looking into your feelings of anger to find out what is underneath them. After all, if half of the country is angry at the other half, this could cause tensions, and even violence, (which is one of my personal fears about leaving the EU!). 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that taking our anger at face value can have severe implications, and to be honest about the feelings underneath might be new, but can defuse our anger and lead to a more practical approach to what is going to come next for the UK, rather than anger-fuelled tensions.

As always, feel free to like, comment and share! :)

Image 1 from here

Image 2 from here