It took me a long time to understand the connection between depression and anger. One psychiatrist I visited would often ask a simple question toward the end of a session: How’s your anger?
I couldn’t understand why he asked. I hadn’t been talking about anger. Depression was my problem.
I’d usually respond with a puzzled, Fine. I’d leave his office wondering why he had asked about anger but soon put it out of my mind.
He never pressed me to talk about it, and I never asked for an explanation. After a while, though, I put the two together, and found a new way of looking at myself that went deeper than I had gone when focused only on depression.
I knew that irritability was on the list of depressive symptoms used for making a diagnosis. But I separated that in my mind from raw, hot-blooded anger.
Before saying any more, I want to distinguish between ordinary anger and the intense anger that leads to rage. Anger is a basic human emotion that helps defend us from attack. I think of it like pain – a powerful signal that demands a reaction.
You’re being accused unjustly. You’re being verbally or physically abused. You witness an act that violates basic norms of justice and humanity. You get angry, outraged at an attack on your integrity, your body, your loved ones. Anger alerts you to the need to react in order to defend your safety, family, identity, ideals – everything that makes you who you are.
That sort of anger is justified. Feeling and expressing it are inwardly satisfying because you’re standing up for yourself. If you were to stifle it, you’d probably feel ashamed that you let yourself be run over.
The anger that quickly leaps to rage is completely different. It may be triggered by an external provocation, but its causes are usually buried inside you. It’s more of a projection onto the world, a response that is far out of proportion to any cause.
Perhaps the hallmark of this sort of anger, like the intense forms of irritability, fear or despair, is that they perpetuate themselves. After a while, they simply take over. You’re raging, irritable, intensely anxious or despairing for no apparent reason. Or if there is a reason at the beginning, the distorted emotions keep going without letup. They have a life of their own.
Far from being satisfied at the expression of an understandable emotional reaction, I’d feel terrible and full of guilt. I’d try to apologize, but the damage was done.
There had been periods in my life when I had stormed and raged with my unfortunate family for no apparent reason – though at the time I found plenty of things to yell about.
Those “causes” were usually small stuff. The house is a mess – meaning all I could see was a disorder I couldn’t stand, viscerally couldn’t tolerate. The kids had to be controlled better. They were too wild. They were acting too much like … kids!
Sometimes, and I hate to think back on it, I got violent, threw things around, hit my sons. Mostly I mistreated them by yelling down whatever they tried to say. I raged for total obedience. I raged at my wife about anything that rubbed me the wrong way.
It never occurred to me that extreme anger might be related to depression. It amazes me now that I never made a connection. It amazes me even more that I never sought help to deal with the rage – whether or not it was linked to anything else.
Once it started, I couldn’t stop it, no matter how much I tried. I knew the triggers that could set me off as soon as I walked into the house – and it was at home where I raged most often. I could anticipate the problems and knew how crazy it was to start yelling about stupid little things. I couldn’t stand what I was doing. But I couldn’t stop feeling the rage.
Then I read Terrence Real’s I Don’t Want to Talk About It
During many an intense session, wall-punching anger rushed out of men who found it impossible to talk about their feelings. Real came to think of this as a covert form of depression because sooner or later a full-blown depressive episode would set in.
Using the anger to probe its origin, he usually found a deep shame that had developed early in life. There was a sense of failure to achieve the ideals of manhood that his client had been expected to meet. Traumatic events had pushed the boy over the brink and led to his sealing emotions away so deeply that he lost touch with them altogether.
Whether or not you agree with this type of explanation, the drama that unfolded in his office brought out a deep connection between the extremes of anger and depression.
I had lived through moments exactly like the scenes Real’s clients described and often acted out in his presence.
Whatever the explanation, I finally felt the relationship between depression and extreme anger. I had been swinging from one mood to another, a period of explosive anger followed by a period of deep depression. From intense but destructive energy to no energy at all.
As I had found so many times, awareness was the first step in healing. I couldn’t stop either the anger or the depression on my own but could see what they were doing to me. That prompted me to get help and start a long process of recovery.
For the first time, I understood the psychiatrist’s question, and my raging anger became part of the discussion from then on.
In a later post, I’ll talk about how I’ve been able to limit and manage this dimension of depression.
Is this form of anger part of your experience of depression?
Image by RTP (Really Terrible Photographer) at Flickr
Hello.
Do you take any medication to support your depression? If so what one/s?
Thank you
I can totally relate down to the T. It happens and you feel is extreme guilt and in which furthers my depression. My case also includes all the common man hood closed and locked up frozen emotions and feeling like I can’t talk about them, but I also have a wife that suffers with depression. When I have in the past finally opened up and tried to do emotional ” talk” all women deem necessary. It seemed it was more like a competition to who was worst off, so I stopped. I’ve sought out for help and went to drs. The thing that gets me is how im told by my wife who im now separated from due to my issues, when I ask for help and to confined in her cause she’s all I had and try to work things out im told I need to love myself first and build on my own before she feels further obligated to my problems.
Wow. I am struggling with this now. I don’t understand it. How can anyone else understand it? Rage connection to depression. No way. Seems like yes way. THANK U FOR SHARING. definitely need this knowledge. I’m terrified, but the word shame…..has truly hit a cord with me right now. I don’t know why. I really don’t want to know why, but it’s definitely there. I never have understood why my whole life I’ve felt shameful. I am thankful my family doctor spotted this almost immediately after our conversation and prescribed some med. Just still hate that this thing aka depression is there…..
i get ngry about my lack of accomplishments in life i dropped out of college because i could no longer afford it.and i dwell on that constantly and blame others for my situation.i have huge outbursts against family and friends and some wont talk to me anymore after the outbursts come the apologies and trying to make it seem like no big deal,but the insults were heard and you cant take them back.to some it is a big deal,after the outbursts and apologies comes the shame then i will drop into a depression of no energy.i really dont mean the things i say ,or do i?i go for the gullet wth any insult i know will cut to the bone.i lost the girl i wanted to marry i am now single and in my 40’s and i cannot shake this anger of lack of accomplishments and droning on the past.its terrible to live with,i even have thoughts of suicide but im too much of a coward to actually do it.its a terrible thing not to like yourself.because in my heart i know im a good person i love animals and adore women and children but my anger has robbed me of everything i guess all there is to do now is grow old and die alone.the worst thing about this affliction is that it cannot be seen with the human eye,you can see the results of it but its not like being crippled where you can actually see the contorted limbs or misformed foot.its invisible and people will tell you to buck up and be a man because people don’t believe what they cannot see alot of the time.but yeah lifes been good and bad but without the depression i know i would have accomplished great things i feel like a wasted mind.and am angry about that.
I have lived with depression for many years now. It was a big factor in the break up of my marriage. I am with a good man now but have messed it up with this rage that I can’t control. On Saturday night it was the final straw for him;it started over something silly but my rage took over and I slapped him repeatedly till he pushed me away to defend himself. I let everyone know that he had done this but after thinking about it realised he hadn’t hit me… he just wanted me off him. He has now understandably left me but I have to deal with the knowledge that it’s my own fault. I have an autistic child who, as a lot of people know, comes with a lot of pressure and anxiety in whether I’m being a good enough parent to them or not. My partner tried to support me but I always took it as criticism. Sorry for the rambling but does anyone have any advice?
I’m actually dealing with the same thing at the moment. I’m super irratible towards my boyfriend of 6 years constantly. I’ve tried as hard as I can not to direct any of it towards my daughter but I’ve snapped a few times and brought my 2 year old to tears.. I don’t know how to help my situation and as of a few days ago my boyfriend left me to go sleep in his car. He claims that I’m the entire problem which I feel is wrong but maybe I am wrong. I’ve been struggling with this for years and don’t understand it. I’m hoping so,done can answer these questions for me.
I am bi polar, or decades I felt I was helping the community, my husbands family and his coworkers, even him by trying to get him to be the better human being in the community, When he returned from His Navy submarine hitch and went back To the Big three transmission plant he was on Military leave from, all any one wanted was that him and 160 others coming back about the same time did not come back and use their accrued seniority in what was felt an irresponsible way just coming back and taking the, shifts, jobs, holidays, vacations and weekends from people that had hired in in the last 2 years.
The Only person that me or his father even had a hope of controlling was my husband in this. the others coming back caused major personal problems with their returns just walking through the doors and starting to use the seniority they had accrued. People going to schools had to drop out. family functions with children were missed, Peoples dreams were being crushed when the found they were not high enough in seniority to get the life they felt they had worked for the last few years.
My husband was remembered in the area when twice before NIS and the FBI came around asking questions about him. They wondered what he had done wrong to draw federal authority attention and investigations, Then They heard that he dealt with nuclear weaponery when public sentiment was that all that worked in that field were the Evil potential mass murderers.
My husbands return, cold and uncaring attitude about any bodys needs other than his, had his own father many of his friends who had family members that worked in that plant did not want his return to disrupt any ones life more than absolutely needed. I was asked to find a way to keep him on the shift he was coming back to. Keep him from forcing his seniority to things like time off, holidays, or vacations, at least for the first two years he was home I had to find a way to just keep him on the job, on the shift and quiet about his seniority rights, Just make things easy for everyone. He came back with a roar His first day home he was met by a note on the door to take the sofa and leave me alone until everyone could find time to sit down and lay out expectations.
His father expected him to be back to work his first 24 hours after he came through the door even though the contract said he had 30 days to come back Set up a home and then go back, But at 630 that May 28th 1985. I was listening as his mother begged him not to murder his father and just do as he wanted because she did not need him pouting the rest of the week about being defied. pleas don’t start his first day home with trouble with his father. 24 hours latter I had not seen my husband except 30 minutes in November the year before on his Submarine in three and a half years.
24 hours latter I woke up to WW3 breaking out in the living room of his fathers house. His father again yanked him off the sofa after an hours sleep, yelling at him to get his rear out and find a place to live, he did not need to deal with me, his stomach, any thing but focus on what he had to do, and that was not himself. His mother ran into my room and Begged me to come help stop a murder in the living room because my husbands temper was already done with everyone, My first Sight of my husband after getting home was He had his father straight arm trapped against the ceiling of his living room getting weaker by the second as he hit his sons arm trying to gain a breath. My husband was yelling that him and everyone else had started out with getting on his last nerve the day before and he was going to see me. If I was not standing in front of him in one minute he was going to use his fathers dead body to tear bulkheads out until I appeared.
I had to tug on his t-shirt and ask him to let his father down, His mother suggested to his father he better run, he did We found a nice house a mile from his work gate by three that after noon. His mother said please just a few weeks to get used to his return was all that was needed after all there was always tomorrow, just let tempers settle down, To be honest I did not know the reasons for the animosity between his father, his fathers friends and my husband until last year, when in therapy Pictures of A surgery in the fall of 1972 that involved over 153 stitchs on my husbands back and another 50 on his wrists from a whipping with lamp cord delivered to my husband The Fifty stitchs on his wrists was from him trying to escape the Zip ties they had used to tie him to a tree and five grown men whipped him until he was cut to the bone and passed out.
All of these men have paid in pain since, In 1999 my husband caught three on a fishing day celebrating their retirement at the same place they whipped him He Knew they would be there, when he took a section of garden hose and filled it with shot and bbs, sealing both ends with super glue. He knocked three of them out and ied them to the same tree and used that weapon on all three then he cut them down and told them go ahead come after him, After a stay in the hospital in the area all the left with their wives. That winter he started in on me and everyone else that wronged him. To get him to stay over the Christmas down week 2000 instead of going to Bavaia wioth what had by that time become a static group on vacations for the Millinial celebrations we had to steal his pass port and lock it away from him and even got him arrested and jailed for eight hours until wee were over the Atlantic Just so many other people had plans he could ruin if he made them work.
We did not consider he should have plans, Before the fight that morning I said when I got back we could turn a new page in a new century and we could sit down and plan something for him. even The start of a sex life 20 years over due, He cussed me out yelling why \did we think we were gods when everyone else had rights that he should have the same. I tried to explain we were not trying to deny him his right to time off we just needed him to take the times when I was better for everyone else. We got home on his birthday from Bavaria to the most disgusting display of no respect for me his parents or any one else, I was going to suggest he could take the two weeks following that week as personal time and have the holiday replacement then at least act like it was a Christmas and we could have everything he had missed over the holidays since 1981. We could talk about a cruise possibly, Get something started and I would get the order removed making him work all offered hours It was time somebody else started taking the load it was Just an dam two weeks I needed from him after hearing how useless I was the last 16 years as a wife and a lousy bitch.
We Got back With a 1300 dollar clock as his birthday, Christmas, peace offering gift for having forced our hand making him work again, I told Him That We had a nice gift for him the next week And he said he had one for me I could open then.
