When one is pathologically angry due to chronic dissociation or repression of existential or appropriate anger, the threshold for anger is gradually diminished. Almost anything can then evoke irritability, annoyance, anger, or even rage—all inappropriate overreactions to the current circumstance.
Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is an impulse-control disorder characterized by sudden episodes of unwarranted anger. The disorder is typified by hostility, impulsivity, and recurrent aggressive outbursts. People with IED essentially “explode” into a rage despite a lack of apparent provocation or reason.
Dissociation can also be used as a defence mechanism, and can be the way our unconscious mind manages, minimises or tolerates stress, anger or conflict and protects us from re-experiencing or remembering a painful event.
Rage (also known as frenzy or fury) is intense, uncontrolled anger that is an increased stage of hostile response to a perceived egregious injury or injustice.
The brain shunts blood away from the gut and towards the muscles, in preparation for physical exertion. Heart rate, blood pressure and respiration increase, the body temperature rises and the skin perspires. The mind is sharpened and focused.
ANGER primes increased systolic blood pressure and the magnitude of this increase predicted reaction time prolongation. Within the brain, ANGER trials evoked an enhancement of activity within dorsal pons and an attenuation of activity within visual occipitotemporal and attentional parietal cortices.
You can still get a sense of emotions by focusing on the eyes. With happiness, the corners of the eyes crinkle. With sadness, the eyes look heavy, droopy. With anger, the eyebrows straighten and the eyes tend to glare.
While ongoing abuse, frequently in childhood, is most common, a single but catastrophic episode of trauma in either children or adults (such as natural disasters, military combat, torture, or violent crimes) may also precede the development of dissociative disorders.
A trigger is a reminder of something traumatic from the past, which can cause you to experience dissociation or other reactions. It could be something you hear, see, taste, smell or touch. It could also be a specific situation or way of moving your body.
Road rage, domestic abuse, throwing or breaking objects, or other temper tantrums may be signs of intermittent explosive disorder.
While that depiction can be accurate, the official DSM-5 diagnostic manual showcases that irritability and anger are common symptoms of depression. Other mental illnesses like bipolar, personality, and anxiety disorders can also contribute to rage attacks.
Not all anger is linked to anxiety, but often if individuals take a step back and uncover what is triggering their anger, they may discover that they are showing signs of fear and panic, which may be the root of an anxiety disorder.
Your attention narrows and becomes locked onto the target of your anger. Soon you can pay attention to nothing else. In quick succession, additional brain neurotransmitters and hormones (among them adrenaline and noradrenaline) are released which trigger a lasting state of arousal.
Our lower backs store most of our unexpressed anger. Many people develop severe and debilitating pain in the lumbar region of the back. Chronic stress activates the sympathetic nervous system that puts pressure on the spinal cord.
This may be most often seen in cases of trauma that involve exploitation or violence. The trauma and shock of early childhood abuse often affects how well the survivor learns to control his or her emotions. Problems in this area lead to frequent outbursts of extreme emotions, including anger and rage.
This is because they both involve high arousal and can be triggered by similar situations. In many cases, it can translate into anger when the individual feels the need to defend themselves against a perceived threat. This transformation of fear into anger can be seen as a coping mechanism.
Anger can be part of depression's diagnostic picture, but not always. Healthy expression of natural anger is not a problem. It becomes unhealthy when it interferes with daily life and relationships, but it doesn't always point to depression.
Rage attacks are sudden, out-of-control bursts of anger. These explosive outbursts can start without warning. They may also seem to be out of proportion to what triggered the episode. Rage attacks are different than tantrums.
Anger and Psychotic Disorders. Dysregulated anger appears in many psychotic disorders, such as various forms of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorders, bipolar disorder, and amok. Major pathways for the activation and maintenance of anger in psychoses are delusions and command hallucinations.
Dysregulated anger and heightened levels of aggression are prominent among Veterans and civilians with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Two decades of research with Veterans have found a robust relationship between the incidence of PTSD and elevated rates of anger, aggression, and violence.