Anger is a normal psycho-emotional response to various situations, involving a state of hyper-arousal (characterised by antagonism) to situations. Most, if not, all people will experience moments of anger at some point in their lives. However, the onset of persistent, frequent anger which lasts for several days or months, may indicate the presence of a mental health disorder in an individual. Even if an individual with problematic anger does not possess a mental disorder, their anger may still negatively affect their daily functioning.

Anger issues are on a spectrum, as one person may get easily angered, but their emotions are not profound enough to cause disruption to their lifestyle, or they possess good self-control and are able to manage their feelings. Another individual may have much stronger feelings of anger alongside poor self-control, for which these emotions would negatively affect their daily functioning.