This was how much he resected me by that time I opened the box and found it filled with dog S***, His parents gift cost them 2000 in cleanup cost on their house and it left his mother crying that was how much love he felt for the family now. His father was hit in the face with a bucket of urin as his gift and he left all of use dumfounded that could no time off in 20 years really be so bad as to be this way, e were going to go to court and talk to the judge that had applied the original order and we set up a court date with the clerk. We were shocked when we entered the conference room to find another judge appointed by the state sitting there, His father asked what happened to his friend he was supposed to hear our complaint petition, The sitting judge said that would be tough since the other judge was removed from the bench and arrested right after the new year, by July 2001 things changed radicaly in the community. My husband was not under a court order any longer and the county lawyers had set up a deal that if my husband removed his 100000000 dollar lawsuit they would ensure no such order would ever be issued on any one in the county again. My husband became our problem. Latter that month he threw up and passed out at his foremans feet with a headache that had built for years, We had seen his left foot start dragging, he seemed to be crying all the time and Everything was kept out of the room he slept in and the arguments sometimes left me scared he was going to take my head off getting him to just bide his time. He could not be defiant forever and soon he would get what he wanted. Just wait, be patient, Good things came to tose who waited was my saying.
When they got him on the table for a surgery to remove a tumor of the top of his brain stem it was bad, The survival expectancy was near zero. A hole from Over his right eye to the center of his head to get the tumor was done, When the Insurance forced him to be sent home two days latter his doctor impress that the next 60 days were in his opinion vital to his recovery and wanted him to rest as much as possible on sick leave, The time was the worst, Right in the middle of School time off and parents wanting vacations to coincide, For things like Disney world. Cedar Point, lakes camping and other family persuits, Six days after the surgery I was pushed out of the way by his father and four coworkers taking him to work, They were yelling he was not going to cause them to miss out on their plans just because of a little hole in his head. My husband put up what fight he could as they took him to work, But he was very weak after the surgery. I could not bring myself to get good friends and family jailed for illegal abduction and He did survive but He was never going to allow a finger laid on him from that day, Three months latter he had started working out again Weights, Wind sprints in the Union Gym. He opened his old Army Footlocker the first time in my memory and held up three long Japaness blades I was his certificate of training to the level of 3rd dan Black belt in Sho rey from the Army I could see the movements he was practicing was designed to kill an cripple He started wearing the long blade under his Dusters not on his belt but a special scaboard in the duster. The first week of November my husband and several ex military friends took advantage Of the post 911 confusion and decided they were taking the local ways of assigning job bids by statues instead of seniority as the union contract required. They were not considered as important enough to take seriously until The national sent a representative to the local and censured them for not going by the contract These four men just tied the locals discrestion in the area. Then The decided they were taking a new department in a new plant.
They Took the Four open slots over three young men with powerful and wealthy fathers in the area and one City councilman, I spent the fifth of November on my knees in front of my husband telling him that I was willing to start a sex life and his father and friends would stop with their interference of holiday, vacation and weekend time off he wanted all we needed was one more show of good faith that he would at least try and work through things, He told me that day to take his pimp father by his hand and as a good W**** get drunk or drugged and at least show I had some honor and step in front of a semi so he could find a real wife instead of his fathers s***. I never slept with his father, I did have a few affairs, and each partner I had was ruined somhow by my husband physically or personally many times with dirt him and his friends dug up, After I was flatly told to drop dead and go to hell in the same breath, I told his father I was not going to be able to promise any thing he would believe would happen. His father turned to his best friend and said its time to reinforce our lesson of 1972 The four men wanting the job including the fling I had in Bavaria the year before came up on our porch following my husband and he got it loud enough the whole street was standing watching as the four attacked him In turn they witnessed my husbands retaliation leaving all four on our porch dying. The worst was the man I had a fling with in Bavaria the year before. I had just needed to hear that I was something besides a b**** and worthless as a wife because it was the only way to get his cooperation. That same morning after he left all four dying on our porch I was crying behind the front door telling him her could not come in. The next second the door and frame were on top of me and my ankle broken and he standing there telling me if I ever attempted to get him hurt by locking him out of his house again my next date was an undertaker. He came home In Jaunary 2013 after three years in Rehab relearning to walk after a spinal cord crush an partial severing. After Nearly killing The man I saw the night before over a slight that the man did sweeping his cane He Was in a stress center for two weeks For Rage control. Everyone of his family and my friends were hoping when he came home he would sit with us and somehow. Not walk in demanding everything he was left out of the last three decades come to a peaceful way to let him have something in life now he was crippled. no More slamming people around to get his way. He Was sent home by insurance voucher from the center on a night I was going out with his mother, father and their best friend to an invitation only dinner event I was going to escort his fathers best friend as a favor after a bad divorce the month before, His father told me about the call from the center earlier wanting my husbands pickup and his suggestion to shove him out the door to walk the 20 mile treck in 40 below weather as a way to build character. He said they would wait until we picked him up the next day, so just get ready to go to the event we would not hear from my husband for at least that long. He could not have been more wrong My husband walked in the house at 315 that Tuesday after noon it was 45 minutes till I was to be picked up and was just finishing getting ready when I heard the door open and close, I stepped out the bedroom door right into my husbands chest and knew before the first word things were going to get bad.
Since the brain surgery in 2001 his eyes changed color with his mood, That day they were steel gray instead of hazzle. He started out with sarcasm, saying good he had not seen an evening out in over 31 years It was like a shout when he said where are WE going, knowing I was going someplace without him. was trying to explain we had planed something with him that next Saturday, Just a start to figuring out what he could be allowed since he had no feeling in his legs and to figure out solutions to keep everyone satisfied he was walking now, I got into my purse and grabbed a hundred out of it holding it out to him saying but since he was home we could meet in four hours any where he choose, so we could get his three decades of grievances on the floor.
He blew up yelling about everything he had supplied me for 31 years for what he felt was nothing in return. He also yelled that if I thought any one especially me allowed him a dam thing under his roof I was badly mistaken as far as he was concerned I had extorted 31 years of his life and I was going to be the down payment on the restitution for what was stolen, He raped me begging it did not have to be that way. My outfit was shredded, I got off the floor hurt and slightly bleeding from the force. he Was so angry he handed me the phone and said don’t clean u[p for the rape kit, and don’t pick up for the scene photos, He was wanting everything me and his family as well as our friends had done the last 3 decades as a way to control him to come out in a court, He had Scanned my Journals ,his logs, timekeeping before MRSA in his spine.
He said go ahead get me sent up for sexual misconduct in marriage, He then said with the things he could bring out about the rest of us he hoped we could hold our heads up as he would going to prison.
I knew how many would be hurt if I reported his rape. once he was in court everything would be bought out and investigated it was any way..
our attempt at controlling someone that had no interest in doing what was right for others failed in the worst ways. He just wanted the same life everyone else had. I just could not think of away to get that life without large disapointents elswere and as the resentment grew so did the violence.
Hi,
I’ve suffered severe depression almost my entire life. I remember having thoughts of throwing myself out of the car as a 5 year old.
During my pregnancy my brain chemistry felt like it reset itself but after my children where born (I had boy girl twins :)) I developed cycles of rage then depression from the shame and guilt of the rage episodes.
I Youtube’d everything related to reprogramming my subconscious self, meditation/ing, and new age spirituality (source energy). It’s helped me change my life from being a raging lunatic girlfriend tearing down the house (my bf is NOT the easiest guy to get along with, but he stands by his babies and that’s worth having to deal with the antagonising) to being able to identify triggers and take some time out to meditate and raise my frequency.
Anger is a form of energy. Take some time out to ground the energy: Feel the rage to it’s full extent, identify it, then imagine it flowing through you, through your feet into the ground. Keep directing all the rage into the ground with your mind until you feel like it’s left your body. It won’t transform you into Ms Cool but will give you release so you’re not hitting anyone or yourself!
Youtube anger release guided meditation. Michael Sealey is good. I’ve read and seen hundreds of self improvement material and meditation is an ever recurring practice in mostly all of them. I would say it is the only solace those of us with mental health issues can have.
You’re welcome to Like my facebook page if you’re interested in more material I find super interesting or helpful http://www.facebook.com/feelgoodgraphics
Wow. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were my ex and I was the lost girlfriend… but he would never be so self-aware as to make your post.
It’s incredibly difficult to live with a rageaholic. Before him, I was blissfully unaware that there were people who would wake you up to scream at you about nonsense all night long and verbally abuse their own mother and daughter regularly. But here’s the disconnect- I keep hearing in these comments that the rage is uncontrollable, but how can that be true? He was able to hide it for months until after he had moved in. Doesn’t that demonstrate that he could control it if he wanted to? I’d prefer to stop hating him, but it’s difficult when I view his rage as deliberate in order for the adrenaline or whatever he gained from it. I saw on Facebook that he had started dating someone new and all I could do was feel sorry for her. Sure enough, it was over in about six months- the exact timeframe he pretended to be normal with me.
Since you are aware of what you do and wish to change, why not just set up a plan with a girlfriend? Like “I get uncontrollably angry and start yelling sometimes, when that happens can you please tell me I’m having an episode and I will go lock myself in the bedroom until I feel better?” Wouldn’t that work?
Hey,
Im writing on this forum hoping to get any answer from anyone.
I live with my parents, they often fight because my dad gets angry about everything and anything. A lot of the fights are about me, or my sister. My mom tries to defend us and calm him down but he gets more furious and yells at everyone. Sometimes when they fight, my mother starts screaming and throwing things around (not at any of us, just drops everything on the floor or even keep hitting the wall, one time she hurt her hand because she was hitting it on a chair.)
After we calm her down, she says she cant control it and often times she even asks what exactly happened, it seems like she doesn’t always remember the details of her behaviour.
last night the same thing happened, and after she calmed down i went and sat next to her in silence. out of no where she started laughing, then she stopped. then she laughed again, so i asked why she’s laughing and she said she remembered something funny. then she sobbed a little. she kept crying and laughing and it was really weird, i couldn’t understand what was happening to her and i was scared.
Does anyone know what this is? I want to help my family but they are not open to getting any help.. I don’t even know what kind of condition that is. I know my dad has anger problems and he creams and yells and its horrible and I feel he might have led my mom to the condition she is in now. If anyone can help I would really appreciate any comment back with any advice. thank you.
It sounds like she is in bi polar manic phase, my wife is the same way and she has been diagnosed with this.
How did your wife get a diagnosis? I’ve been so ill since as long as I can remember. I’ve had no help. I get so angry I lash out verbally and physically. Am so rock bottom as my eldest son hates me, if I don’t get help soon so will my other three. Am having a bad time am so rock bottom. Just wish I could get the help I need.
Sorry to hear this.Sounds like your Dad projects(pushes out) a lot of anger into everyone and your Mum understandably becomes the main recipient of that. Sounds like it gets too much to tolerate and she is struggling to hold herself together and flips into these disturbed states. Doesn’t mean she’s ‘mad’ but sounds like it is tough on all of you and you could do with some support so everyone can own their own anger and you all. have room for your individual needs.
Own it. Discovery is no cure. You are a result of your natural surroundings. Nuture is born from nature they are not equal forces… The way we nuture , that is all life imo, is formed over a few or many generations and is powered by nature. Blah blah…my bad. Anyway so you figure out why your upset..sad..anxious depressed and full of fear…what next? Going to have to rewrite neural pathways as to avoid the pits we metally fall in to. I have to say this is a tough one particularly the older we are. Its where you come from how your are treated ( to many to list) but more important how you interpret those experinces. If you are a loner lol gl. If your one of the crowd your chances…with out data to look at.. Are more likely to get over anger for a variety of reasons…imo lol. Anyway save that 200 an hour because meditating on a mountain combined with breathing exercises might not help lol.. But you welcome to try….just dont get to mad when it dosent work as to durther complicate your anger. Questions
Has being a team player helped you in any mental struggle? Be honest
Has being open with your fellow man or women helped you reach any state of peace prolonged?
Have you ever gone the extra mile in work or play and are emotional conpensated for it or yet which is my case villified for a worthy accomplishment?
Do people take advantage of your good heart or are you just greedy for attention or some reward?
Are your expectations too high?
These are some questions not even well thought out try to answer honest straight up.
In my experience all people seem to be self serving including myself… And may not even realize it. We want what we want..period and that may not satisfy either. Ive went out of my way to help loads of folks…there is no reciprication emotional or spiritual. I do those things because of guilt which is a child of fear and i think ive been going at it the wrong way. Why not let natural inclination take over? I blame my parents… Hahaha lol..that really was a joke. Its no ones fault for the way we feel is my temporary belief.
