kol hakoes...

Of the angry person it is said that he forgets his teachings (kol hakoes shocheach et torato).A variation on the same claims that being angry is like worshipping idols (kol hakoes keilu oved avodah zarah).
But is this so? Can anger not teach us something, in the sense of reminding us of something that we wanted to forget? Can anger not be a means for reaching to God rather than to the disconnection from God that leads to idolatry?