By Kendra Cherry, MSEdKendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the “Everything Psychology Book.” The problem is when anger becomes excessive, prolonged, and difficult to control. Recognizing that fact can help you understand why anger sometimes gets the best of us. It’s why we might make bad decisions, get worked up over small annoyances, and have trouble seeing things from someone else’s point of view.
- It can lead to a wide range of physical and mental health issues, as well as addiction and other problems.
- This profound personal connection fuels her passion for working in the field and enables her to bring a unique blend of empathy and expertise to her role.
- If you’ve noticed that you’ve flown off the handle several times while drinking, it’s time to take a break from hard boozing and back away from the problem.
- For over 20 years Dr. Umhau was a senior clinical investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
- Lastly, we must remember that excessive drinking can lead to severe emotional instability over time due to changes in brain chemistry caused by alcohol abuse.
Neurochemical Changes
Acting angry and aggressive when you drink is often a sign that you suffer from alcohol abuse disorder. Suppressed anger or negative emotions may also explain why people with mental illnesses or poor mental health turn to drugs or drinking to self-cope. Because alcohol can relax you when consumed in large doses, it’s the perfect temporary antidote for someone who’s looking for an immediate release from life’s stressors.
- Alcohol use and anger can both be treated using psychotherapy approaches rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
- As well as being linked to aggression (and making it more likely you could be on the receiving end), binge drinking harms your physical and mental health.
- Normal, everyday situations end up triggering intense feelings of anger and irritability that are out of proportion to the situation.
- Prior to entering the substance abuse and mental health field, Shannon was a Corporate Executive for 18 years.
- Plus, a tasting of several nonalcoholic spritzes and elixirs for the sober and sober curious.
- People are more likely to respond to emotional triggers when drinking, but even the slightest hint of offense could cause a fight for the angry drunk.
Anger and Alcohol Risk Factors
- That’s why together, we develop custom individual treatment plans to take varying factors into account.
- In other words, can we make our inner “Sammy” or “Jimmy” (or whatever name your boozy alter-ego might have) stay away for good?
- For alcoholics, that question may come up daily, weekly, or monthly.
If you find yourself getting angry when you drink, it may be beneficial to seek professional help to manage your alcohol rehab drinking habits and discuss ways to better cope with your emotions. If you live with underlying anger challenges, for example, it may not be as noticeable when you’re sober because your frontal lobe allows you to manage your emotions and your behaviors. When you drink alcohol, those inhibitions are lifted, and if you’re feeling angry, you’re more likely to express it and do so in an exaggerated way. Currently enrolled in a master’s program for Social Work, he is committed to expanding his knowledge and providing comprehensive care. Inspired by his upbringing in Bolivia, marked by poverty, unaddressed mental health, and substance use, he brings a unique perspective to his role as a Primary Therapist at the Freedom Center. He tailors treatment plans to meet individual needs, fostering healing and growth.
Signs to Know If You Are an Angry Drunk
When drinking alcohol, the brain can’t regulate emotions as efficiently, leading to mood swings and aggressive behavior. Treating alcoholism and anger issues requires comprehensive therapy for the addiction and exploring the underlying reasons the person started drinking. Hickory Treatment Centers offers a holistic approach to addiction, including rehabilitation and family therapy to help you rebuild relationships.
Research has shown that thought suppression may contribute https://ecosoberhouse.com/ to alcohol-related aggression. One study supporting this finding enlisted 245 men with a history of heavy episodic alcohol use (Berke et al., 2020). They completed surveys assessing their endorsement of traditional masculine norms, use of thought suppression, and both trait and alcohol-related aggression.
Erin is grateful to be a part of the dedicated, caring and compassionate Freedom Center Team. Lazare Shadzeka is a Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner via the American Nurses Credentialing Center, with privileges in Maryland and Washington DC. Lazare has accumulated over eight enriching years in the provision of holistic care to a wide variety of clients, with psychiatric conditions. In a 2017 report, researchers shared their findings of the relationship between alcohol and dating violence.
You may also have a pattern of using alcohol to cope with stressful situations, or as an excuse to expel pent-up anger. Drinking alcohol can make people feel more relaxed and uninhibited, but it can also make them more prone to angry outbursts. Alcohol disrupts the body’s chemistry and can lead to behavior that is out of character. Too much alcohol can cause people to become more irritable and aggressive, often resulting in physical or verbal outbursts. Many people who drink are never violent and even those who do become aggressive won’t do so all the time.
So if you act agitated, it can fuel their anger and worsen the conflict. Even if you don’t find drinking makes you aggressive, you might find drinking sometimes leads to an argument. So, why not cut down together and enjoy all the benefits that it can bring. Anger is an emotion made up of many different feelings like dissatisfaction, displeasure, hurt, and frustration.
One study found that chronic alcohol use decreases the function in the prefrontal cortex, which why am i angry when i drink plays a key role in impulse control. In particular, “alcoholic rage syndrome” seems to be linked to antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Those with tendencies to what’s colloquially known as sociopathy may be more prone to alcohol-related aggression. Following a trauma, the brain’s alert system may kick into overdrive. Research has found that people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often experience difficulty managing their feelings of anger.
This profound personal connection fuels her passion for working in the field and enables her to bring a unique blend of empathy and expertise to her role. Often, anger stems from frustration or resentment with situations or circumstances you can’t control, including your job or current life and relationships. Many people who are “angry drunks” may feel resentful for things in their life they cannot change and angry at their situation. They use alcohol to cope with the unpleasant emotions, but the feelings are still there, ready to emerge once their inhibitions are lowered. Anger is a common symptom of borderline personality disorder, a condition marked by unstable emotions, behaviors, and relationships.