People ‘losing it’ over call centre encounters

According to a Losing It survey, commissioned for BBC Headroom, 26% of people rated call centre hold-ups their number one pet hate – and it was mentioned as an irritant by 75% of all those questioned. Telephonic delays even ranked above being physically attacked, which follows closely behind in the anger stakes, with 23% rating it their number one.

Equally aggravating among the survey's respondents are "being insulted" and "being queue jumped", at joint third in the Losing It list (8% each).

There are regional variations on the situations that get people's hackles up and this week, from today, BBC Local Radio stations' mid-morning programmes (10.00am-1.00pm, daily) focus on what makes people "lose it" and how to manage their anger.

For example, in the West Midlands, people might be described as the angriest, with 16% (against an 11% national average) in this region saying they find it hard or impossible to calm down once angry.

The survey also found a gender divide when it comes to anger management, with 74% of women "taking a deep breath" to calm down compared with two-thirds of their irked male counterparts.

The findings coincide with the two-part series, Losing It – Griff Rhys Jones On Anger, the first of which was shown on BBC Two, Tuesday 23 and 30 September (and also available online: bbc.co.uk/iplayer).

In the programmes Griff talks frankly about his own temperament and asks a psychotherapist if getting angry is inevitable.