Recent rage issues

LegacyUser

I was wondering if anyone else has gone through this and if so what they did to resolve it?

I've found myself becoming very ragey for no reason lately (say the last 3 months). Little things anger me. I've started gritting my teeth from it and getting headaches. My temperature shoots up and I can't think straight.
There is nothing in the background bothering me or stressing me out that I'm aware of. In fact a few weeks ago I got a promotion into a position I've wanted for ages.

Does anyone know from personal experience if hormone imbalances or something can just cause unwarranted feelings of anger? There's no rhyme or reason for what triggers the feelings of rage. Sometimes it can be something as simple as someone sitting too close to me (never bothered me before). I don't think therapy would work as this is so recent and there wasn't anything I can think of that caused it. It seems nearly like a chemical reaction rather than a thought process causing it.

Any personal experiences/stories of same would be helpful.

fineso.mom

are you male/female? A friend of mine had a few episodes of sudden rage when she was in the early stages of menopause. The most laid back person you could meet normally but she said during these episodes she felt like breaking stuff she was so angry. They came from nowhere and for no apparent reason.

witchgirl26

OP has anything major happened in your life in that past few years? I experienced something like this about 4 years after my dad died and it was connected to my grief.

Mr. Incognito

Go to your GP and get checked out

LegacyUser

fineso.mom wrote: »

are you male/female? A friend of mine had a few episodes of sudden rage when she was in the early stages of menopause. The most laid back person you could meet normally but she said during these episodes she felt like breaking stuff she was so angry. They came from nowhere and for no apparent reason.

Hi, thank you for your reply. I'm female but I'm in my mid 20's. There's no history of early menopause in my family but I will mention this to my GP and see if there's a risk there.

Tenigate

RageAnon1 wrote: »

There is nothing in the background bothering me or stressing me out that I'm aware of. In fact a few weeks ago I got a promotion into a position I've wanted for ages.

This could be the cause.

if the promotion was something you were working towards, you may have put a lot of energy into it. So you could be overstimulated and not able to calm down.

Alternatively, you could feel threatened somehow.. more responsibility, more pressure, trying to prove yourself (even through a prolonged interview process), trying to balance things between the various interest groups at work

Is there a constant narrative in your thought, so you find it hard to switch your mind off and relax in the evening? When's the last time you had a holiday from work?

LegacyUser

witchgirl26 wrote: »

OP has anything major happened in your life in that past few years? I experienced something like this about 4 years after my dad died and it was connected to my grief.

Thanks for your reply. That's interesting that the grief can return like anger so many years later. There was a death in the family many years ago but I felt I did my grieving back then. I will certainly mention this to the GP in case it's something like you describe.

LegacyUser

Tenigate wrote: »

This could be the cause.

if the promotion was something you were working towards, you may have put a lot of energy into it. So you could be overstimulated and not able to calm down.

Alternatively, you could feel threatened somehow.. more responsibility, more pressure, trying to prove yourself (even through a prolonged interview process), trying to balance things between the various interest groups at work

Is there a constant narrative in your thought, so you find it hard to switch your mind off and relax in the evening? When's the last time you had a holiday from work?

Hi Tenigate, thank you for your reply. I considered that it might have been the promotion, however family members and friends say that my argumentative behaviour has been this way for several months, where as the promotion interview process & getting the new role was all mere weeks ago.

However, your note about a constant narrative has hit home. I have found myself the last few months nearly talking out loud to myself and my brain is never quiet from the moment I wake up. Perhaps I'm overstimulated in some way and the extra energy is penting up as anger. This is an interesting perspective on it, thank you.

LegacyUser

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Go to your GP and get checked out

I will of course be doing that as soon as I can get an appointment & corresponding day off. I'm just looking to get some personal stories/perspectives of people who have been through the same.

A lot of what other posters have replied with have given me a light-bulb moment, things I wouldn't have considered. I'm not on this forum for medical advice. Knowing that others have gone through similar or know of people who went through similar is also a bit of a comfort.

Tenigate

RageAnon1 wrote: »

However, your note about a constant narrative has hit home. I have found myself the last few months nearly talking out loud to myself and my brain is never quiet from the moment I wake up. Perhaps I'm overstimulated in some way and the extra energy is penting up as anger. This is an interesting perspective on it, thank you.

A lot of people suffer from this. There's no reason you should analyse every situation, or to think about a conversation days after you had it. The key is to switch off that narrative - as soon as you find mind trying to drag you into an inner monologue, stop thinking for a few seconds until the thoughts have passed.