It was a great article. I was also very depressed with my life. I was doing job as receptionist it was very dissatisfied but i had no other options. My monthly bills are on my head. But i wanted to pursue my career in singing because i m born with this very great voice.
Then one day I was searching on web I found this site http://bit.ly/2cT3gJd. It is a site for numerology. It helped me a lot. Now I am part time singer in orchestra also working like i wanted to do. I loved this. You should also try if you believe in astrology.
Hi all,
I needed a space to share my story and discovered this thread.
I am a 33 year old male, married now for about 4 years with a beautiful 7 month old boy. I have been experiencing rage/depression for a couple of years now, but it has never been as bad as it is currently (I attribute this rage spike to the stress of a newborn).
I have noticed with myself that the increase of pressure makes me snap unexpectedly and extremely harshly. I start going into a cursing and screaming fit, completely exhausting myself and not making any kind of sense. After which I feel incredibly guilty.
I have been violent – normally it’s throwing things and hitting doors/walls, but I have also (and it pains me greatly to say this) acted violently towards our dog. I now consider myself an animal abuser. It brings me to tears if I think how I have hit and kicked this poor dog. She is one of my triggers (as John mentioned in the article) that hits me the second I walk into the house – she hasn’t done anything at all, in fact she would run up to the door excited to see me and I would go off on her even before I have greeted anyone else in the house. So my wife would hear me screaming at the dog even before she sees me.
I am absolutely terrified that one day I will snap again and do the same towards my son. I have already had episodes where, for example when he is struggling to fall sleep and cry, I had to leave him alone in his room, so I could go explode in my study or sit in my car and scream because I can’t control myself. Once I do that, I do feel better for a while and can care for my boy again – but this lasts about an hour if I don’t fall into depression. And if that happens, it lasts for days.
My biggest issue and reason for researching this on the internet is I feel I have noone to talk to. Both my parents have nervous issues as well, so I don’t want to burden them with this. My wife is trying to help but I think she is reaching the end of her rope. I have stopped speaking to my friends years ago due to my anxiety.
I think of committing suicide at least once a day. I have had an extreme urge to shoot myself a copule of times, but luckily I don’t own any guns or know someone who do. Many times I have imagined visiting a friend who owns a gun (if I had any), convincing him to show it to me because “I just want to see and hold it” and then when he is not looking, simply putting it in my mouth and pulling the trigger.
The only solace I have found is (again, completely ashamed to admit this) pornography. For some reason, the images make me feel better. I assume this is just the endorphin release that lifts my spirit a bit, but after a while I just hate myself more for exposing myself to that. I absolutely hate it, but I can’t stop it.
I feel so alone and angry and extremely disappointed with myself. I don’t know what to do anymore.
Dude…. you sound like a replica of myself. I’m 29. I was a pretty heavy drinker most of my life, so I stopped about a year ago and I feel like it’s gotten worse. I feel even more than I could when I was drinking. I’ve been addicted to porn since i was about 13. I stopped watching about 6 months ago hoping it will help with my depression, but it hasn’t. It feels like it’s gotten worse. I snap over the smallest, dumbest things… then it leads into depression. All of my hobbies are now things of the past. I have no ambition. I used to be very good at guitar, but now I have absolutely no interest. I might pick it up for 20 minutes and think I’m going to get back into it, but after that 20 minute dull session I won’t pick it back up for another few months. Most conversations with others seem very dull and pointless. I have a hard time paying attention in most of my conversations because just about everyrhing they say is so uninteresting. I feel like my job is pointless. I’ve never pictured killing myself, but I’ve definitely thought about what it would be like for others if I were to commit. Would they even miss me? And then I start to realize that I am important to some people, and then it leads to guilt, then back to the depression. My wife has anxiety and probably some form of depression so we go back and forth at eachother. We have an almost 3 yr old daughter and I know the way we go at each other can’t be healthy for her. I want to stop immediately but I don’t know how. I’m a born again Christian and whenever I read my Bible and meditate on the verses I start to feel better about myself, but I can only read so much in one sitting. But so far God is the only one who can make me feel like I can change who I am. I hope this helped, I’ll be praying for your recovery brother.
I understand, a good CR group at church may help. This all feels frightening and scary, but the good news is that you are not alone in this struggle. Many of us out there. Talking, praying, and fellowship has kept me somewhat sane.
I hope that you will find a therapist, I found this thread because I am feeling completely overwhelmed and so angry all the time, it’s like I’m looking for things to be angry about. I have a 5 year old and 8 year old, I know that having a new baby is so hard and not getting enough sleep makes it worse. I searched in my area for therapists who can help with this and I found a few including a couple of anxiety centers. Maybe you can find something like this too, whatever the cost it would be worth it for you and your wife and especially your child. I can’t really handle the mother I am to my kids right now, so I am going to get some help. I hope you get this message.
I, too, had never made the connection between my depression and anger; I’ve just always assumed I act the way I do because I’m a horrible person. I’m a 24 year old mother, wife, and teacher. Depression/Anxiety and who knows what other disorders are genetic on my mother’s side of the family. I’m ADD, anxious, and depressed. At a young age, I never could control my lashing out..and afterward would feel like the worst person on the planet and wish I could have acted much differently. Today, I lash out at my husband. Just a few hours ago, for example, I went off on him because he said he didn’t really care for my chicken salad because it had cranberries in it…I turned that into “you never like anything I cook,” which is not at all true. I left the room slamming doors and fumed for about 30 minutes, attempting to make him feel like the worst man ever. And why? No reason. What is wrong with me? My husband is the most loving, caring, and patient man in the world. He doesn’t deserve my lashing out at him every week. I do take Prozac, which helps with the sadness symptoms..but not at all for the lack of energy, motivation, and rage. I live in a rural area and sadly, as a teacher, can’t afford a counselor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you! Finally read my story. Lot of environmental/situational triggers in my life – exorbitant amount of stress & despite having been around the block a few times with pdocs, I have been treating my anxiety (instead of focusing on depression) with supplements – no psychotropics for me – been there. Is there a sub-type of depression in DSM V that includes RAGE – there should be! Having spent the last 18 years studying & researching natural treatments for my own mood issues, coupled with healing my son’s autism – I am knowledgeable , yet fear that I have worsened my state. Thrown into the mix is hormones (age), which further complicates matters. Former pdoc is extremely knowledgeable about orthomolecular medicine – time to stop jacking around my neurotransmitters & pay the pdoc a visit! Thanks again for a great read!
I see some of the posts on here are 3 years old or so. I have finally found a story I feel. I dont really get “abusive” and try to hold in my want to punch walls and manage to only punch my steering wheel. People thought this was all caused by my 1x 15mg Adderall for ADHD. I had a psych eval at the hospital and it scared the shit out of me. Forgive my “french”. I was fine for a few days, yet I am home keyed up over some stupid crap and god knows what elee. I really dont want to take more ativan. This is the reason I was addicted to pot. I have no quarrels with it and its legal in my state. I just avoid it to take a break and to get a new job. Unfortunate they have to check. Regardless. Then I have minute depression, sometimes up and down with anxiety, than anger. My psych has me pinned somewhere between Major Depressive Disorder or Bipolar disorder. I usually dont loose it with to many people, but the agitation is beyond what I can describe. I hope whoever else that experiences this finds a solution that works well for them.
Hello Chief. Have you thought of getting a second opinion, instead of accepting those labels? I know labels are sometimes necessary, but they can be an unnecessary lodestone too.
My husband over the last 31 years stopped punching things that could not punch back. The last 16 years he has decided to take on those he feels are his tormentors. Two months after 911 he decided he was not going to at least talk about taking a job that was considered a local prestige job in the transmission plant he worked in. Meant to go to people with higher social status. Him and three of his ex military buddies decided that they did nor care a bit about who’s toes they were treading on.
They actually dared the area society to come after them, Under the national UAW contract My husband and his friends had more than a right to take this job bid. In one argument with his father, the county commissioner , two of the wealthiest men in the county and a city councilman that wanted the position, He told them except for the councilman that their silver spooned country club brats had the brains to fit in a pea, He was not letting their spoiled brats take over a central area to set up and distribute their stinking poisons. The Three younger men were into the sale and distribution of cocain. And All three used. He said get the hell out of his way or be flattened Because he was not backing down one more time for the country club spoiled brats.
His father felt that my husbands lack of any respect for the men and their positions in the community and the perks that that entailed was the ultimate in showing his intension was to never cooperate. On The Fifth of November I was told to make a deal with my husband. Tell him he could have the holidays, vacations and weekends he wanted that was covered in the contract. But Just for once don’t show he was not going to defy their wish. I was told to take my useless cheating rear, take my pim* his father by the hand and step in front of a high speed semi to get me and his father out of his life. I was Told To bolt my husband out of the house the next morning. He would be dealt with then. They did not deal with my husband in any way except end up laying in almost a row on our front porch, Bleeding broken men and my husband standing on the door which I was under with my ankle broken. And He telling me that the next time any thing like this was tried, he would arrange my next date with the undertaker. He would see to it we were all laid in our graves and he left punching his father out on his way out and answered a battery of questions from police who knew it was clearly self defense, to many people saw the four men jump my husband. and His father slapped his son asking if a stinking job position and shift was worth seeing these men laid out like this. My husbands answer was terse and short, Apparently they thought so or they would not be going to trauma care at 430 am.
That’s when his father slapped him and was put on his rear in return with the warning that if his father ever laid his hands on him again the results would be worse. I spent the Next eight years watching the violence escalate, They came and forced my husband into work with shotguns on holidays, weekends and on vacations we stole his passports locking them in a safe deposit so he had to stay and work Then In 2008 he wanted them to hurt him, On Thanksgiving they were forcing him through the gate when a good friend got to close, His shotgun was used against him when the butt crushed his face in after my husband snatched it ut of his hand, The other three men were to stunned to react before ending up with a chambered round and they were under the muzzle. That Thanksgiving had just turned bad. Then Christmas they did not even make it of the street to the turn when two men flew out of the back seat of his fathers car It was going 45 MPH and hey left skin before they stopped rolling. His father was found unconsious and another man cut to pieces after he flew through the windshield onto the hood of the car. The Sheriff himself cam that evening and told us he could no longer turn a blind eye. The next arrest would be us. The next year at the airport I was trying to tell my husband we had set up a different vacation for him starting in January, In seven months he was getting a five week vacation all at once to make up for all the past years. He did not have to be angry this time about the Orient express we had arranged something better for him latter. I boarded the plane with my arm in a sling, after the dislocation getting the check and moneys back. His father had to be given CPR and O2 after seven grown men had to pry his fingers off his fathers throat as he retrieved his passport from him.. . We came back to being cuffed and I spent 2 months in county Then home to a man very depressed so badly he was not seen any where but work. Then October He was taken off his job after he was found on the floor with a 102 degree temp. Three days latter we got to see him. He was paralyzed from the tops of his legs down. We tried to talk to him about the previous 24 years and how we lost track of just how long we kept him on a short leash and that it was never meant to happen. It just did because he was so defiant.
He started calling me a Wh****, B****, traitor and thief. We tried to tell him nobody could foresee his crippling. But every time we thought of a way to get him what he wanted he would do something to crush any hope of reason with him, We even told him when he got out of rehab we could try and work on ways he could have something of what he wanted. He Came home and Raped me two weeks latter. Then he started in on everyone else. He was true to his word in 2015 when his father came at him with a ball bat yelling he was to let me go on my own to cancun on the cruise and he was to go home as he was ordered. His fathers neck was broken by one uppercut. Nobody went on vacation in 2015. My husband just would not back off any longer.
I don’t know how to get through to him that all we want is a discussion to gain forgiveness, Nobody else has to hurt We all will submit to his will about his rights, to many badly hurt over them.
I’m 30 now, single, can’t even call myself a woman because I know of my immaturity. Diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder when I was around 19, chronically depressed my whole young adulthood. Didn’t finish college, couldn’t hold on to a job, I have ADD but not diagnosed. Only underwent medication for depression. I’m a recluse now, can’t deal with people when those who knew me before say I’m very friendly and personable. How am I still alive? It’s because I’m Catholic.
But my anger’s getting worse for the past year, I lose empathy and I want to kill and it’s frighteningly not impossible to do. Before I blame myself all the time and it scares me that now I blame others instead.
I feel like I’ve given up and accepted that I’m like this and the people around me are the ones who have to deal with it.
After being so idealistic and romantic when I was young the reality of living in an unjust and unpredictable world shattered my dreams and beliefs AND UNTIL NOW I CAN’T ADJUST. I’m suffering and fooled myself many times just to give myself hope.
