As we often hear from members of The Depression Project's community, it's common for depression to contribute to feelings of anger. And, if you can relate, then in order to help you feel a little bit better understood and a little less alone, in this blog post, we'd like to share with you a free excerpt from our "Depression Anger" Journal that includes quotes from our community members about what "depression anger" is like.
Are you ready?
Free excerpt
âYou get angry over nothingâ
Perhaps the most common account that our members gave of âdepression angerâ was becoming irritable, upset, and/or enraged over little things that under usual circumstances, would hardly bother them at all â such as, according to one of our community members in particular, âdropping a penâ.
âIâm always so self-criticalâ
âDepression angerâ can also manifest as being highly self-critical â in the sense that youâre frequently abusing-, blaming-, and/or shaming yourself over, for example:
- Something you did;
- Something you didnât do;
- The âconsequences of depressionâ - such as, for example, struggling to function up to your usual potential; being unable to be the person you want to be in your relationships; and/or decreased performance at school or at work.
âIt makes you act impulsively and say and do things that youâll later regretâ
This often happens when youâve lost control of your âdepression angerâ, and can take the form of, for example:
- Saying something hurtful and offensive (including to someone you love);
- Becoming aggressive and/or violent.
âI find myself hating everything and everyoneâ
You may also feel overcome with anger at the world, including at everything and everyone in it.
âYou can get really defensive and overly sensitive to criticismâ
If youâre already feeling angry at yourself, others and/or the world, then criticism â even if itâs constructive and well-intentioned â is often the last thing you want to hear.
ââDepression angerâ can lead to you engaging in self-sabotaging behaviours as a coping mechanismâ
Some people in The Depression Projectâs community who struggle with âdepression angerâ also reported engaging in self-sabotaging behaviours in response to it. For example:
- Binge eating â in order to, most commonly, give your mood a temporary boost;
- Substance abuse â in order to, most commonly, try to âdrown outâ or ânumbâ âdepression angerâ and everything else that you want an escape from;
- Self-harming â because, for example, youâre so furious with yourself that you hurt yourself as punishment; youâre so frustrated and mad at not being able to control your emotions that you self-harm because it feels like one of the few things you do have control over; and/or because youâre so bottled up with fury and other emotions that you self-harm as a way to release all those emotions.
End of free excerpt
If you can relate to some or all of the above journal excerpt, then like we've said, please rest assured that you are NOT alone, and that feelings of anger when you have depression are extremely understandable given everything you're going through.
All our love,
The Depression Project Team.
P.S. In addition to helping you feel as if you're not alone, we created The "Depression Anger" Journal in order to:
- Help you understand why anger is such a common symptom of depression;
- Help you understand the ways that âdepression angerâ may be fuelling and compounding your depression;
- Help you manage and defuse your âdepression angerâ in the âheat of the momentâ â so that you donât act in ways that youâll later regret, and so that you can prevent it from fuelling and compounding your depression;
- Help you take steps to feel less âdepression angryâ in the first place, and instead feel more calm, relaxed and at peace on the whole.
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