Depression and Anger
Are Depression and Anger Linked?
Depression is a highly common mental health condition. Symptoms, causes, and effective treatment methods all vary significantly from one depressed individual to another. The feeling of anger, specifically, plays a significant role in major depressive disorder symptoms. Recent studies indicate that when it comes to emotional issues, feelings of anger are some of the most destructive. Severe anger can lead to greater severity of depressive symptoms, negative consequences, and difficulty treating depression. The feeling of anger is one of the most understudied, yet significant emotions in the development and treatment of mood disorders.
The following article will explore how anger and depression are linked, and how to treat anger issues to lessen the severity of depressive symptoms.
Is anger a symptom of depression, or can anger cause depression?
Anger can be both a symptom of depression and also cause depression or worsen depressive symptoms if anger is not handled in positive ways.
A recent study from 2013 found that failing to cope with anger in healthy ways leads people to turn their anger inward. Anger held inside was found to contribute to the severity of a depressive episode significantly.
Displays of anger and hostility are also indicators of depression. Outward displays of anger and aggression are more common with men who are depressed, although women are just as likely to experience feelings of irritability and turn their anger inwards.
How do feelings of anger lead to depression, or contribute to depressive symptoms?
Individuals can cope with uncomfortable emotions such as anger in one of two ways. They can either use adaptive coping mechanisms or maladaptive ones. Adaptive coping methods would be recognizing the negative emotion and using it to take assertive action. Using adaptive methods to deal with anger leads to feelings of lightness, freedom, and authenticity. Healthy ways of dealing with anger can act as a protective mechanism against depression.
Maladaptive coping mechanisms contribute to feelings of victimization, and isolation. Instead of using anger to take action, people with maladaptive traits will turn anger into dysfunction. In those prone to depression, inward-facing anger becomes a critical inner voice, leading to feelings of guilt and worthlessness, which are common symptoms of a major depressive episode. If anger is left unaddressed, depressed patients can stay in a state of frustration and experience more severe depressive symptoms. They may turn the anger even further inward and engage in self-harm or suicide attempts. Or, they can act out their anger in destructive, criminal ways.
Who is most at risk of experiencing anger issues that lead to depression?
Although men are more likely to display outward signs of anger when depressed, women are more likely to have feelings of anger turned inward, and exhibit symptoms of irritability.
Depressive patients who experience anger issues tend to be younger, more likely to be female, and less likely to be college educated. Also, depressed patients with anger issues often have earlier onsets of their first depressive episode than patients who do not experience anger when depressed. Also, depressed patients with anger issues experience more severe depressive symptoms and bouts of depression that last longer than patients who do not experience significant levels of anger.
Is one demographic group more prone to anger and depression issues?
In adults seeking mental health treatment from an outpatient facility, anger is a common symptom. Because anger is often associated with aggression and hostility, it’s one of the most clinically significant symptoms in depressed patients who experience it. Studies indicate that half of all adults seeking outpatient treatment report moderate to severe levels of anger, and one-quarter of those patients experience anger high enough to lead to aggressive behavior. Left unaddressed, anger can lead to significant, adverse health consequences and act as a trigger for behavioral issues such as domestic violence or hostility in the workplace.
- People younger than 45 are more likely to experience feelings of anger and depression.
- Native Americans have the highest levels of maladaptive anger in psychiatric settings.
- Individuals who experience abuse in childhood are more likely to suffer from maladaptive anger.
- People with family incomes less than $35,000 or individual incomes less than $20,000 are more likely to experience anger and mood disorders.
- Unemployed individuals experience higher levels of anger.
People who are widowed, divorced, separated, or never married have higher levels of anger issues and psychiatric disorders than people who are married.
How can someone deal with their anger issues and depression?
Medication is useful for addressing and treating the symptoms of depression, but medication alone cannot effectively treat and alleviate maladaptive anger. In depressed patients where anger plays a significant role in their disorder, it’s crucial that maladaptive anger is addressed in a clinical setting. Treating maladaptive anger, and turning those maladaptive traits into adaptive traits can greatly reduce the negative emotional consequences of rage turned inward.
One of the most effective ways of treating anger and depression is with a combination of pharmacological means and behavioral therapies. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, addresses anger issues in a controlled environment. A trained therapist can help patients recognize their anger and cope with it in adaptive ways to effect positive, lasting changes in the patient’s life. Also, CBT is a well-known technique for managing the symptoms of depression. Patients who suffer from anger issues and major depressive disorder can make significant gains when combining drug treatment therapies with CBT.
For patients with treatment-resistant depression where medications fail at alleviating symptoms, a combination of CBT with deep brain stimulation techniques such as TMS can lessen depression symptoms. 60% of patients who receive transcranial magnetic stimulation experience a marked reduction in depressive symptoms. A full third of those patients will go on to experience a complete remission of depression for more than a year after transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy.
Although anger is a significant contributor, and also a symptom of depression itself, patients who address their anger issues in therapy will experience a lessening of depressive symptoms and a shortening of the duration of the episode.
If you’ve been told it’s wrong to get angry, you may not be comfortable expressing strong feelings. Anger can go too far, but its function is to tell you something is wrong and motivate you to fix it. When it becomes an everyday occurrence or you find yourself flying off the handle over little things, something may be causing you to overreact. One of the most common causes is depression.
The Connection Between Depression and Anger
Individuals may have suppressed or overt anger. When it is uncontrollable or triggered by trivial incidents, either can be harmful. Researchers know anger is linked to depression, and they think it contributes to depressed feelings, especially when it is turned inward. It works both ways, however. Depression can also make anger worse.
Studies from the American Psychiatric Association suggest that 9 in 10 acts of aggression follow feelings of anger. Only 1 in 10 incidents of anger, however, result in aggressive behavior. People may want to act out when they’re angry, but most are able to control their aggression. Sometimes, anger can even lead to problem-solving.
Three Kinds of Angry Behavior
Unlike depression, anger is not a condition that can be diagnosed. It is an unpleasant emotional reaction that affects people with and without mental disorders. While it’s normal to feel angry at times, uncontrollable anger, especially when it accompanies depression, may be a sign of a deeper problem.
Anger often occurs in these three ways:
- Irritability: If you’re irritable, you may over-react or get upset over things that aren’t important.
- Hostility: Attacking others or showing anger are signs of hostility.
- Anger Attacks: Intense episodes that escalate quickly and are out of proportion to the trigger are called anger attacks.
Depression and Anger Management
Treating depression and learning anger management skills can reduce negative emotions and keep them from getting stronger. It’s impossible to get away from all the people, places, or things that bother you, but you can control your own actions. The difficulty of the process usually depends on how emotionally vulnerable you are and how well you handle your feelings.
For individuals who are depressed, it helps to treat both depression and anger, and a combination of therapies usually works best. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and other kinds of counseling encourage patients to recognize unhealthy behavior and replace it with a healthier alternative. There is no medication for anger, but drugs that help with depression may also make anger management easier.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation – A New Approach
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a relatively new technology that uses energetic pulses to stimulate parts of the brain associated with depression. TMS is non-invasive, and patients can attend short daily sessions, returning to work or school immediately. Side effects are few, and most people see results within a few weeks.
TMS is an effective addition to traditional depression treatment and anger management. It also offers new hope to individuals who don’t want to take or haven’t responded to medication. Contact Pulse TMS to find out more about how our experienced team of professionals can help you.
Updated 3/20/2021