I don’t know how to live a normal life. When I was young I was a wide reader and totally loved fantasy stories which I might have used as an escape. I’m not entirely sure but it’s probably about my father. He has the same anger problems and hit us when we were kids, and of my 4 siblings I was the one who fought him when I reached 14 or 15. It’s funny to think that once it became physical I felt the shock in him. I fought him and wasn’t afraid, it felt good. But I couldn’t fight before, I must have escaped to books. Until now I still escape, couldn’t accept life as it is and how I failed. Epic tragedy, everything about how I think is wrong.
The emotion I feel when I rage is a feeling of injustice, it offends me so much.
I don’t think there’s a cure for me unless I go away and be alone.
I have felt the same way about the lack of justice and how bad people do thrive. Maybe the anger comes from our deep belief that things are supposed to be fair and later we find out that we cannot control the world by being good. It doesn’t work that way — and that can lead to rage.
Rage is another word for depression. I don’t really see any distinction between “rage” and “depression,” except depression is when I direct my rage at myself.
There are bunch of tricks to get through some of the rough times and I guess we hit on them in a hit and miss sort of way. I am not qualified to give anyone advice
I don’t now what justice is any longer after 24 years of keeping my husband under control for the sake of everyone in Society he came home from three years In Physical Rehab from a MRSA abscess in his spine. Within two weeks I found that the previouse 31 years since our wedding was now putting my life in danger when he Had Discovered I was having sex with an old boyfriend after refusing him for the 28 years prior to MRSA. I was getting ready to go to a 4 hour dinner event the evening he came home from the stress center post Rehab. I was going as the fourth with his mother, father, and his fathers best friend to this invitation only event When The center sent him home. he day was a -40 outside and his father had told them to build his character and make him walk the 20 miles home, we were not coming to get him. I was just finishing getting ready and walked into the living room to this steel eyed man being sarcastic knowing I was not getting ready to go any where with him telling me good I was ready to go he had not been even to a movie in 31 years. I did not get the first word out before starting to cry. I Was Begging him to Wait until after the event and pick a place to meet so everyone in the group could get there and we could all suit and talk about expectations now he was crippled and what could be allowed him in his life.
I found myself in front of a Volcano blowing its top. He was Yelling who in the hell did we think we were to allow him a bloody thing. From that second he was the final and only judge and arbiter of what he was allowed and his judgment was that since I had stolen 31 years of his life I was the down payment on restitution that evening, and he could care less about my promise to his mother, father, and their friend to go. I had hundreds from the last 31 years I owed him first for supporting me and putting a roof over my head. I was crying even harder about the list he felt I owed him in the marriage and I took off running for the door to at least scream for help. he shredded the dress I was wearing just grabbed me and put me in the living room telling me that for once I was going to be his wife then I could go out just as I was and peddle my rear, That’s what I was good at. being a Wh*** with his pim* father calling who I was going to be in bed with.
I was begging him this did not have to be this way, please just talk to me and we could think of something even another woman if he wanted. I don.t even think he was hearing any thing by that point as He had his way. his entrance into me left me bleeding a little I hurt from trying to resist and I think I was in shock. When He handfed me the phone and said the number is 911 lets get this in open court and find out who leave with head held high.
Hi. I’m 20 years old and never thought I was going through depression I just thought all my sadness was normal part of life or I was home sick since my family lives far away but this whole raging out on people mostly my boss it started about a month or two ago. Everything that is mention on here is exacty how I been feeling little things set me off. I work with customer service so I’m pretty used to rude comments but lately one rude comment can set me off and I get in a bad mood, I start throwing things around a giving attitude, all I want to do is punch things and I do I have got to the point where I have a brused hand. Than after all that I feel guilty and all I want to do is cry and apologize. My boss is tired of me apologizing so many times so today trying to find answers I found this page and it helped me understand .
For as long as I can remember I have had outbursts of anger. I just thought people were doing stupid things and making me mad. But I can feel something inside of me not wanting to be that way but I couldn’t stop. I am 43 years old now and it has become some bad that I black out for no reason at all-i have become violent and hurt people. I say horrible things and I dont remember anything that happened at all. I cry majority of everyday and all i want to do is stay in bed. but when the black out begins…i am told that it is horrible. I call people and say things that I would never say…i destroy the house and like I said, I have become physically abusive. I just want help, I dont like being like this and I dont know what to do. My doctor pushes it off as depression…I think it’s more than that.
My suggestion is that if your doctor pushes it off as depression, your doctor is saying he does not know what is wrong with you. It is similar to my doctors telling me for years it was “age.” I would tell them that “age” is not diagnosis and what they mean is that they don’t know what is wrong with me. I say this because I finally discovered I suffered from hyperparathyroidism which was easily cured — after 15 years. What I am trying to say, it seems your doctor is using the word “depression,” the same way my doctors used “age.”
Some doctors are good at some things and not good at others. I suspect that your doctor’s strongest suit may not be what you need. I suggest you shop around. Sometimes just the shopping around helps — I’ve been through a number of doctors for depression, and none knew “The Answer,” but all helped.
Hi Jackie, this was originally posted 4 years ago, so I really hope you get my reply. I’ve been experiencing the same problems which started in 2018. I black out, remember nothing, say horrible things and become violent with my husband over the smallest of reasons. I’ve been trying to figure out what is happening to me because I hate myself so much when it happens I have no control and I’m out for blood. The first time it happened I went to a doctor and was diagnosed with OCD, fast track 2 years later and 6 episodes later I have no answers. I’ve set up therapy sessions hoping addressing childhood trauma will help. I need something to change ASAP. He understands it’s not me, but he can’t live like this any longer. I’ve been researching intermittent explosion disorder. Did you ever get an accurate diagnosis, if so, how are you coping with your symptoms. Thank you for sharing. It’s nice to see others experiencing the same hardships I am.
Between Thursday of last week and today I ruined a good friendship due to extreme anger caused by my depression. I went on a camping trip with a close friend and a riding club she belongs to. The first day is when everything started to fall apart for me. The first mistake was being in a cabin by myself, far away from everyone else and where all the action was. My friend was bunking with three other ladies. When everyone in the group arrived at the camp grounds we decided to go on a trail ride. My horse was the only mare in the group and decided to go into full blown heat and became a hormonal wreck, making it impossible to ride her with the group. Naturally I was disappointed and became sad when everyone else rode out and I was left behind. The rest of the trip was pretty much the same everyday. I was left behind, while everyone else had fun. I couldn’t do anything because I had trailered with another rider; therefore I was basically stranded having no way to go out and do something else.
When the riders returned after several hours, they were a happy, bonded group and there I was sitting alone in my cabin. Each day my imagination got worse. I believed my close friend had abandoned me and the rest of the group could care less about me. They were making all of the plans for each day and I felt left out., especially as they recapped their day. I had absolutely nothing to contribute.
By Saturday I was angry, unhappy and fighting very hard to not cry and not make a scene, but the anger won. I tried very hard to not show my anger, but in doing so I became rude and short with everyone. I became unapproachable, and I’m sure they all wanted nothing to do with me at this point anyways. The more I tried to deal with my emotions privately, which included a lot of crying, the more angry I became. I know I was having an extreme pity party, but I couldn’t stop it, which of course made me more angry.
When my close friend returned from one of the rides talking about how much fun it was and then in a happy voice asked me, “So, what did you do all day to have fun?” I told her off. When she asked what was wrong I walked away and said I was grumpy. After that we didn’t talk to each other for the rest of the trip and left without saying goodbye.
To make matters worse, I was also furious with the barn owner where I board because of some issues that popped up the morning I left and while I was gone (price increases and some other surprises). That added to my anger and when I returned to the barn today, I was an emotional wreck and we had words. Now I don’t want to have anything to do with my friend, the riding group, nor the barn owner and the other people at the barn.
I’m 55 years old (female), divorced 25 years, an introvert, have been on medication for PTSD for 20 years and anxiety attacks for 10 years (since I went through menopause).
I’ve had similar emotional breakdowns twice in the past 10 years, each time when with a group of acquaintances on a long weekend. Each time I start off happy and excited to be going, but something triggers my “breakdown”. One time I ended up being the only female in a group of husbands and wives. The other two single women cancelled at the last minute. Everyone had someone, conversations were about marriage, etc. I was the 5th wheel, always walking behind the group. I ended up leaving after two days and gained the reputation as being unstable. Another time was another extended weekend to a horse expo. This time it was a group of female horse friends, all married, for whom it turned out to be a weekend away from the husbands and time to have some fun and vent about their miserable married lives. It was basically a clique and I had nothing to contribute to their conversations.
I had hoped this weekend would be different, but it wasn’t. I now finally realize I cannot do extended trips of more than 24 hours with more than one person. I’m also aware that some of my anger was made worse by my own embarrassment as my behavior became worse. I now feel the only way to resolve this is to have nothing to do with any of them ever again. It’s easier for me to discard them, then to continue feeling embarrassed and ashamed of myself.
People who don’t have depression are incapable of understanding how those with lifetime depression suffer. I hate feeling this way when it happens. I hate feeling angry, sad, lonely, unloved and wondering why this had to happen to me.
This sounds like a flashback. I have had the exact same feelings and this site and its explanations of flashbacks and other symptoms of complex PTSD (C-PTSD) has been very helpful:
http://pete-walker.com/flashbackManagement.htm
I am so sorry you had those experiences. I’m your age, and I have had similar experiences after a lifetime of depression, anxiety, and ADD. I know what it feels like; I could have written this. Being an introvert doesn’t help because those happy group bonding experiences are just harder for us. I hope by the time you read this, you’ve had a one-on-one conversation with your friend and explained things. I bet you are a good person and a good friend — you must be, otherwise you would not have been invited. We all have “stuff.” Be a one-on-one friend….if you do a group trip again, try something like a weekend seminar where it’s structured activities with leaders who know how to involve everyone. Blessings to you.
I have this. I am a single mother of a 17 year old and feel like I have destroyed any hope of a long term adult relationship (when she is free to go). This is the first I’ve heard of the propulsion that happens, that so bewilders me….something triggers me -big or small – and once I get going I get crazy slamming things, muttering mean things – kind of narrating my negative thoughts, and then cause I’m so angry and so slamming…mishaps happen which further trigger me and prove my life is f>>>>>.
It may stop for an hour or so but starts back up and for the life of me I have zero control. Its mortifying cause I’m in recovery and have tools but am too angry to use them….and yes, the yelling down of the family member(s)…I have temporarily lost a close friend as took my daughter in when I said no. Its horrible. And I thought my depression was better. I went through this big time last fall, almost admitted myself, then it got so much better for 2 months…now its creeping back in. Thanks for sharing your story.
Dear Meg, we sound like two peas in a pod, you described it well when you said “kind of narrating my negative thoughts”. I’m on one anti-depressant, it helps some but talking to a counsellor, or a trusted friend, pastor…etc., is important too. Talk therapy is beneficial, hidden anger is detrimental to health. The root cause needs to be dug up, exposed, then dealt with in a safe place/way. I don’t know your story, mine was childhood sexual abuse and DAMN, once I realized the hand it played in my life, I was very angry, but also relieved knowing I was the way I was for a reason. Once I figured some things out, like the fact that I was not guilty of anything and should feel no shame, things smoothed themselves out a bit. I too have daughters and have treated them not so well at times. They have witnessed many a freak out, sometimes daily. Being a realist, I don’t try and sugar coat things often, my girls know I struggle, they don’t know the root of my problem, they do know how sorry I am when I act out though. I don’t know if any of this helps you. I was once told to look at myself with compassionate curiosity, do so, be good to yourself, you are worthy of so much, you matter and are here for a purpose. Being a single Mom isn’t easy, I hope you have some good supports. I don’t know if you follow a particular faith, if you do I can tell you, prayer does help, it keeps my feet on the ground and reminds me to forgive myself, daily, for I am human and we all err at times. Peace to you Meg. I hope to hear from you and have added your name to my prayer list. PS (I don’t know your age but sometimes hormonal imbalance plays a part in extreme moodiness, just a thought.) Take care Meg.
I don’t know who you are but please get in touch with me, my husband is going through this and I don’t know what to do. I know this was written years ago and I may not get a response but if you can, please help, I have never read anything that so accurately explains what he is going through.
My father is the same but the problem is he won’t admit he has issues. He has issues with his own father when he was young and when I asked him he says he’s not angry about his childhood. I don’t believe it because he has done the same to us and I’m angry at him. They probably think it’s not outright child abuse or marital abuse because they believe themselves to be good upstanding citizens – not alcholics, good family provider, church goers, etc. If they think there’s nothing wrong with them then they won’t change. Remove him from stressful environments it will help, but it won’t totally go away.
