My therapist insists that I have a mood disorder. Whatever.

She said today that "anger is a mood." What the heck is that supposed to mean? I have never heard of anger being a mood in the context of a mental condition. I don't know how long I've been pissed off for, but it's been days and it's not letting up.

Is this an episode or what? I don't feel depressed or on top of the world, and I'm sleeping just fine. I just feel... violent all the time right now.

[Fuzzybear]

A therapist said to me “anger is part of relationships”

Wtf did that mean

I don’t have answers. I wish I had.

Originally Posted by Fuzzybear

A therapist said to me “anger is part of relationships”

Wtf did that mean

I don’t have answers. I wish I had.

I have read that in healthy relationships, anger always plays a small part. I'm not talking about excessive, violent anger, but maybe bickering here and there. I've also heard that it's quite unhealthy when you don't have ANY verbal fights with your spouse, because that suggests you might be bottling things in. (Don't know how true that is, though. Just something I've read.)

I honestly think it's human nature to get mad from time to time. Doctors even say that anger is a "healthy" emotion sometimes. (Key word: sometimes.) I think it'd be very weird if there was no anger in a relationship.

Hi bluebicycle. I think anger can be indicative of a mood state, particularly if anger isn't a more constant state for you (as if you had intermittent explosive disorder or similar). I don't believe one must have all symptoms of depression or hypomania/mania to be experiencing a mood state. I think that sometimes the "mixed features" are an odd mix of only a couple symptoms, or a person is having "mood lability", which may only include one or a couple symptoms."Mood lability" is common in bipolar disorder.

[Wild Coyote]

HI Blue, This is a great question!

Anger is an emotion. Is it a mood?

Anger may be a part of a mood disorder. It might be a symptom of a mood state. For example some people might experience anger/rage when they are hypo or manic. I can get very irritable when hypo. Uggh! I then need my meds tweaked!

At the same time, I feel too many of us, as in everyone in the world, do not attend to our anger to discern its source and to clear it from our mind-body.

Sometimes, when we feel intense anger, there is a reason other than a mood swing. How do we know which it is? Well, we need to learn to be in touch with our anger, as well as with our other feelings/emotions.

I think it is important to recall that anger is a secondary emotion to an emotion felt before the anger. An example might be: My brother called me fat today. I am angry with him. Before I was angry, I was "hurt." So I need to attend to "hurt." I need to realize I am angry because I am feeling hurt.

Is anger a mood? We do say he is angry. He is sad. She is happy. I guess it can be mood or can describe a mood. We also say: He is in a happy mood. She is in a sad mood.`

I am very interested to see what others write here!

Much Love, Blue

[fern46]

I think anger can be a mood state. I think in your case your therapist was working with a very limited set of information that did not acurately depict the state of affairs. Rage is different than controllable anger.

I believe she may have counseled you differently if she could have read you posts here or known about you breaking objects, feeling like you would harm others, not eating, or harm yourself if this didn't stop. She might not have ended with offering coping skills as a way forward if she knew you didn't want to be with your family because you feel like it might burden them and that you feel you've tried coping skills and they aren't working.

I feel it is unfair to judge her assessment as inaccurate if you don't offer the whole picture. I am very glad your pdoc got back in touch though. I hope the new Rexulti dose works for you and you find some relief soon. I know you're very uncomfortable and want things to improve.

Originally Posted by BirdDancer

Hi bluebicycle. I think anger can be indicative of a mood state, particularly if anger isn't a more constant state for you (as if you had intermittent explosive disorder or similar). I don't believe one must have all symptoms of depression or hypomania/mania to be experiencing a mood state. I think that sometimes the "mixed features" are an odd mix of only a couple symptoms, or a person is having "mood lability", which may only include one or a couple symptoms."Mood lability" is common in bipolar disorder.

Yeah, I'm not angry most of the time, nor do I have frequent short outbursts (e.g., in the case of intermittent explosive disorder). I just happen to have been irritable for many days straight and have no clear explanation as to why, other than I stopped my antipsychotic.

I don't know if my therapist was trying to say I was (hypo)manic or what. Or depressed. I don't know. But I do know that I normally don't go smashing things, damaging walls, kicking things, throwing things, etc.. It's been several years since I've done that.

Originally Posted by Wild Coyote

HI Blue, This is a great question!

Anger is an emotion. Is it a mood?

Anger may be a part of a mood disorder. It might be a symptom of a mood state. For example some people might experience anger/rage when they are hypo or manic. I can get very irritable when hypo. Uggh! I then need my meds tweaked!

At the same time, I feel too many of us, as in everyone in the world, do not attend to our anger to discern its source and to clear it from our mind-body.

Sometimes, when we feel intense anger, there is a reason other than a mood swing. How do we know which it is? Well, we need to learn to be in touch with our anger, as well as with our other feelings/emotions.

I think it is important to recall that anger is a secondary emotion to an emotion felt before the anger. An example might be: My brother called me fat today. I am angry with him. Before I was angry, I was "hurt." So I need to attend to "hurt." I need to realize I am angry because I am feeling hurt.

