Anger that comes out of nowhere - anyone else?
I've been having these random anger episodes lately. Like I'll be fine one minute and then something small happens - my kid leaves dishes in the sink or whatever - and I just explode. My wife says its been getting worse. I don't even feel angry most of the time, its like it just builds up without me noticing.
Anybody else deal with this? Starting to think maybe its not really anger but something else going on underneath.
Man I could have written this post myself. My therapist told me that anger is often just depression wearing a mask. I thought that was BS at first but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. There was an article on here about it actually - something about how men express depression as anger because we were never taught to do anything else with our feelings.
same here. lost my temper at my 8 year old last week over literally nothing and felt like garbage after. finally made a therapy appointment. the anger isnt who I want to be.
What helped me was just starting to notice WHEN it happens. Like keeping a mental log. Turns out my anger spikes are always when I'm exhausted or haven't eaten. Sounds simple but I had no idea. The physical stuff and emotional stuff are way more connected than I realized.
This is really common for guys our age (I'm 38). We spent decades stuffing everything down and eventually the pressure has to go somewhere. Anger is the one emotion that feels "acceptable" for men to express so that's where it comes out. Therapy honestly changed my life once I got past the stigma of going.