Depression and anger are hard things for men especially to talk about… thanks for the advice and help
I have been feeling sad and anger for years. It eventually got to the point to where my wife couldnt take my mood swings anymore. She tried for years to deal with the problem. She recommended i go see someone several times but i refused. I didnt want to admit i have a problem and i felt i could just deal with it on my own. Well two weeks ago my wife said she wanted a divorce and im broken. What do i do? We went to see a counselor a week ago, but she has been telling me and at the office that she cant do it anymore and she is no longer in love with me. Is it over, can i change and will she allow the change for us to stay together?
Hi Jeff,
I’m married to my husband for two years but together for over 14. I am afraid I understand what your wife is going through. It is so hard to try and stay up/happy when your best friend in life keeps dragging you down. My own advice would be to make arrangements to get help for yourself on a weekly basis. My husband agreed to therapy but his meetings were sporadic and since his psych was away for 6 weeks he has refused to go back. I keep hoping things will get better and he will feel more like the man I fell in love with but I’m not so sure without him getting help. I would advise you to go and get all the help you need…then and only then would there be a chance you could get her back. 🙁 Hope you are doing ok. Good luck with it.
Hi I’ve been with my husband for 9 years now he’s suffering from depression and anxiety but the problem is thst ever time he’s anoyed it always seems to be my fault and always tales everything out on me by calling me abusive names and making me feel bad and confused of y he’s doing this to me could this be because of his depression or is it tome for me to walk away from this marriage?
I’m in the same 9 year old boat, and seem to be dealing with a very similar situation. Anything and everything that is wrong in this world, is somehow my fault. He’s convinced that he is completely justified in the way he treats, and speaks to me. He has mentioned (on the very rare occasion), that he is fighting a depression, and in the same day, will explode with rage over the most trivial things, that of course are my fault. I’ve wondered if his anger towards me, is a cowardly way of deflecting the weakness that he must feel in his depression. It’s perhaps easier for him to be angry with me, because he can control that, where as he just feels helpless not knowing how to deal with his depression. He would never seek therapy for his cause. “A man can take care of himself”. I feel like if I leave, I’ll be abandoning him. I also feel like I am stronger to “take it”, than he would be, to deal with it alone. However I often ask myself, when is enough, enough? If you get any feed back, please share it with me 😉
Hi Kelly,
I was faced with a similar issue just a year ago. The relationship was on its 5th year, and everything this person would do, I felt I needed to justify his actions.
He would randomly make-up things and blame me for things well beyond my control; many times I had no idea where this stuff would come from….
My best move ever was to Love myself more than I cared for him, and enough to keep my own sanity. As for right now, he cannot love himself equally as you do. Therefore, you will diminish your ability to move forward as you are giving you life to him when he could careless if you survived or not.
If you get a chance look up PPS(peter pan syndrome), and extreme narcisisim, cause this is a behavioral problem. With your acceptance, the more rejection you will experience…trust me he will fix himself when you cut the communication.
I wish you the best, and remember you have a life to live too.
Best,
J
I can 100 % relate. I too are in a very similar if not identical scenario as you are. I end up crying as he is putting me down and name calling , I started it etc and its just a cycle of blaming me, and then he escalates especially if I speak up for myself etc. I am at the end of it really and I am ready to begin to move on from this relationship, not only am I hurting but I also feel confused as he makes me feel bad and then I get confused
My sister has struggled with depression and rage since she was a preteen. I have a hard time dealing with it. She has nobody in her life now but me and I get all the rage thrown my way. Sometimes it can go on for weeks. From the time I walk into the house until the time I leave to go back to work. There have been times I’ve thought she was possessed by demons.
I have a son the same way I really didn’t know what was going on with him. He sits around can’t keep a job and takes all his anger on everyone but won’t go get the help he needs cry sometime and think we don’t know I just need help convincing him to get help.
My mother was an absent alcoholic. There where shortages and neglect. One time she took me to her friends house and told me to play outside. I got raped by three boys they made me perform fellatio on them. I was a 10 year old boy. I learned about and carried weapons after that for a long time. I carried razors and bottles of bleach to blind and slash attackers. I would also carry small pieces of bricks or rock, sometimes in a sock, to smash bones. I did a lot of damage to a lot of bad kids and muggers. My reputation got around and nobody fucked with me. Nobody wanted to be my friend either. I had ASPD. That was 40 years ago. I still get it from time to time. Eventually I found medication in smoking pot, cigarettes, drinking and relationships. That calmed me down to almost normal but it became a problem too. I went to rehab, 6 detoxes, outpatient therapy and psychiatry. I only have 1 dwi. I’m 56 now and I have dry alcoholism, depression, and adhd. Phyically I have atherosclerosis, emphesema, pre diabetes, weight problems, sleep apnea. I take a lot of medication now to ease my symptoms. Im a happy satisfied customer most of the time. I have 7.5 years sobers and have a few 2,3 and 1 year runs.
I am still haunted though by the killer within me.
Forgot to mention that I survived a long war from both within and without. It can turn back into that with only one episode of fighting, drinking or drugging. Do not hesitate to leave a job or relationship etc if you are in danger of relapse or committing violence. A hardship is temporary, relapse is unending torture and death is forever.
Thanks for the comment John. This helps me see where my future could go if I don’t find a good job and a way to escape from people who have harmed me mentally/physically. I struggle with a job at the moment where I have dealt with harassment and sexual harassment. I thought of killing these people for what they did to me when all I wanted to do was have a nice job for once an work. Instead I was used to finish work for my previous boss since she is incompetent and incapable of doing her own job. I’m still trying to find another job being unhappy and never got any justice dealing with so many jerk off co-workers who are like a gang in current jobs today. I’m glad at least I know I’m doing the right thing by trying to find another job instead of possibly committing violence.
I experienced depression for seven years from 1979 to 1986. It showed itself in tiredness, then fatigue, then exhaustion, then emotional shutdown. I was a full-time pastor at the time. I had two anxiety attacks just like heart attacks at the depth of my depression. I had to retire to seek psychological help even though God gave me a very strong call to the ministry. In my book Doubtbusters! God Is My Shrink! I describe his psychological breakthroughs through the great people at Pine Rest in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I began pouring out my anger to God in prayer about my losses of a brother and son to leukemia, people who had been unloving to me, and my childhood dysfunctional family. After my seven and a half months of lamenting (angry) prayers, God took away my depression. After another month, he gave me his peace of Philippians 4:5,6.
My advice is if depression is interfering with your life, seek good psychological help to find out what is really the past basis of it, and unload your anger on God. He can take it, whereas people usually can’t.
I realise it has been a long time since this post was written, but I found it when looking for an explanation for my ‘rage episodes’. I have severe anxiety which leads to periods of (functional) depression. I have periods of intense rage, normally for no real reason that last hours at a time. I’m never violent to anyone else, but break things, punch walls and rant incoherently. I keep asking my doctors about this and all they say is anger is a normal emotion. I want to print this aritcle and make them read it.
Depression is not any good and can ruin your life if it keeps you more violent
..sometimes she’s feels like it’s only her is the problem and keeps friends away
Pretending all is well.
. Dr.Joseph Thomas..phillips MD
Dr Joseph
Can a person trigger rage in a depress partner? its this person fault ? and it will be best for the depress partner to stay far away from this partner? or its just depression ?
thank you
elizabeth
I am stressed and have awful episodes of very deep lows that tend to be the result of a massive burst of anger, normally triggered by circumstance.
My life has not been easy. I have had lots of support from my family over the years but that has not changed the enormous amount of bad luck that I have had. I was almost mentally crippled by eleven years of relentless bullying all the while that I was at school. I had social and academic problems that never could be tackled despite seeing an expert once or twice a year.
In adult life I got into drugs to escape from the horrible world that I was a prisoner in, only to find another prison in the form of mind bending chemicals that made me feel worse. Luckily I got away from all that fairly early. I made a small group of friends in my local area and things were on the up. Tragically though my best friend and another mate were killed in a horrific car accident and everything started to fall apart. Later though I moved to a new area and made lots of friends and at long last it felt like my life was on the mend and going in a new, positive and bright direction. I met a lovely lady and for the first time found myself in a relationship (girlfriends had not been a possible factor in my life up until then). Things were going well until the day I meant to propose to her, almost like nature saying “I’m buggered if you are going to settle down and be happy that easily!” we had a serious house fire and were out of home and broke for six months and over Christmas. Even worse my Boss at the time laid me off of my job with no notice what so ever. No home, no money, HOORAY!! Anyway, six months of absolute hell and we had our house back to normal. We got married the following summer, all was going well until…….. BANG! I come home from my new job one day the following February and find my wife’s very cold, naked and lifeless body lying on the bedroom floor. After a full autopsy they tell me that they could not find a single cause for her untimely departure……. more hell.
I ended up with a sum of money through her life insurance which was incredibly helpful at the time. Nearly a year later I was still in a bad way, I couldn’t perform at work and had to leave my job to rest. I met another lady who seemed all strawberries and cream (she also knew about me and my situation) seven months later the relationship was thankfully over but I found myself conned out of thousands of pounds as a result of the whole charade, (very unpleasant person). My mental health was not great but I met someone else and we both fell in love, got married and had two kids together. The problem was that my new partner has a son with very bad behavioral problems. Arrogant, smug, rude, defiant, very unhygienic to the most extreme ways and generally a very unpleasant and challenging boy to be around. More berevements: my oldest brother, Granddad, and my wife’s oldest brother died because of heart attacks and cancer. Masses of stress because this and my stepson’s behavior in the house, plus more on top of that because of constant friction between my wife and myself over ways of tackling the problems. The relationship is at breaking point, as has my mind been at times.
I thought about writing a novel and using all this to form a plot (I’m still working on a happy ending)!
Hi! I’m not depressed and have never had problems with clinical depression – not everyone is that lucky and I am aware of this. (However I do know nobody is immune to depression and that just because it didn’t happen before doesn’t mean it never will).
No, I found this page when looking for explanations in a relative’s behaviour. I have spend many years helping her and supporting her in many ways and som have other family members. She has a very sharp tongue and in arguments there is no limit to how mean and unfair she can get. For years we have tried to prove to her that we care about her and we will always help when it’s needed. I have adjusted my life a million times to please her, as have others.
It’s not good enough. Yesterday she out of the blue attacked me and my children (again). She says I have taught the children not to love her. All children always loved her but not these and I am killing her. She cannot forgive that I have turned the children against her. (The truth is that the children love her – and they fear her, but she is very eager to find faults in them and eager to accuse them, so they stay away when they feel it isn’t safe to approach her.)
Her husband drove her to the doctor who said she is very depressed. She sees me and the children as the source of that depression as she has put up with us year after year (we helped her in any way we could even though she was rude and criticised whatever we did).
Needless to say I am shocked and sad. I wonder if this kind of behaviour itself is a symptom of depression. It’s not the first time I’m accused and I always managed to calm her and convince her that she is loved and that the children love her, but this time I can’t. I have shrunk myself into nothing not to disturb this person who one day complains that we are to loud (and so we go quiet) and the next complains that there is no happy singing going on in the house anymore. I have gone out of my way to help her, sarificing more than I wish to think about, but this time there simply is nothing more to change. She said I’m guilty of her misery but there is nothing I can do anymore. I tried everything I know.
Does anyone know if it is depression that causes her to accuse like this? She is not demented. (My husband has suffered from depression but he never accused anyone.)
My sister is the same way. She trusts nobody and anything you do to help her you’re doing it wrong anyway. I have lived with her rage and depression for over 30 years now and I have no answers for you. I know other people in my family were the same way at times but they were much older than me and have since passed on so I believe it is linked to the depression and is inherited behavior.
I have been married just gir a year and I found thus because I searched the words anger, violence, depression together as my new husband seems to not be able to cope with feeling, immediate jumps to this point of over reaction and turns to screaming, breaking things and name calling. Next day he may sleep for hours, call in skip and he definately self medicated with marijuana. Two days later he is back to normal as long as you dont try to talk about what happened. In a fit I am told how terrible I am. I think of depression and I do love him…just no idea how you get this kind of person help. He deeply denies all as he feels I start it all. Wondering how to get that come to jesus moment with some wrapped up in this. Pushing him is dangerous. I have a hole in a wall. A broken fan, dent in my fridge and as much as he may say he is leaving in a fit I dont think he feels that way the next day. It is so sad because in there is a brilliant and fun person. When I first met him he was self medicating with Wellbutrin and when he stopped there was this change.
Kate, this is exactly the things that i do to my girlfriend and i feel absolutely terrible. I see my family doctor frequently because i have diabetes type one, depression. Plus i see a therapist often to talk about whats bothering me. I just hate when i treat people i love like that and i say im sorry a thousand times. I also self medicate with drugs but they only help short term. I wish i knew why i would act this way and what to do to get help. I think this is what millions of people struggle with everyday.
