Vol. 7 No. 4 (2025): Oct - Dec 2025
Phenomenological psychopathology

Anger as a primary phenomenon in anxiety and panic symptomatology: a Gestalt-phenomenological psychotherapeutic perspective

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  • Daniela Cirasino,
  • Stefano Orlando,
  • Marco Schiralli,
  • Angela Verardo,
  • Martina Marano,
  • Elisabetta Macchia,
  • Chiara Zilli,
  • Innocenzo Mangiacavallo,
  • Damiano Conte
Daniela Cirasino
Istituto Gestalt Puglia, Puglia, Italy
Stefano Orlando
Istituto Gestalt Puglia, Lecce, Italy
Marco Schiralli
Istituto Gestalt Puglia, Lecce, Italy
Angela Verardo
Istituto Gestalt Puglia, Lecce, Italy
Martina Marano
Istituto Gestalt Puglia, Lecce, Italy
Elisabetta Macchia
Istituto Gestalt Puglia, Lecce, Italy
Chiara Zilli
Istituto Gestalt Puglia, Lecce, Italy
Innocenzo Mangiacavallo
Istituto Gestalt Puglia, Lecce, Italy
Damiano Conte
Istituto Gestalt Puglia, Lecce, Italy
logo-phenomena
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32069/PJ.2021.2.257

Published 2025-12-19

Keywords

  • Retroflexed anger, Anxiety, Panic attacks, Gestalt psychotherapy, Phenomenology, Contact cycle.

How to Cite

Cirasino, D., Orlando, S., Schiralli, M., Verardo, A., Marano, M., Macchia, E., … Conte, D. (2025). Anger as a primary phenomenon in anxiety and panic symptomatology: a Gestalt-phenomenological psychotherapeutic perspective. Phenomena Journal - International Journal of Psychopathology, Neuroscience and Psychotherapy, 7(4), 159–175. https://doi.org/10.32069/PJ.2021.2.257

Copyright (c) 2025 Daniela Cirasino, Stefano Orlando, Marco Schiralli, Angela Verardo, Martina Marano, Elisabetta Macchia, Chiara Zilli, Innocenzo Mangiacavallo, Damiano Conte

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This study explores the presence and role of retroflected anger in panic attacks and anxiety disorders, adopting a phenomenological-Gestalt perspective. The central hypothesis is that unexpressed anger may manifest in individuals through anxiety and panic symptoms, functioning as an “internal alarm” triggered by environmental factors or stressors. The research investigates the difficulty individuals experience in recognizing and expressing anger—often replaced, in their narratives, by terms such as “frustration” or “sadness”, which they report within the therapeutic setting. A semi-structured interview specifically developed for this study was administered to a pilot sample, providing preliminary data that indicate the presence of anger—often unacknowledged—in situations where personal expectations or desires were unmet. The observation of results further suggests that once recognized, anger can be transformed into self-affirming awareness and assertive communication. The semantic analysis of the collected data aims to provide a phenomenological description of retroflected anger in anxiety disorders, highlighting the relevance of therapeutic interventions focused on emotional recognition and the effective management of related symptoms.

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