Injustice and Constructive Anger

Written by: Vildana Efendić, Gestalt psychotherapist

“Peace is not merely the absence of war, but also the presence of justice.” - Jane Addams.

In an experiment with two monkeys performing certain tasks, a cucumber was given as a reward for successfully completed tasks.

One day the researcher (primatologist Frans de Waal) gave one monkey a cucumber and the other a grape for the same completed task. The monkey with the cucumber went wild and threw the cucumber at the researcher. Can you imagine that animals feel injustice, let alone us?

When I speak of peace, I don't mean only physical peace, a state without war, but peace of the soul, psychological peace. The well-known psychiatrist Viktor Frankl claimed that injustice hurts more than physical pain.

Injustice within us provokes anger. Constructive anger. Constructive anger is an automatic and instinctive response to injustice. Anger tells us that something unfair has been done to us. Anger is not the problem. The problem is the injustice that provokes it.

The injustice happening in the world these days is enormous. First it provokes anger in us, and later a feeling of sadness, because it cannot be resolved. It is not individual anger but collective, and if it is collective, then the cause of the problem is collective injustice, not our anger or sadness.

People who experience injustice more strongly than others have more pronounced cognitive empathy and a greater volume of gray matter in the insular cortex. And this is important for you to know... don't let anyone call you sensitive!! You are simply more empathetic than others! An emotional reaction to injustice is valid... it is a normal reaction to what is abnormal, to what abnormally happens to you, or to another being you witness.

Each of us has experienced injustice at some point in life, for one reason or another. And it hurts terribly. Injustice that lasts leaves a psychological mark on us, such as anxiety, depression, rage. All because the one who does us wrong does not acknowledge that they are doing it to us. And slowly, it is killing us.

Why do people come to therapy? Because we psychotherapists speak the truth... which liberates... we are witnesses to your truths that someone failed to recognize earlier... and through this we say that you matter, that we see you, understand you, and feel what you feel. That alone is healing, let alone the various techniques and interventions with which we help improve your ego, your self-image... so that you become more important to yourself... so that we heal that bug/deficiency that the mighty wrongdoer injected into you.

So, the next time someone gets a grape and you get a cucumber... throw it at the head of the mighty wrongdoer!!

You have the right to be angry... you have the right to be worthy, to be the most important to yourself... even if you throw that cucumber every day, again and again. Just don't give up on yourself! You can give up on others... but never on yourself!!

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English language

"Peace is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of justice." - Jane Addams.

In an experiment with two monkeys who performed certain tasks, a reward in the form of a cucumber was given for a successfully completed task.

One day a researcher (primatologist Frans de Waal) gave one monkey a cucumber and another a grape for the same task. The monkey with the cucumber got mad and threw the cucumber at the researcher. Can you imagine animals feeling injustice, let alone us?

When I talk about peace, I'm not just talking about physical peace, a state without war, but I'm talking about peace of the soul, psychological peace. Famous psychiatrist Viktor Frankl claimed that injustice hurts worse than physical pain.

Injustice makes us angry. Constructive anger is an automatic and instinctive response to injustice. Anger tells us that something has been done to us, which is unfair. Anger is not a problem. The problem is the injustice that causes it.

The injustice that is happening in the world these days is enormous. First it causes anger in us, and later a feeling of sadness because it cannot be resolved. It is not individual anger but collective, and if it is collective, then the cause of the problem is collective injustice, not our own anger or sadness.

People who experience injustice more strongly than others have more pronounced cognitive empathy and a larger volume of gray matter in the insular cortex. And this is important for you to know...don't let them call you sensitive!! You are just more empathetic than others! The emotional reaction to injustice is valid...it is a normal reaction to what is abnormal, what is abnormally happening to you. Or some other being that you are a witness to.

Each of us has experienced injustice. And it hurts. Injustice that continues leaves a psychological mark on us such as anxiety, depression, anger. All because the mighty one who wrongs us does not admit that he does it to us. And it's slowly killing us.

Why do people come to therapy? Because we psychotherapists speak the truth..which liberates..we are witnesses to your truths that someone did not recognize before..and through this we say that you are important, that we see you, understand you, that we feel what you feel too. That you matter! That's healing in itself, let alone the various techniques and interventions that we use to help you improve your ego, your image...to be more important to yourself...to cure that bug/deficiency that was injected into you by that powerful Other.

So, the next time someone gets a grape and you get a cucumber...throw it at the head of the mighty unrighteous one!!

You have the right to be angry... you have the right to be valuable, to be the most important to yourself... even if you throw that cucumber over and over again every day. Just don't give up on yourself! From You can give up on other...but never give up on yourself!!