Kate,
What you just described is exactly what I am going through with my significant other. When we first moved in together the anger was intense. Holes in walls, objects thrown and broken. His favorite fallback was (and now is again) was to call me crazy and put all blame directly on me for his behaviour. Always something that I, the crazy b*&@!, did to make him angry. I stayed because of the kids until one huge fight became my breaking point and I left with our children (they were and still are young). That seemed to wake him up and he went to see a psychiatrist and went on medication several, acutally) until a few months ago when he decided he did not like the way they make him feel. Now, things were not perfect over the years he was on the meds. We have not had any kind of intimacy pretty much since conceiving our daughter (she is now 5) but we were able to enjoy each others company and talk to each other. Now, he is refusing to take his medication and the old behaviours are coming back. Instant anger, rage. Even had the cops called because he was yelling at his computer. I am afraid and feel utterly alone in all of this.
I have had problems with anger for a very long time when I was younger. I don’t remember what was first – depression or anger. I am aware of the both since the age of .. 13 or so, at 14 I started self harming. Me and my sis had intense fights in our teens that were pretty violent – but we loved each other too much to really harm each other. Still, there were incidents like where I held her head between door and door case and could only stop the door a centimeter before it hit her (I slammed it) or when she almost threw me down a 4meter edge.
Later on, in my young adulthood there were days where I armed myself with a knife to go out and hoping someone would provoke me. Fortunately it never happened. I once stood with a knife in front of my dad, who is a trained policemen, hoping he would provoke me. He easily disarmed me. And there were days where I wouldn’t leave the house (I lived alone) because I was afraid I would really hurt someone. However I typically tried to hurt myself rather than others. I think it was because I never fought back 😉 and it was a predictable outlet, both for my aggression and my feelings of numbness.
It got less at some point in my mid-twenties, looking back it was a time when I was happy and had a semi-normal life with something close to a job, with friends and with some knowledge about what I need and want. I now feel it coming back whenever I am under intense emotional stress like I have been for the past 5 or 6 months. Even though I did everything I know about that helps me: sports, nutrition, openness, mindfulness, talking to people etc..
As a young (, small, blond, chubby) woman it is hard to display rage and to live it out, because 1) you look incredibly dumb 2) you are incredibly weak. It often starts as a little anger but the reaction of the people turns it into rage. Not being taking seriously is probably the biggest trigger. Today I try to walk before I rage. To be taken seriously one day.
Still, I typically enjoy my rage because it is a change from my feeling bag-crying depressed self: I feel strong and in control, something I desperately need in these times. I do realize that I am neither.
What helps me today is:
– the cold. I have to breathe cold, fresh air, I even need to freeze a little, around a temperature that makes me shake. Oddly comforting.
– my favourite “bad for you” foods: un/fortunately I don’t like alcohol. but ice cold coke will do the trick for me
– loud, aggressive music. headphones but still, everybody can hear very clearly what I am listening to.
– walking at night, preferably in a cold, dark night with loud, aggressive music.
– I don’t harm myself externally anymore. But I will overeat or drink vinegar or liters and liters of espresso.. whatever, when the stomach ache goes, usually so does my aggression.
Final thoughts: I fear that I am not ready to give up my rage. Because as much as I hate it about myself, my perception and understanding of a successful person is an aggressive person. So I also love this part about myself. And I don’t have a lot to love about myself.
I have had numerous periods of rage in the past with a diagnosis of chronic depression. With the addition of a mood stabilizer and an antidepressant the rage subsided. Now that I’m tapering off of the medication, the rage is back. Additionally, I have OCD and that seems to ignite it at the present, contamination and a lack of control.
I have always suffered from depression and rages, mostly directed towards my mother and other family members. I have severe social phobia, and have been bullied all my life. This I think leads to my pent-up feelings of frustration, and my volcano sometimes erupts. Not violent, but I become extremely abusive and enraged. Tried CBT with my mental health counsellor, but this didn’t help massively. I believe that current illnesses often result from our karma from a past life, and am trying to work on my chakras etc. I need some help!
I am 23 years old .I lost my father at the age of 14 and since then i am not myself .My family is broke since then .Its like a huge hole punching through my chest and it never stops .i feel hollow ,empty all the time .Nobody understands me ,even my family .Its like i died with him .A huge part of me is dead .I feel like screaming all the time.I am not able to do my daily chores sometimes .There were times when i used to sleep all day ,i dont have many friends .There is nobody with i can talk about my feelings .Sometimes i need to vent out my feelings which i am not able to ,they keep piling inside of me .I remain detach with reality a lot of times and a part of me doesn’t care .But there is another part of me which tells me to fight ,and everytime i try i fail .When i think i have succeeded ,i fool myself.It has become a everyday fight with myself and i am tired of it I don’t know what to do anymore.I feel raging with anger all the time and i do’nt know why is that ? Sometimes i think i am angry at myself .I am on edge all the time .Its like adrenaline rush which keeps secreting and does not intend to stop.
Hi there, I am a married 29 year old with 2 children under 5. I have the normal everyday life worries along with a couple extra. My husband suffers with PTSD, anxiety states, and they have been toying with bipolar. We were blissfully happy until 6 months into the relationship he had a mental breakdown and everything was brought to the surface. He had an abusive older (much older) brother who mentally and physically abused him until he was old enough to go out with his mates all the time. He was introduced to the world of drugs…until me. He is on meds and regularly has help. I am also offered help through a carers centre but am petrified to open up to them, fearing that if i tell them how i feel they will take my children….I have suffered with depression since i was 16, but i think i suffer with this rage a lot of you speak of also. For example, Every morning without fail, i cause a row over the way my husband said something, or something so pathetic I’m embarrassed to admit it. Mainly at home it is worse, or sometimes out if i cant shake the anger away. I’ve never hit him or anyone else, but sometimes i scratch myself, never to bleed but just to let out some tension. My husband is almost like a lapdog, he would quite literally do anything for me, no matter what, but this just heightens my rage with him. It’s like i want him to knock me down a peg or two. I never have the guts to scream or shout at anyone else. The thought, actually petrifies me. I’m na very assertive talker and quite strong minded but i rarely lose it, and if i do i do it inwardly. They can still see it, but i clam up. my husband doesn’t really get angry back. In all the years we’ve been together he’s never screamed back. I feel like I’m ruining him and making him worse, after all, he wasn’t ill until he met me.
My two children are still very young and my outbursts are evetually going to have a detrimental effect on them.
I should also mention that i haven’t had a full night’s sleep in nearly 2 years. Our youngest seems to suffer with seperation issues and doesn’t like to be away from me so i spend half the night perched on his bed waiting for him to sleep.
I think that my husband has always had anger issues and it stemmed from his relationship with his father. In the course of his life, he has watched his father beat down (emotionally and on some occasions – physically) his mother. His father has seldom shown any type of love or affection towards his mother while they were both on this Earth (as explained by many members of his family and then after we got married, observed directly). My late MIL (she and my FIL are both gone now) was always domicile yet she was a very cunning and smart – even at times, a brilliant woman – but she stayed for my husband’s sake or so it seemed. My husband had much older siblings (2) and my husband had explained that as a child, my MIL would leave for the summer and visit her daughter in the neighboring state. He almost explained it as that was her escape from her husband. This always left my husband in his father’s care or what you could explained as that though most days my husband as a little boy prepared his own food and entertained himself (age 5 and up). They lived with his older brother’s family (husband is 15 years younger than his brother and sister). At any rate, my MIL would make the excuse every summer to visit her daughter and babysit the grandchildren there in that neighboring state. My husband never saw what was a “normal” marriage because his mom often separated herself for a few months out of the year, every year, and the fact that his parents did not share the same bed. They slept in the same room but in separate beds and sometimes the very small grandchildren of his older brother in that household would want to snuggle with grandma, etc. I suppose when I married my husband, I found all of these items unusual but did not say anything. Plus, we lived on our own and we seemed to be really happy… in those beginning years despite the occasional disagreement etc.,(usually it was about who was going to return the videos or move the car to the correct side of the street). Fast forward a few years and we have moved back closer to be with family and have two small children. Husband starts to show signs of anger and depression (perhaps about being a young dad; perhaps about all the responsibilities). He would escape with video games and or sleep! Fast forward a lot more and his mother dies young at age 66 of a stroke, she was fine one minute and gone the next! The only item his father ever said in his quick grief was, “she really wanted to die, any way.” Those were the only “comforting” words he spoke to his children. Fast forward some more and father-in-law becomes ill and is in hospice and passes on, 6 years after MIL. Husband is grief-stricken as he has lost both his mother and now, father. Husband goes through a period of severe depression and it deeply impacts our family. Husband does not verbalize any of his pain or grief and as recently as just a few years ago, he confides in me that he still has so much hate for his father for the way his father treated his mother. All I could do is hold him in my arms. Fast forward a year or so and husband starts to demonstrate a lot of same characteristics of his late father: deep anger, extreme passivity. I am so tired of husband’s extreme moods. I live with someone who is constantly angry and hurting yet will never indulge to reveal much of anything, to bring any light to the matter. I am always left to guess what is next or what is happening in the current moment; it has been that way for some time. I guess I have long stayed in an unhappy marriage like his mother. I am trying to find resources to either leave or help for myself and my children, they are nearly grown. Yes, I have stayed for nearly 2 decades with a man who’s had resentment for his dad and mom, too, to some extent and with all these issues – refused to go to counseling (asked him for a stretch of time to which he threatened suicide that he would rather kill himself than go to therapy). I suppose I still care very much for him to have stayed all this time, that somehow through it – I’d/we’d be enough to get through some of his demons. After so much, I feel defeated and am desperate to come to terms with my own reality. I hope others can help on here and offer insight. How do I leave what I am so used to after so much time? How is that done? My situation is unique too that in my culture, divorce is a major taboo. I am almost certain as sad as this sound, I am waiting until the old generation seep into the moderate stages of Dementia before I can make a move to end my marriage. It is without honor that someone as respected as my own parents see one of their children’s marriage crumble. Why does that matter when I am so miserable? It might be that I have been taught to not bring shame unto my family. What does one do? (It would be most gracious if you are delicate in your replies to this part of my cultural values.)
*docile and not domicile , miswrote
I have been dealing with depressive moods and anger outbursts along with anxiety attacks for the past 8 years (only been angry for the last 3)
It all started when I was attacked and after that I became a nervous wreck,always overthinking things and determining the worst out of every situation.
Before the attack I was a happy go lucky,laid back person.One morning,not long after the attack I was lay in bed and the whole room was spinning,I struggled to get out of bed I was so dizzy,something changed in my body and I could feel it.
After that my moods switched,I wasn’t feeling happy,I didn’t want to wake up anymore!
I started having frequent anxiety attacks and with that every time I had another anxiety attack I lost track of who I was each day.
Got with my partner and everything was fine for the first few months but then everything just went dark.
Any little thing he does,I think he is against me.
It became more of a drag to be with him because things wasn’t done how I wanted it.
Stupid little things.
I’m not a silly woman,I’m strong but with my partner he just irritates me.
I’m so stubborn that when we have an argument I pack my bags and leave.
It’s a vicious circle.
He pushes my buttons,I flip out after telling him to please be quiet.
My anger goes from 0 to 1000000000 in seconds.
I don’t hit or punch or bite or kick but I throw things and I hurt him with words.
In my head I know what’s right and that I should just let it rest and forget about things but by that point I’ve already got a bag packed and want to run away from the situation.
I hate who I have become!
I know that positive thoughts attract positive feelings but I just can’t shake them off.
I’m so good at giving out advice and so easy to know how I need to act but something just takes over.
I’m such a nice person and I don’t understand who I’ve become or why I have become this way???
I feel I’m in a dark tunnel and there’s just no light at the end of it
The person I love in my heart,I can’t love him back because my anger and depression just won’t let me!!!!
My gosh, it’s like you’re in my head! My husband gets the brunt of everything, and even when i try to stop, momentum keeps it going, it’s almost like it’s out of my control.
I feel like the light at the end of my tunnel is a little match, and someone keeps blowing it out so i don’t know if I’m heading the right way anymore 🙁
I too feel and do exactly what you describe T and Emma. I hate myself for it, and that, in turn, leads to shame, guilt, depression and more anger, it’s the most horrible cycle. I feel like I’m sabotaging all of my relationships. I have to get some help soon or I’ll lose my mind. I was talking to my sister the other day and I explained that if I was a teen feeling this I would probably be cutting. I’m far from it and a wife and mother of 5 so that is out of the question of course. Back to counselling to dig out the rotten, stubborn weeds from sexual abuse as a child. I just want to care again, and truly love.
Hi,
I am not sure if I am suffering from depression, but I can surely say there have been 2 instances till now, where I have gone out of control, hurted myself and my husband too and felt like giving up my life.
