Can there be a link between anxiety and anger? Recently, the UK’s Mental Health Foundation released a report entitled "Boiling Point" which describes how anger, if left untreated, can lead to other health problems, including mental health problems such as depression. I will argue that anxiety should be on that list as well.
The charity’s chief executive described anger as "the elephant in the room". It is massively under diagnosed and under treated. Interestingly, in the UK, anger only tends to get treated because of a court order when someone has become so angry they commit a crime, or because the individual has sought private and/or alternative therapy. Very few people are being treated for anger having presented at their GP’s surgery with it.
So what about anxiety and anger? Is there a relationship? The statistical answer is that we don’t yet know. There has been some research into the effects of anger, mostly by looking at the lives of people with anger versus people without. Some very interesting conclusions have been drawn, including that those people who have anger have a higher risk of heart disease, strokes, self-harming and also depression.
Depression is the item there that I find the most interesting. It is my theory that people are like an over-filled bottle, and when the pressure gets to high the cracks begin to show – in the weakest place. Different reasons probably effect why different people have different weaknesses. It could be that people have minor genetic bents towards anxiety, or anorexia, either way. What I am saying is that repressed anger, or anger which goes unmanaged, could possibly manifest as anxiety. It seems to me that what can manifest as anxiety can also manifest as depression. I have experienced both myself.
It’s just a theory and hopefully there will be more research done into the connection between anxiety and anger.
What can be done about it? There are of course anger management classes to be had in every major town or city across the western world, and of course the plethora of alternative and complimentary therapies. I will do what I often do at this point, and say that whether you are suffering from anxiety, anger or indeed depression, why not try Mindfulness Meditation.
