Counselor's Corner - Soul Hanger By: Dr. Garry Barber - Director of Counseling Center A simple internet search reveals studies which demonstrate that physical hunger can result in feelings of anger and frustration. Such anger is a biological reaction caused when brain chemistry is affected by a lack of nutrients essential for healthy brain function. This phenomenon is so common, a word has been created to describe it - “HANGRY.” In modern-day English, “hangry” is a popular portmanteau (a word that combines the sounds and meanings of two words to form a single word and meaning). It just makes sense to combine the words hungry and angry - they just go together. We begin to observe the effects of being hangry from the earliest stages of childhood. It is almost as if adults have a natural aversion to believing an infant or toddler can be angry for purely selfish reasons. We tend to blame biological or situational effects that are out of the child’s control. As parents (and grandparents) we excuse fits of rage with phrases like, “She must be hungry.” Oftentimes these excuses accurately describe the child’s condition. However, there are certainly other times when the child is lashing out in response to unmet needs that have nothing to do with food-- needs about which he or she does not have the communicative ability to express. So, the baby just cries, screams, and flails about in frustration until the need is met or attention is distracted or exhaustion leads to sleep. While it is common knowledge a child can be hangry, this does not explain all fits of rage. | 