I don’t understand why this is happening? Is it the current circumstances that me and my husband are in and its momentary ? or is it that I am in depression?
My husband is a student and I had been working past 4 years but quit the job since I got married and relocated with him to a new country, with the assurance from my husband that he would help me to find a job via his relatives and friends and that he had lot of contacts so that I could start the job in new country. But since 2 years he has not helped me in anything at all, his studies are not getting over, we both dont have jobs and so we are struggling from financial issues.
Plus I have been sitting home since 2 years doing all household chores, celebrating all festivals and occasions and also doing all efforts to start my job, applications, free online courses, but I hate it when my husband ignores all the bigger problems of life and concentrates on fighting on smaller things and moreover troubling my family members who are in my home country and never troubling his relatives. The only one time he shared about our fights with his relatives and they put false allegations on me, saying I have been mad and their whole family is scared of me. I have left my house since then and I dont understand why is all this happening and how is all this my fault? He never mentioned to me about his financial condition before getting married or else I would have never quit my job and relocated but would have supported him. He is not frank, straightforward and a person who likes to share everything with his better half but is very secretive.
Am i really in depression? I came back to my home country and got 2 job offers even after a 2 years gap in my career and freelance projects to do? Am I really mad…why do people put all these false allegations? I don’t understand how to deal with these kind of people, it is too painful! And it really hurts when your husband is not mature enough to understand you.
I COMPLETELY understand these feelings. I get ragingly angry on the weekends when our tiny home is filled up with 2 adults a moody teenage boy and two 7 year old girls. I got to the point where I was sleeping until 12-1pm just to escape the claustrophobic atmosphere. We have normal problems like a teenager that has an attitude problem and doesn’t want to do his chores, so I constantly have dishes covering the tiny amount of counter space available. NO ONE helps with laundry so that room looks like an episode of hoarders, the girls who are 7 are constantly saying something, there is NO peace for the ears or the mind. They are climbing me, pulling on me, constantly needing or wanting something, fighting with each other . Sometimes I will stay up until 2am cleaning up because it is quiet and no one is assaulting my ears with whining. On top of that they are always leaving messes and have explosive tempers, so I will work extremely hard all night and then wake up to a ruined house becasue my husbands face is in FB all morning and the kids do what ever they please behind his back. WE also have the issue of the favored child, my husbands son is the teenager, he is from another marriage, he was his “buddy” during the divorce so if he doesn’t do the dishes he basically ignores it, but if our girls don’t do something it is immediately time to scream at them. I’ve talked to him about this, and he says he is working on it, but I know how it feels to NOT be the favorite child and the consequences it can cause (I am an alcoholic) he says he loves them all equally. His actions tell me that the teenage son is the one he loves the most. The constant talking makes my head hurt, the neediness makes me angry, the unfairness of the boy being treated nicer makes me boil, the messes make me crazy- basically by Sunday I am ready to explode if someone looks at me wrong. I don’t know the answer , I feel angry and depressed and sometimes suicidal, even though I know I have the life that millions of people would want.
Boy Shannon do I know exactly how
You feel.Good to hear a woman say exactly
what its like being a stressed mother
I’m 42. Male, living with a parent for 6 years, physically ageing fast, been unemployed for 6 years since coming off antidepressants. Have huge anger problems whilst never physically directed at people it sucks to be associated with me. too many life problems to go into here. I suffered massive withdrawals when coming off venlafaxine and still get head zaps. Before the meds I was a bit sad , now I’m either sad or angry and always ready to give up. Im a walking failure when I’m awake ,which isn’t that often.
I have no wife no kids no friends and no hope. Funnily enough I don’t trust medications and that’s all docs want to do is put me back on them . They even told me the headzaps were a conspiracy theory. I’m at my wits end
Hey I don’t know how much I can help but I know I want to try. You are worth much more than u think you are. Throughout all the crazy and emotionally devistating occurances in my life I start to realize that we do everything to ourselves. I went from not caring about anyone and being completely blind to having love smc me in the face. However when I finally learned love I had pushed that person away. For a full 2 years after my epiphany I started wanted to do things I never did. Treat people in a way I nevery did and I didn’t want to be angry. As time passed I felt like a whole new me ready to take on various aspects of life. I rushed into my next relationship and suprisingly I was cheated on for the first time in my life when I treated her better than any way I even thought possible. The main point is I was a lost person until love found me but it also destroyed me. However that 2 year span where I loved life and simply loved to love. It changed me and I was happy, now I feel even more lost than I was before all of this. It’s harder to do than say but just find that love whether u can find it from a mom, a sibling or even a new/old pet. It’s the way we think about things and the way we see things that ruin our lives not anyone else’s actions. Find the true love in u and you will find the real you. Don’t ever give up and always remember it’s not about how you fall but how you ririse when u fall. Hang in there
I don’t know what to do anymore I am so angry all the time, Most days I hate my husband. we have 2 kids together and her has 3 from a previous relationship and I can’t handle it. I feel like he is always putting his ex first and given into her every demand no matter what my feelings are and most of the time they are feelings of hurt. My husband also recently lost his job and I am working full time to try and make ends meet and the pressure is un bearing and it makes me so angry to come home and the house is a mess and when I asked him what he did today he say’s went for a run. not looking for a job nothing. I have so much anger towards him for putting us in this situation and he can’t even say he is sorry about it. blame is always put on to someone else (me) he can scream and yell at me and not at his ex, I am always questioning what makes her better than me why does he have to call me names and put me down and not her. this makes me angry and i rage. his only comment to me all the time is let it go… I can’t let it go i live it everyday. If it was not always present then it would be easier to let go. The other day I lost y mind he sent the kids to school with no lunch and when the kids school called his reply to them was do they have a snack feed them that. So they had no lunch and he is at home cuz he has no job and did not get up off his ass to bring it to them at school. if the school would of called me I would of left work to bring them lunch even though i work an hour away from their school he was 10 mins down the road and he asks me why I am angry. Ya he is going through a hard time not having a job and all these people are pity him pity him what about us what about me and the kids, no one asks how we are holding it together. I can tell you i am barely keeping it together. And most of the time I just given it cuz it is whats easy. I cry everyday at some point. I am on anti depressants but it to enough. Christmas is right around the corner and i can’t even figure out how I will by my kids a gift. I don’t make a lot of money and I am struggling now to pay bills and put food on the table. I got a job that I love and I can see myself doing well there and he gets pissed if I am busy and can’t call him every second. if I have lunch with people at work I get bitched at cuz I did not call him instead i took time to eat and most days I don’t take time to eat and most days I don’t eat so we have money. this anger towards him is deep anger because he puts the blame on me for everything
Help……..
…I don’t think the problem is you, or that you are depressed. You are OVERWHELMED!!!! If you have a job you love, you are that much ahead of the game, in that you do not depend on his financial support….I ONLY WISH THAT WERE THE CASE IN MY SITUATION…….let me give you a possible outcome, maybe it will help you do something I wish I had done if I had had some guidance when I needed it…….You stay in that situation, your kids get older, and they start resenting YOU, and emulating HIM! Better to live very frugally in a life where you do not have to cater to a big baby, your children are your ONLY babies. You CAN make it on your own with your kids!! Why do you think you need him???? When the time and the situation is right, there will be someone you can love and have a relationship with…
Hi, I just need some help. I am 20 years old, my fiancé is 25. We have been living together since I was 18, been together for a long time, getting married next year. (Almost exactly.) I have had long bouts of depression since my Father passed away 11 years ago. Lately they have been getting worse. I am in a strange position in my life. I live close to a college in a small town, so I bike to college every day, while he works on other side of town and takes the car. This leads to me having a lot of alone time at home each day, mutually agreed, I make my half of the bills etc. So, lately my extreme boredom has led me to sink really deep into depression, and the past 4 or 5 months I have been constantly uncontrollably angry like said in this article. We do not have enough money for a therapist or even a doctor’s appointment. Not until after we get a second car (a year at least)! For instance, he is at work, and I just screamed at him over the phone to not come home and that I hate him, (I definitely do not, I never mean it, ever), because he didn’t wake me up early enough today so I could eat breakfast with him before work. Stupid things. I always regret it, he stays with me, doesn’t fight back, just understands, but I really need help. I don’t know where to turn, I hate my life, I won’t kill myself but I can’t lie and say I don’t want to. I just, life is so boring and there is nothing to be happy about, because I keep angering my fiancé and it makes him fearful to even speak to me. Like he is walking on thin ice. 🙁
Hey, I have more or less the exact same thing going on. Im stay at home dad for the three kids. Ive had bouts of depression and intermittent rage attacks like you describe for the last 15 years or so, since my parents divorce around then anyway. I really know that cycle of rage, guilt, depression that you describe, im sorry i know it is very painful.
Im really sorry you dont have money to see a doctor or therapist. I can tell you a couple of things my therapist gave me that have helped quite a lot. This wont make the feelings go away, they will come back, but when they do, remember it is not your fault, it is an illness.
First thing is to get a notebook and write it all out on paper, absolutely no holds barred all the rage and bile and nasty things that might be invading your head, just go for it. Keep going and going unless it stops by itself. This alone has really helped.
Second thing is to move, make noises, cry, whatever, when you are alone and feel unwatched and uninhibited. I sometimes lie down and have proper tantrums 🙂 It is amazing how much natural movement and expression we repress, thinking we should behave like adults, like grown ups, etc, etc.
Third thing is to show what you wrote above to your husband and make an understanding between yourselves that you have an illness, the same as if you have broken your leg and couldn´t walk. If you had hurt your leg, you wouldnt guilt on yourself about it. YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG, THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT.
It is just the nature of depression and other mental illness that it is largely unacknowledged and not understood. Its very difficult for anyone who just has normal ups and downs to understand.
I hope you will correspond with me, if you would like.
Charles
Charles, I feel this way a ton. But my husband does the same or worse. He refuses counseling, therapy, or meds. I would love to get a male perspective on some situations.
…Lately I’ve been getting a niggling thought that my anger is unnaturally intense. Or rather, that my temper’s just getting worse. Like always (I’ve only just come to realize this was common) I just brushed it off and made excuses or it, but for some reason…I’ve just been more aware of it and unable to forget about it, probably because I’m finding myself expressing that anger often. Anyway, a few hours ago my nephew, who is all of 7, woke me up from my desperately needed sleep and I just…raged at him. I remember getting out of bed, walking to the door, and telling myself not to blow off the handle, yet despite this, I ended up doing it anyway. I told myself not to curse at him. I cursed. I told myself not to insult. I insulted. I didn’t yell–small mercy that was–but I’m sure the dangerous hiss I spoke in was no less intimidating. Afterward I crawled into my bed and under my covers and tried to go back to sleep, but alas, the guilt and shame of my actions gnawed at me so insistently that I ended up getting up and googling “the correlation between anger and depression” and found myself here.
You describe a lot of what I’ve been feeling. I always thought anger was this white hot storm of furious and uncontrollable emotions, something blazing and wild and obvious. I didn’t see myself as being “really angry” because my own anger, I’ve come to realize, is this slow simmer beneath my skin that I’m barely aware of until it just boils over.
But I AM angry. I’m easily irritated and frustrated and it doesn’t take much to set me off, and despite my aversion to making other people feel bad/hurting them, I keep on lashing out. And then I do and I just feel guilty for my behavior. The only reason I haven’t completed (verbally…maybe) thrashed into someone, I think, is because in addition to depression I have social anxiety and that reigns in my external reactions somewhat.
I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without making the connection. I mean, I hit myself! When I’m really anxious and feeling upset or guilty I’ve slapped, punched, pinched, and scratched myself. That’s ANGER, focused inwards. However, lately I’ve been hurting myself less and (verbally) hurting others more, and I’m not sure what changed.
I don’t need to be told to go (back) to therapy. If only I could get out of my house (it’s been 6-7 months since I’ve left it, but a whole year if you dismiss that week I went to my sister’s wedding) and go. If only I could muster the courage to go back to the clinic after I went AWOL. If only, if only, if-freaking-only.
Anyway, thanks a lot for this article. I really needed this to be put into perspective. Now all I need to do is find the courage to get the help I need.
I understand completely. 🙁 I am in the same boat.
Yes I hit myself quite regularly, I’m really sorry you feel like that. In fact I have had several identical morning episodes. Sometimes it feels like the only freedom is being asleep and it sets off such huge stress and anger to be denied that.
Depression and rage are part of the same cycle in my experience and it so vey painful I’m sorry. It is an illness and it is not your fault!
