Do you find yourself caught in an emotional tug-of-war? Is your depression causing anger? If every little frustration feels like it could explode into rage and snapping at loved ones for no reason has become a common habit, learn the ways to help yourself with depression and anger.
As an effect of depression, anger is quite common because we get tired of managing our depressed moods and get frustrated. Eventually, this affects our psyche and generates byproducts like irritability which negatively influence our daily lives.
In this blog, I will help you understand when depression causes anger and how to manage it.
Scientific Connection Between Depression and Anger
There are scientific reasons as well for depression causing anger. Serotonergic dysfunction is one of the major issues that causes imbalance in the serotonin level and leads to MDD (major depressive disorder) and anger issues.
Therefore, if it remains undiagnosed and untreated it adversely affects and worsens the mood disorders. In such cases, two things can happen:
Inward Anger
Sigmund Freud stated the concept of anger turning inward. It means you will not show the outburst to your surrounding people but the immense feeling of anger will be there in your psyche.
This is one of the most dangerous cases of depression causing anger. As an effect, you will start criticizing yourself, being hard on yourself, and even trying to harm yourself as well.
Outward Anger
Outward anger, as it states is the outburst of anger toward your surroundings. Depression can increase negative feelings like losing control and being aggressive to others.
Suppose, you are a team leader who constantly gets scolded by the manager for every small mistake. Eventually, such disrespect will make you restless, depressed, and angry and you will start lashing out on your team and co-workers. And the worst part? It will also affect your personal life as well.
Is Your Depression Causing Anger? 4 Reasons You are Facing It
It seems that depression and anger are quite opposite to each other but they are interrelated.
Think about it like this: depression can sometimes feel like a pot of simmering water. It’s mostly quiet, just sitting there on the stove. But if you turn up the heat and leave it long enough, it can start boiling over. That means being exposed to situations that worsen the depressing state can transform your depression into anger.
Here are a few situations when you will feel so:
1. Bottled-Up Feelings:
When you keep your feelings of sadness and frustration inside for too long, they can build up.
You may choose not to react to assaults that you have been facing very frequently and try to adjust to them. However, you won’t be able to continue this for a longer time because that continuous assault will make you depressed and a time will come when you will just explode with anger.
Such scenarios are very common in toxic relationships, workplaces, and even in households.
Read More: What Kind Of Angry Are You? The 4 Types Of Anger
2. Feeling Misunderstood:
If you’re dealing with depression, feeling like nobody really gets what you’re going through can be incredibly frustrating.
Suppose you are feeling extremely low and have reached out to a friend seeking comfort. At this moment he or she tells you, “Oh! You are overreacting. Just cheer up!” In such cases, frustration can easily turn into anger, especially if you feel like people are dismissing your feelings.
3. Perceived Injustice:
Sometimes, depression comes with a sense of hopelessness and feeling like life is unfair. This sense of injustice can fuel anger, especially if you see others are getting undue advantages while you’re struggling.
I don’t want to generalize it but this kind of feeling is very common among adolescents and young adults. This is because they are constantly pressured to overtake each other. Be it studies, holding rank in college, in the workplace, or even managing their roles in their homes, they feel the sheer essence of competition.
In such a scenario, when they see that they are facing injustice, partiality, and false accusations even after trying hard, they start getting depressed. This in turn becomes anger and sometimes this anger becomes more destructive.
Read More: How To Help Children Cope With Anger And Angry Feelings
4. Loss of Control:
“There are moments in life when it is all turned inside out–what is real becomes unreal, what is unreal becomes tangible, and all your levelheaded efforts to keep a tight ontological control are rendered silly and indulgent.”
― Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project
Yes, we all can relate to the above quote. Depression can make you feel out of control of your own life. All of us have faced such situations at any point in our lives or may still be going through the same.
Thus, when everything feels chaotic and nothing you do seems to help, that helplessness can quickly turn into anger as a form of fighting back.
How to Help with Depression and Anger?
Different stages of depression require different treatments. If it is in the primary stages, counseling can help. In the advanced stages, you will require serious clinical attention like CBT, DBT, medicinal treatment, etc.
In my personal experience, there is nothing more effective than counseling that awakens you, boosts your self-control, and helps you to come out of the dark arena of depression.
Some other ways to cope with depression causing anger are as follows:
1. Talk About It: Find someone you trust and talk about how you’re feeling. Sometimes just getting it out there can relieve some of the pressure.
2. Physical Activity: Exercise can be a great way to burn off some of that excess anger energy.
3. Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: These can help you stay calm and centered, making it less likely that you’ll hit the boiling point.
4. Journaling: Writing about your feelings instead of just showing excessive anger to your surrounding people can be a beneficial way to manage your anger issues.
Read More: 8 Strategies to Work Through Anger and Resentment
Wrapping Up
As you can see, depression causing anger is common and there are also the way out. Our lives are full of ups and downs and every time we face the downs we become hopeless and depression comes along. In the process of dealing with such situations, depression and anger become correlated and affect your personality.
However, with mindful practices, trying to bring back the controls, reaching out to the right people, etc. you will surely come out of the situation. And when you succeed in your battle don’t forget to lend your hand to others who are in desperate need of help.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
1. What are the most effective ways to manage anger issues?
Doing relaxation practices, breathing exercises, and practicing self-control are some of the most effective ways to manage depression causing anger.
2. Can depression causing anger be seen in young people?
Research says that anger issues due to depression is quite common among young people.
3. Which personality disorder is more prone to give anger issues?
Antisocial personality disorder is more prone to give anger issues to individuals.
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