At the very least turn off your mind for 15 mins twice a day through a meditation technique of your choice.

In addition to this, practice gratitude journalling. (your mind is so used to being busy, you might as well think about the "nice" little things in life, rather than little annoyances like people sitting too close to you.)

The combination of stopping constant thought, and being grateful, makes for a much calmer mindset than one where the world conspires against you.

RageAnon1 wrote: »

I'm not on this forum for medical advice. Knowing that others have gone through similar or know of people who went through similar is also a bit of a comfort.

Having gone the medical route, I'd advise you to tell your GP you are keen to avoid medication -if possible. If you can make positive changes to your lifestyle (spending more time outside, thinking positively, attending counselling) you might be able to avoid medication.

witchgirl26

RageAnon1 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. That's interesting that the grief can return like anger so many years later. There was a death in the family many years ago but I felt I did my grieving back then. I will certainly mention this to the GP in case it's something like you describe.

Definitely do. I honestly thought I was in a much better place 4 years after and that the worst of my grieving had been done but it was very much connected. I had the worst short fuse for months. I did some bereavement counselling and it really helped with it but also doing the old nugget of taking 10 seconds to breath and stop before letting it take over really helped.

LegacyUser

Tenigate wrote: »

A lot of people suffer from this. There's no reason you should analyse every situation, or to think about a conversation days after you had it. The key is to switch off that narrative - as soon as you find mind trying to drag you into an inner monologue, stop thinking for a few seconds until the thoughts have passed.

At the very least turn off your mind for 15 mins twice a day through a meditation technique of your choice.

In addition to this, practice gratitude journalling. (your mind is so used to being busy, you might as well think about the "nice" little things in life, rather than little annoyances like people sitting too close to you.)

The combination of stopping constant thought, and being grateful, makes for a much calmer mindset than one where the world conspires against you.



Having gone the medical route, I'd advise you to tell your GP you are keen to avoid medication -if possible. If you can make positive changes to your lifestyle (spending more time outside, thinking positively, attending counselling) you might be able to avoid medication.

That is all very helpful advice, thank you for this. I'm definitely hoping to avoid medications anyway. My GP is very gung-ho about giving out prescriptions for every little thing so I'll be emphasising that I wish to avoid that unless there's no other choice (for example, if it's proven to be hormone/chemical imbalance rather than a psychological issue).

Thank you for all of information, it's very helpful.

LegacyUser

witchgirl26 wrote: »

Definitely do. I honestly thought I was in a much better place 4 years after and that the worst of my grieving had been done but it was very much connected. I had the worst short fuse for months. I did some bereavement counselling and it really helped with it but also doing the old nugget of taking 10 seconds to breath and stop before letting it take over really helped.

I'm looking into bereavement counselling and CBT counselling locally now. It's worth a try, maybe some pent-up grief will bubble over that I didn't know I had.

Do you find you are a calmer person nowadays in general or is it just that you can control it better when the anger pops up?

LynnGrace

RageAnon1 wrote: »

I will of course be doing that as soon as I can get an appointment & corresponding day off. I'm just looking to get some personal stories/perspectives of people who have been through the same.

A lot of what other posters have replied with have given me a light-bulb moment, things I wouldn't have considered. I'm not on this forum for medical advice. Knowing that others have gone through similar or know of people who went through similar is also a bit of a comfort.

This clicked something in my head, a former colleague described going through something similar, where she would snap at the slightest thing. When I worked with her, she was a really even-tempered, sunny person. I know it turned out to be something medical, (thyroid related maybe?) and very treatable.
Sorry for the vagueness, I genuinely cannot remember, it is ages ago, and she only told me about it afterwards.

All the best, you will get to the root of it.

witchgirl26

RageAnon1 wrote: »

I'm looking into bereavement counselling and CBT counselling locally now. It's worth a try, maybe some pent-up grief will bubble over that I didn't know I had.

Do you find you are a calmer person nowadays in general or is it just that you can control it better when the anger pops up?

I'm generally much calmer now but it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. What I was taught was that grief never really goes away. Instead of the old piece of it getting less with time it's actually that your life becomes bigger but grief generally stays the same size. I still get angry moments at times so I do the counting to 10 and try to think about why I'm getting angry and if it's worth my energy.

LegacyUser

Thank you all very much for your replies. I've made an appointment with the doctor and will be looking into everything that was said here to try determine the cause of it.
In the meantime, the replies have been very helpful and a comfort

pilly

OP, as a female I did suffer from huge rage during PMT when I was younger but it was only for a few days a month.

If yours is constant it's unlikely to be hormonal.