Is anger a mood? We do say he is angry. He is sad. She is happy. I guess it can be mood or can describe a mood. We also say: He is in a happy mood. She is in a sad mood.`

I am very interested to see what others write here!

Much Love, Blue

Thank you for your input, WC.

I can't figure out why I am so angry to the point I'm being physically destructive/violent. I can't identify any triggers and I've been having nonstop pissy feelings. In fact, I'm not even thinking of anything in particular when I am pissed. I am actually very confused when I'm angry because I *want* to figure out why I'm so angry, but I can't, and that only enrages me more.

Originally Posted by fern46

I think anger can be a mood state. I think in your case your therapist was working with a very limited set of information that did not acurately depict the state of affairs. Rage is different than controllable anger.

I believe she may have counseled you differently if she could have read you posts here or known about you breaking objects, feeling like you would harm others, not eating, or harm yourself if this didn't stop. She might not have ended with offering coping skills as a way forward if she knew you didn't want to be with your family because you feel like it might burden them and that you feel you've tried coping skills and they aren't working.

I feel it is unfair to judge her assessment as inaccurate if you don't offer the whole picture. I am very glad your pdoc got back in touch though. I hope the new Rexulti dose works for you and you find some relief soon. I know you're very uncomfortable and want things to improve.

I did tell my therapist that I am throwing/breaking things right now. She also knows that I had done that in the past as a teenager, and that I have been physically violent with people before. I just didn't want to tell her that I felt physically violent during our session, as then she might have involuntarily committed me or at least freaked out.

Anyway, she said it's "good" that I am not physically or emotionally hurting people at work, and she says that it shows that I have some form of "restraint." I don't know. I said that I isolated myself so that I wouldn't do anything that I'd regret. I didn't want to b**** people out, because I can be impulsive when I'm angry.

I did mention the eating problems, though. I said that my stomach pains and discomfort irritate me to a degree, but that it's not THE reason I am pissed. It only exacerbates the "pissiness." But yeah, I know that most people aren't exactly "happy" when their stomach feels like it's being physically squeezed and twisted to the point it causes great discomfort and nausea.

[Wild Coyote]

Hey Blue,

I did not consider the second half of your post:

Is this an episode or what? I don't feel depressed or on top of the world, and I'm sleeping just fine. I just feel... violent all the time right now.


I think you have a few things going on this time.

I think you do have a mood disorder. I understand there can be mixed symptoms, etc. An episode does not have to follow a textbook example, as you know. I was reminded of how you were suddenly deciding you did not need meds and more, just two weeks ago. So, in being friends with you for a couple of years, I do feel you suffer from a mood disorder. I have had people with BP tell me they sometimes experience rages with hypo or mania.

I am quite sure you have pent up anger about a few situations in your life. I do not think your anger in those instances would cause all of this. It may contribute.

I still think the akathisia did play a part in triggering this episode.

I consider you a good friend. I hate to see you suffering like this. I hate the fact that you must deal with BP; yet, it is true. We both have that diagnosis and we both have to face it in order to deal with it. We want to have the best lives we can have with the challenges we must overcome/cope with., learn to live with.

I honestly think things will go more smoothly for you if /when you can make peace with this.

You are an amazing person! You have so many gifts! Do not throw them away.

I love you and I want you to have the best life possible.
Please do let me know how I can help!

[*Beth*]

I have been fiercely enraged many times in my life. The really severe episodes ended very badly, with arrests and ruined relationships - not to mention destroyed property.

I have learned that the rage I sometimes experience is a dysphoric mania. Not hypomania, but full-blown mania. During the time when the raging mania strikes I believe that I have perfectly valid reasons for my extreme anger; it's just that no one understands my reasoning (because, I reason, they just don't "get" how valid my angry feelings are).

I'm thinking that maybe your therapist was indicating that your enraged feelings and actions are indicative of your mood disorder. Of course I cannot diagnose you; I can speak only from my own experience - which sounds pretty much like my own experiences.

Dysphoric mania is not a euphoric mania. Dysphoric mania is when mania turns into irritability, anger, rage, and violence.

Did your therapist give you any insight into the experience your having? Any helpful suggestions?

[yellow_fleurs]

I think the experience I had with Lexapro/Lamictal/akathisia and the experiences I have with PMDD could be kind of like a mood of anger/irritability. It's like getting stuck in that state for a prolonged period and it's way more intense than I would normally feel about a situation. With the med situation I felt like trashing my room and did punch some things which was uncharacteristic. I would exercise intensely to try to get rid of it and isolate myself. It was hard to see past it. My psychiatrist asked if I felt more impulsive on the medication and I said I didn't know even though I for sure did, because I just had poor insight. I don't know what's causing it for you, but I relate to what you describe. I hope your mental health professionals can get you feeling better, whatever the cause.

[Wander]

So sorry your feeling this way. Sounds awful. In the past I have become extremely irritable with rage and violent outbursts when changing medications. I seem to be particularly vulnerable to any chemical change in my brain. Usually things settle down once my brain adjusts to being off the med, or if I had just been put on a med things settle down when taken off it. In your case you’ve just come off an AP. That may be the culprit.

Things may settle down with time, or you may need your pdoc to help you with better med options. I hope this passes ASAP. Take care and try to stay rational.