Depression that Appears to be Anger or Rage -- How to Handle It

In my last post, I talked about how I experience depression as anger or rage. In this post, I'm going to talk about how to handle anger or rage that is really depression in disguise.

Depression as Anger Can't Be Allowed to Continue

It's not surprising that anger and rage can be extremely detrimental to a person's life, not to mention their psyche, so it's not something that can be allowed to run rampant. It will hurt you and it will hurt the people around you if it's not brought under control. In fact, I have heard from many people with bipolar disorder and many of their loved ones who talk about anger being a topmost concern. "Bipolar rage" is practically famous. And while not all of this anger and rage can be traced back to depression, some of it can.

How to Handle Depression that Appears as Anger or Rage

The most important thing to do, in my opinion, is to recognize anger for what it is: a superficial emotion hiding deeper suffering. Yes, the angry brain is trying to protect you from feeling that suffering, which is laudable, but that suffering is real and needs to be dealt with. Getting in touch with the depressed mood -- actually looking for it, as insane as that sounds -- can help alleviate the anger. So try to look within yourself and find the depression dwelling deep inside your being. It will want to hide and you have to be brave to look for and find it.

Then, it's important to breathe. You need to breathe through the upset of anger and rage and you need to breathe through the suffering of depression. Those breaths need to be deep, long and meaningful. They need to be from your belly, your diaphragm. They need to be in touch with your deeper self. They need to be as calm and cool as you can make them. Take as many breaths as you need to try to find some calm in the choppy waters of anger and depression.

After that, if you've done it well, you're left with the depressed mood. Is that really a step forward? I guess that depends on who you ask, but I suspect it would be considered positive to the people you were previously taking the anger and rage out on. And for me, I'm always about getting to the bottom of an emotion rather than staying with its superficial manifestation.

Treating Depression as Anger or Rage

The good news is that treating the depression also treats the anger and rage. They are intertwined. One study shows that adding citalopram (Celexa) to a mood stabilizer decreases anger attacks in people with bipolar disorder.¹ Psychotherapy can also help you deal with your depression as anger or rage.

So, if you have bipolar depression (or even bipolar mania or hypomania, for that matter), consider the idea that you're not really angry. Consider that the anger is a manifestation of illness that needs to be addressed and treated. Remember, you are not a bad person for feeling anger and/or rage, it may be very tied into your illness, the only bad things are the actions you choose to take because of those feelings. Make those actions positive by learning coping skills and getting treatment -- just like for any other bipolar symptom.

Talk to your doctor about it. Talk to your therapist about it too. That can help everyone in your life, including you.

Sources

1. Mammen, O., et al., "Anger Attacks in Bipolar Depression: Predictors and Response to Citalopram Added to Mood Stabilizers." Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, May 2004.