I suffer from bipolar episodes the bad one i dont have noone to support me….i live in fear if im a bad person or god punsihing me…i dont trust anyone and everybody seems like there bad….in my eyes i hear voices of the people that are bad ….my boyfriend …took me for granted and stop paying attention to me he hates me…cause im not happy i tryed to beand nothing works i live a angery life….cause i been hurt so bad made fun of and put to shame…noone here to me im losing in this battle…
Hang in there, please. This too shall pass. I see you believe in God, do you pray to the Saints? I would offer the suggestion that you look up The National Shrine to Saint Jude. Type in your prayer request, many prayer warriors will pray for you. You can submit a petition for prayer, any petition you want. It requires nothing of you other than to ask for what you need. God knows what you have been through, He loves you unconditionally and you are not a bad person, you feel bad, but YOU ARE NOT BAD. I will be praying for you Lula, for support and healing. Please take care, picture yourself in Jesus’s arms, rest in Him, ask for strength. I’m sorry for what you have been going through, truly I am.
P.S. I was diagnosed Bi-polar about 12 years ago, I sympathize with your struggle, it isn’t easy, I know.
Hello,
My name is Julia, I would like to ask for an advise from persons dealing with depression.
I have recently met a bipolar man and I would like to help him dealing with it. Apparently he is already under treatment, but I would also like to do something and offer him so kind of emotional support.
I would really appreciate any kind of advice,
Regards,
hi… i cant cry. it takes a lot for me to feel any emotion and when i do, its manly anger and sadness and guilt. My father died when i was two. The police shot him because he was a wanted felon. He stole, sold weed, and more. So i i have P.T.S.D. But about a year ago my mom was a drug user and she beat me. When my grandma didnt believe me i started to act out, to feel some emotion. But my mom and me started to wrestle. social services took us away. I live with my grandma now. And everything is perfect but it feels like rock bottom. So i act out to feel adventure but, i dont.what do i do. im a crazy?
My Name Is Ryan And I Have A Serious Problem……. I Have An Unpleasant Past For One And I Feel It Is Wise To Start By Saying That. I Am A Gay Male, I Am Married To My Husband For A Few Months Now. We Moved To California To Take Care Of His Elderly Friend Which Is Who I Now Take Care Of 24/7. I Am By Law Now Obligated To Do Everything For Her Including Things That Are Humiliating For Both Me And Her. Caretaking Is AVery Tiring Stressful Job. I Have Literally 0 Time To Sit Down….. Ever. I Am Also Living With Aids. My Husband Works 5 Mostly 6 Days A Week, He Has 3 Dogs That Constantl Y Demand Things And He Let’s Them Do Whatever They Want……. They Are Just As Dependent On Me As The Elderly Woman . I Left My Career To Do This For My Husband . My Husband Has A Habit Of Looking At Other People He Is Attracted To An D TEnds To Flirt With Them. Often When We Make Love I Sense Him With Someone Else In His Head.IM Trapped In This House 24 Hours A Day , Im In Hell. My Husband Is A Real Estate AEnt And He Has The Freedom To Do Anything He Wants In An 8 Hour Day….. My Worry Is He May Or Has Cheated Which Does Not Help. I Feel Like Crap, I Hate His Dog, I Am Feeling Very Unattractive. It’s So Bad With My Rage Episodes That One Night…… I Broke Almost All The Windows In OUr House, Our Glass Top Kitchen Dining Tv, Our Big Screen Flat Screen LCD, His IPad Air, My Laptop, All Of The Pictures, And Other ThiNgs. He Has AN Obsession With Our Dogs Treating Them Like They AreVictims When Im Cleaning And Shoo Them Away Because I Need To Assist They Elderly One. Then I Have To Make Sure I Cook Dinner And When He Gets Home He Pets Then Dogs And Gets On His IPad On Facebook….. No Thank Yous Or Anything. Recently I Has A Huge Explosion And Attempted Slitting My Wrists.We Have Talked, He Is Trying, He Is Working On They Dogs With ME. Our Agreement Is That I Get Some Help For My MeNtal heAlth. Any Ideas?
You might consider seeking therapy together. It’s beyond something you can just “work on together.” Trust me, my husband and I have needed help too. It’s a good thing to get what you need.
I’m sorry you feel so bad and down and angry, I know it feels terrible!
Being in the house like that all day with three kids also makes me feel like that. I often hit myslef and have smashed a lot of stuff.
I know you feel very low and maybe think this is all your fault but your husbands behaviour seems to be very insensitive and arrogant. I think a lot of your anger and frustration seems perfectly justified, why shouldn’t younstand up for yourself and be treated well?
That said you have done nothing wrong and I hope you can feel better soon!
Hi.. My names Sierra.
I’m 14 and I need help.
I’m severely depressed, and get intense anger at the slightest of things, (even with things as little as not being able to find my headphones) I hear voices, and see things that usually I find out aren’t really there. Sometimes when I’m angry I just black out and completely change in the blink of an eye, from then on it’s like I’m a passenger in my own body and I can’t control myself.
I have anxiety, panic attacks, depression, social phobia and PTSD, from what we know.
I want to tell my psychologist about the voices, the anger and blacking out.
But the moment I step foot in his office it’s like in not in control again, but this time it’s usually more of a ‘calm everything a okay’ type attitude.
it’s like I have different people inside of me who take over.
I need help!!
I’m so tired of not knowing what’s going to happen next.
Help me. Please?!
i know what you mean…i see things to and hear stuff but, i dont tell anyone. they probly think im nuts.
I’m glad you’re already seeing a therapist. One thing that helped me was to take notes between therapy sessions so when I went in I could remember what I wanted to say. It looks like this might be helpful for you, too, though you may need to keep a journal that you bring each time. If you choose a brightly colored one that’s too big to hide in your purse or packet, then your psychologist would be able to naturally ask “What’s that?” And you could give it to him. Or ask whomever brings you to make sure they get it and read it. Then you can write what you want to ell your psychologist when you feel able to describe it, rather than hoping you’ll be o.k. when you get there. You might try praying to God too, if you can. That helps me feel like I can make it through, like someone understands and is listening, even if my condition doesn’t instantly improve, I know I can go on.
Hearing voices? You might have schizophrenia, but I’m not a psychiatrist so I can hardly give you an accurate diagnosis. The good thing is that you’re already seeing a therapist. I would definitely tell them. It’s like withholding information from a doctor–how can they figure out what’s wrong and how to treat it if you’re not forthcoming with your symptoms? Your therapist can’t evaluate you properly if they don’t know, and as it is, you’re just wasting both of your time–not to mention your money.
Psychologists/psychiatrists/therapists are trained to deal with your mental health problems. It’s their job, and they’ve likely seen and heard it all before. I personally know three people off the top of my hand who claim to hear voices (though all have been diagnosed with schizo.).
Just think about it, okay? You’re fourteen, which is great because the earlier you get help, the sooner you learn to deal, cope, and adjust.
Hi Sierra,
I’ve just seen your comment, so hopefully by now you have been able to talk about all your symptoms to your therapist. My brother used to hear people talking about him (neighbours, my mum, me), saying horrible things about him, seeing people and things that were not actually there, he would also get angry because he felt he was being attacked by others. It turned out it was not schizophrenia, but “psychotic depression” (I’m translating from Spanish, so I’m not sure if that’s the correct term), which I had never heard about before. He later talked about those days saying that “it was like turning a page and suddenly be inside someone else’s story”. He’s been on meds ever since, and doing fine, working and all, living a normal life. I’m not saying this is your case, but a doctor should have all the information to make a proper diagnosis. I think it would be a relief and a huge step forward to share what you have written here with your therapist. I also think that Ashley’s tips (in her comment above) are really clever.
You sound like a really intelligent girl… maybe you’ve been through a lot and that made you grow up before your peers. I suffer from depression myself, but your words reminded me of my brother and I wanted to share his story with you, ’cause I’m so glad he’s OK, as I hope I will get to be. And I’m sure you will find the way to your recovery. Wish you all the best!
As I sit here seething, I read the post looking for answers to my own anger. I used to be a fun loving guy. However, as time goes on, I realize I have really done nothing with my life. No kids, never been married but have had several long term relationships. I might of well been married. I hate my job, I have no friends that I am close too anymore and now in my 50’s I am experiencing major health issues because I have not taken care of my self. I have been raging off and on for a few years now and know I am stuck. Really stuck. Having read many books on self improvement, I know what to do but can’t do it. Its crazy. Now, having read this post, im curious. Im in the middle of the rage right now and remorse is soon to follow. Just thought I would share and I will be looking at the book you recommend to see where it takes me. Thanks for listening. ..
Hey John,
I feel you but………I do not think you are missing much. Believe me, everybody has regrets. See, me for example, I am close to 50. I have suffered from depression since I was sixteen. I got a wife and kids, and she is a crazy borderline with narcissistic issues. She trapped me in a relationship with my son. I am under trained, underemployed, and undermined left and right. Normally am so reclusive such that I really have no friends. I am introvert with a sensitively of a Geiger counter.
But I do not give up. I discovered that the only monster that I really should be worried about is in me. It is me. So, I got to watch out for me every time. What have I learned about life? If I were given my life back, could there be something I would do differently? Most like, no. Because I would never know what I would be until I became.
Many times, I feel strongly against my wife, what she did, what she is doing to us ad kids. But, I have learned that the only person you can change is you. Being upset about other people is useless because they do not care, and they do not want you to change them.
So, we all are caught up in this matrix we created, or we unfortunately made people create in us. But its never too late to be what you could have been, because being, is not something tangible but rather being at peace with yourself, and with God. Especially with God, for its only He who can give you the peace you need. Being at peace with God, requires you to also be at peace with your fellow man.
So if you have wronged anyone, say you are sorry. Being at peace with people, requires that you serve them. So, help your fellow man, even if he be a stranger.
Being at peace with people requires that you also be at peace with yourself. So, find something you would like to do, and do it for yourself.
In conclusion, life is basically very simple, and its because of its simplicity that most of us ignore the things that gives substance to it. We think life is having many friends. But the truth is, those who surround us, are not friends but people who benefits from our company.
When it comes to having family, there is no guarantee that even if you have had one, you could have been happy. Most of us married folks are pretty miserable because each try to control the other leading to crash of matrix’s. Children can be tiresome, and they are. You hate you job? Most of us do.
I can assure you that I have read many, many self-help books, but they do not help at all!
It led me to do my own research, and this research has been a great bonus to me. What you need to understand is what is “The Human Mind”?
The Human Mind, is a Law differentiated. If you want to know more, just let me know.
Feel the same way! Or similar at least. I finally had enough and quit the stupid self help fluff train a year or so ago. Those books just pile hundreds of to dos and should a into your head until you at expending your entire day following someone’s checklist!
I feel angry a lot and then guilt and then depressed, maybe you can relate. I’ve found writing journals to be helpful, not as some kind of exercise but just pure expression of whatever is there.
You have an illness and its not your fault my friend, ever need to talk send me a message!
Hey I just want to say, my partner suffers from depression and it is getting increasingly difficult to live with him. I don’t understand it….after reading these comments I am beginning to understand it a bit better but I hate how he treats me when he is low. His anger and his outbursts are getting worse. I don’t know whether it is best to just ‘ignore’ him, pretend we are not under the same roof or to try and talk. When I try and talk he gets angry and just says ‘You can’t leave anything alone can you, just shut up, leave me alone” things like that. This can go on for long periods of time. I don’t like to see him suffer, I don’t like when he is totally quiet and just watching the TV or on the computer, no conversation, no emotion, no compassion….It is like living with a perfect stranger. He won’t meet me half way and tell me how he is feeling…nothing. It doesn’t matter if he is in a low or on a high, never does he talk about his feelings. He used to when we first met. I feel like I have lost the person I met. I don’t know how to deal with this. Any advice would be great. He is on meds, I think they are helping but he doesn’t actually help himself in any other way. No exercise, no communicating with friends etc.. just TV, computer, eating and sleeping. Not a life I want. This time of the year is the worst for him. When he is not suffering he is great! But it is getting less and less of the good times and more and more of the bad times. Events in his life trigger the big lows and it can take him weeks or longer to get out of it. What do I do in this time? Again, do I ignore him for weeks and months? Pretend I don’t care? He doesn’t seem to be able to handle it the I show I care. I can’t change who I am. I don’t want to change who I am, I am a caring compassionate person. I can’t hide my feelings and when he treats me badly and says really hurtful things, I close up and I feel like it is getting me down. I feel like I am spiralling and I don’t want to do that either. This is all so confusing… If anyone has any advice that would be great. I know some advice given is to just go out and do my own things, that is fine for periods of time, but not all the time. When I try and organise something and ask him if he will come with me, I get ‘I don’t know’. I always get ‘I don’t know’. I feel we are heading down two totally different paths, I want him in my life but I cannot live like this either…. Help….