The holidays look different this year. You may be worrying about the health of your loved ones or feeling upset that plans for family gatherings have changed. For many, this anxiety is on top of the stress and blues typically felt during the winter holiday season.
This year’s circumstances are difficult, and it’s understandable to have bad feelings. However, it’s important to also think about how getting too angry can have consequences that affect those around you.
VA has tools and services to help Veterans struggling to manage angry feelings or control reactions to irritating events. The online web course, Anger & Irritability Management Skills (AIMS), is a free, anonymous, self-help program based on training that was developed for Veterans.
What’s in the Course
- AIMS offers a Deep Breathing exercise for different lengths of time. You’ll learn a few seconds can make a difference.
- There is a 2-minute quiz you can take to see if the AIMS web program is right for you.
- You can use the personalized Anger Control Plan to map out your goals for completing the course.
This online tool and the other resources available on the Veteran Training website have been updated to work on both computers and mobile devices so you can use them at home or on-the-go.
Take the AIMS course at your own pace
The holidays don’t have to be perfect or just like you remember. Learning to recognize your triggers or warning signs will help you combat angry feelings before they lead to a bad situation.
Don’t wait to seek the help you need. Take the AIMS course at your own pace. If it was recommended by your VA health care provider, be sure to follow their guidance. If AIMS doesn’t work for you, we recommend following up with your VA provider about next steps.
Dr. Carolyn Greene, Ph.D., VA’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Web Services national manager.
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Wow, really? I’m old and old fashioned, why should I do some lazy secretary’s job for him/her? Is the VA shutting down? Why is the VA PUSHING veterans out when they are supposed to be there to take care of us after all we sacrificed for our country? Why does the va keep jerking WWII veterans around instead of treating them and taking care of them? I know a WWII vet who needs to have a hip replaced. The va told him that FIVE YEARS ago but have been jerking him around for the last five years. Is this what the va has come to? Putting off taking care of our veterans IN THE HOPES THEY WILL DIE so the va won’t have to treat them? Apparently the va thinks it costs too much to do their jobs, that’s why they have optum to mess outside providers out of a fair and reasonable reimbursement for doing the va’s job!!! That is, as long as optum doesn’t reject a bill altogether. That’s also why the va doesn’t want vets coming in to take of business like filing for their travel reimbursements. Or actually having IN PERSON appointments. Here, go home and do your travel on your own damn computer while we lie to you and tell you what a great “improvement” this is.
Face it boys and girls, the va is closing it’s doors and doesn’t want to tell us that so they keep “improving” and finding ways for us to do their jobs without paying us for it.
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