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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

What Is Bipolar Disorder And Anger Issues? How to Manage It?

Everyone has anger issues from time to time in certain situations. That’s normal.

But those who are struggling with bipolar disorders experience a different type of anger.

This condition can put themselves or others at risk.

Now, understand this with an example.

You are standing in the kitchen, and a simple thing happens, maybe a dish breaks, or a partner leaves a light on.

In a flash, a wave of intense, disparate anger controls you.

Your heart races, your voice is loud, and you feel entirely out of control.

But after some time, when that moment passes, you feel like you…. and guilty of your act, “why did I react like that”?

If you have previously switched between extreme sadness and happiness, you are probably experiencing bipolar disorder, and such anger or bursts of rage are common.

For those living with this condition, anger is often more than just a bad mood or simple frustration. It is a clinical symptom that ranges between manic, hypomanic, and mixed episodes.

This anger can be destructive because it hurts relationships, causes problems at work, with peers, and colleagues.

What Is Bipolar Anger?

Bipolar anger happens in the time of manic episodes. Mania makes a shift in energy, behavior, and activity levels. It also leads to an increase in irritability, which is the major cause of bipolar rage.
When the person is in a low mood, they can easily be triggered to rage. A simple request or suggestion can take them to anger fits.

Bipolar Anger Versus “Normal” Frustration

Everyone gets angry. This is an emotion and is normal. Getting angry over a reasonable cause is justified, but showing rage over an unjustified reason can be bipolar anger.

Bipolar disorder anger is different. It is:

  • Inconsistent: a small reason can lead to a burst of emotion. The reaction is completely out of scale or normal with the cause.
  • Intense and impulsive: the anger often comes with a severe physical response, shaking, yelling, feeling hot, and having a racing heart. It feels like an immediate internal firestorm.
  • Unpredictable: Rage can come with little to no warning, and you often feel disconnected from the reason for anger. A sudden anger situation makes it scary for both you and your loved ones.

The source of this emotional state is the primary mood disorder itself. 

What are The Root Causes Of Bipolar Anger?

To better understand the root causes of anger, it is necessary to know about the root causes of bipolar disorder and how it is different from a bad mood.
The intense rage that comes with bipolar disorder is not a personality flaw or a failure to control your temper; it is a neurological and chemical effect that is directly linked to your mood state.

What are the Common triggers of bipolar anger?

1. Irregular sleep patterns and deprivation

This is the most common critical cause of bipolar disorder rage. Continuously inadequate sleep patterns, whether due to insomnia or the decreased need for sleep because of hypomania, weaken mood and lower your tolerance for any frustration.

2. Stress and overwhelm

Life is filled with many stressors, such as financial problems, relationship issues, and pressure at work. All these stressors push an uneven mood state into a full-blown episode with anger as a major symptom. What are the Common triggers of bipolar anger

3. Misunderstanding and criticism

People struggling with bipolar disorder often are misunderstood by others. When they are being criticized by loved ones or they simply misunderstand their actions, they take it as a personal attack, which leads to an immediate defensive and angry response.

What are the Methods To Manage Bipolar Anger?

If you are struggling to control your anger issues and want to understand the cause, you need a long-term strategy to stabilize your mood. The best way to prevent bipolar rage is to maintaina stable mood base. This happens with professional treatment and lifestyle consistency.

The Role of Treatment

Finding the right and professional medical he lp is the first step in bipolar anger management. Therapies and medication like mood stabilizers and other antidepressants, are the most effective ways for reducing the occurrence and intensity of mood swings. The Role of Treatment

Therapies (CBT and DBT)

Specific forms of therapy provide invaluable skills.

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy helps you change the negative, reactive thought patterns that fuel anger. You learn to connect your thoughts, feelings, and actions, and to replace irrational thinking with positive and constructive responses.
  • Dialectical behavioral therapy teaches critical skills to regulate emotions, control distress, enhance tolerance, and improve interpersonal effectiveness. These skills are necessary to manage intense emotions without acting hastily.

Get Professional Support For Bipolar Anger At Brainpower Wellness Institute

Although self-management strategies are helpful, they can only be effective after you complete treatment from professional psychiatrists. Bipolar disorder is a complex, lifelong condition that needs ongoing professional treatment. If your bipolar disorder anger issues are frequent, unmanageable, or affecting your personal and professional relationships, it is time to seek help.

We at Brainpower Wellness Institute understand your condition and the struggle you are going through with bipolar anger. Our approach focuses on stabilizing your bipolar anger management and providing you with practical, evidence-based coping skills.

We provide comprehensive evaluation and personalized treatment plans as per your condition and needs. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all treatment. Our experts provide a thorough assessment to understand the specific type of anger and bipolar disorder you have and how it presents in your life. We create a plan tailored to your needs.

We provide bipolar anger treatment, both with medication management and therapies, like cognitive behavioral therapy and talk therapy, with groups and family therapies as well.

But we are not confined to this; accessible and confidential support is also on the way. We offer telehealth psychiatric services across the USA, but this can only be possible after getting in-house sessions. We ensure that support is always within reach, no matter where you live.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does bipolar anger look like?

Bipolar rage is a severe and intense form of anger that can occur in people who are experiencing severe bipolar disorder. The symptoms could be intense and include sudden onset of anger, extreme irritability and hostility, loss of control, and impulsive behavior. 

What is an example of bipolar rage?

Examples of bipolar rage include sudden and intense outbursts of anger caused by minor annoyance, physical aggression, and verbal attack on a loved one. 

How long does the bipolar anger last?

Bipolar anger lasts from a few minutes to several hours or even days. Its duration is highly variable and linked to the underlying manic or depressive episode. 

What other conditions can be bipolar rage?

Conditions such as borderline personality disorder, major depressive disorder, ADHD, and schizoaffective disorder can occur with bipolar rage.

How to calm a bipolar person?

It is difficult to calm a person who is experiencing bipolar anger. However, it is important to immediately calm that person with different approaches like empathy and understanding, avoid arguing and criticizing, and maintain a soothing, low tone to control the situation. 

Why are bipolar people angry?

People who are struggling with bipolar disorder have anger issues, and the causes could be fluctuation between manic/hypomanic and depressive states, which affects emotional regulation and brain chemistry. 

How to deal with someone who is bipolar and manic?

To deal with people who are suddenly angry because of bipolar disorder, you need to stay calm and avoid arguments, provide a supportive and quiet environment, and help them access professional help for long-term effects.

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