Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan made evaluations on “Anger and Anger Management in Ramadan” on ÜLKE TV. Tarhan underlined that the month of Ramadan creates a spiritual atmosphere; “If a person observing the Ramadan fast has programmed their brain according to Iftar, the brain does not secrete hunger-related chemicals and hormones until Iftar. Because it doesn’t secrete them, hunger stress does not occur in the person’s body. They can postpone or delay by saying, ‘I’ll eat it soon anyway.’ In such situations, there is a spiritual atmosphere created by the month of Ramadan.” He said. Tarhan added that fasting without belief increases the state of anger.
“There is a spiritual atmosphere created by the month of Ramadan”
Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan drew attention to the fact that fasting provides endurance training. Tarhan; “Generally, when blood sugar drops, a person is expected to be more irritable, but interestingly, this is not the case during Ramadan. If a person observing the Ramadan fast has programmed their brain according to Iftar – and we have the capacity to program our own brains – if we activate this and program our brain, it does not secrete hunger-related chemicals and hormones until Iftar. Because it doesn’t secrete them, hunger stress does not occur in the person’s body. They can postpone or delay by saying, ‘I’ll eat it soon anyway.’ In such situations, there is a spiritual atmosphere created by the month of Ramadan. By 'spiritual,' I don't mean spirituality in the sense of religiosity, but rather a climate of meaning. The word 'manevi' (spiritual/moral) comes from the root 'mana' (meaning). It's a semantic situation. In such situations, it is a time when a person feels connected to a power, connected to their creator, integrated with the universe, and feels a high sense of security when they don't feel alone in the entire cosmos. In such situations, a person can say 'no' to tempting, error-inducing, misleading reactions like anger control. Ego strength and psychological defenses are strengthened in such situations, and even in fasting practices like the Ramadan fast, endurance training for fasting days psychologically benefits individuals; for example, commandos do this a lot. Mountaineers do it in training to prepare themselves for prolonged hunger; these individuals gain endurance training.” he said.
“If one fasts without belief, anger increases”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, emphasizing that there is consciousness over the brain, stated that there is no state of anger when consciousness affects the brain. Tarhan; “The first few days of Ramadan are difficult. The body normalizes more during the adaptation period. Therefore, if a person fasts for someone else's sake, without belief, anger increases in that situation, but if they fast with belief, their brain provides obedience. There is consciousness over the brain, and when consciousness affects the brain, there is no state of anger. What should a person do if anger comes? There is a traffic that people are used to, for example, they are used to going from one place to another in 1 hour; they call this 'normalizing' and accept it, but when that time becomes 1 hour and 10 minutes, they start to get angry. There is also traffic during Iftar time; in such situations, if a person knows themselves and has anger management problems, they should leave early by hook or by crook. Some people cannot control their impulses. Such people get angry and then regret it. A person who says, 'I have an anger problem,' would benefit from preparing themselves by thinking, 'If I encounter the wrong person, I shouldn't get into trouble.' If a person with an anger problem encounters an undesirable situation, they should approach the anger problem with the 'firefighter model.' What happens in firefighting? When a fire breaks out, those who come to extinguish it don't investigate 'Why did it start?' first; they first extinguish it, cool it down, and then it is investigated and reported. Improvement activities are carried out to prevent another fire or to fix any malfunctions. When a person gets angry; if they constantly say things like 'Why did I get angry, why did he do this injustice today, why did this man stop here?' it's like searching for a cause amidst a fire, and the fire will only intensify. It will further fuel the outcome. In such situations, the purpose of anger is to postpone, to shift the focus of attention at that moment, to turn the subject elsewhere. Then, if someone is with them, they talk to them, if there's a radio, they turn it on, they can listen to a podcast, meaning they can do something. If they change their focus of interest, it immediately subsides.” he said.
The real wrestler is not the one who defeats the opponent, but the one who defeats the anger within them…
Tarhan, stating that overcoming anger requires wrestling prowess; “You tell children 'no' to something, and they insist more, but if you shift their focus of attention, the child immediately acts according to the new situation. We will tame the wild horse within us like this. People who honk, who swear, we have a metaphor we use in psychotechnics. The garbage truck metaphor... Everyone carries garbage on their back. Others drop it, and they drop the garbage on their back. If you pick up that garbage and hold it, you get dirty. So you will give them the right to drop that garbage; it's not your problem, it's their problem. Therefore, you cannot mentally 'buy' it. If a person does this, blaming others' mistakes, asking 'why are people like this, why are they like this,' the feeling of controlling everything is to attribute a bit of godliness to oneself. Therefore, we cannot fix everything, we cannot control everything, so let's not feel like gods on earth. We are not omnipotent; therefore, since we cannot control everything, this is their problem, they are distributing their mental burden. Instead of getting angry at such people, one should feel pity for them.” he said.
There is a saying; ‘The real wrestler is not the one who defeats the opponent, but the one who defeats the anger within them.’ Tarhan added that being able to overcome anger requires a wrestler's prowess.