- Addictions
- Recovery
- Sex Addiction
- Anxiety, Panic, Phobia
- Breath and Meditations
- Depression
- Bipolar
- General
- Grief
- Pregnancy - Postpartum
- Grief and Bereavement
- Mental Health
- Anxiety
- Bipolar
- Depression
- Phobias
- Stress
- Treatment Options
- Relationships
- Anger
- Communication
- Friends and Peers
- Infidelity
- Marriage
- Parent - Child
- Sexuality
- Teens
- Types of Treatment
- DBT, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
- Group Therapy
- Natural & Holistic
Is Your Anger Misunderstood?
01/20/2008 - By Gwynne Curry photo by John Lindsey
Anger Depression Acceptance
Author Gwynne Curry writes about anger as a doorway to help depressed people. The key is how to use anger, harnessing its energy to move forward through it.
Is Your Anger Misunderstood?
When you're depressed you experience feelings of hopelessness and, often times, despair. So, it is very natural for someone who is depressed to become angry about how they’re feeling and the course their life is taking.
Unfortunately, what usually happens next is that well meaning mental health professionals and/or family and friends will label your anger as “inappropriate” and try to talk you out of your angry mood.
If they are successful, the next logical step is for you to return to the feelings of hopelessness and despair.
This happens because many people get along with you better when you’re depressed than when you’re angry. So, their primary concern is actually a selfish one. They don’t realize that they are interfering with your progress. If asked, they would probably say (and actually believe) that you’re better off being depressed than angry.
However, what they don’t understand (because they’re not depressed) is that anger is actually an improvement in mood for someone who is depressed. At the very least, there is a feeling of regaining some of your life giving power in the emotion of anger and that certainly feels better than feeling totally hopeless.
Depression is Anger
By the way, this cycle of going from depression to anger and back to depression again can literally last for decades and is a primary cause of the feeling of “nothing ever changes in my life” that is so common for people who are depressed. So the next time someone tells you your anger is inappropriate, you can tell them that when you’re angry it feels better than being depressed.
But you don't want to get stuck in your anger any more than you want to stay depressed.
Anger Activities
The trick is in realizing that you are feeling incrementally better and that one improvement in mood can lead to another improvement. If you’re angry and look for a thought or activity that will give you a feeling of relief from your anger, you will be able to move out of anger without going back to feelings of depression. When you get the hang of this, you’ll be on your way to healing your depression for good.
Author Gwynne Curry suffered with depression for almost 40 years and has been free of depression for more than 5 years. She has written a book available electronically called Beat Depression Fast! http://www.BeatDepressionFast.com http://www.DepressionInfoGuide.com
