The Invisible Yet Deadly Link Between Stress and Depression?

June 23, 2012 in Anger and Depression, Brain Science, Depression, Stress Management | No comments

stress leading to depression and angerMany of us can sense, without really having to think about it, that stress can cause or exacerbate depression. Yet very few are able to put a finger on how it actually happens.  At the end of the day if we can learn about it, maybe we can stop it and feel better, don’t you think?

Stressors are all around us, causing us to feel like we never get a break and that we will never catch up. Particularly stressful events, such as getting terminated from your job or losing a loved one, are well known triggers for depression. This clear link between emotions like stress and depression has prompted a number of scientific studies, which found that there may be much more connecting the two emotions than we had previous realized.

What most people don’t realize is that stress is not just effecting you on an emotional level. It is actually causing physical changes to your brain that lead directly to depression. Stressors affect the homeostasis, or balance, in your brain that allows it to function properly. Chemicals called neurotransmitters travel throughout your brain, affecting and regulating your mood and your actions. Dopamine is one of the neurotransmitters that stimulates your brain, effecting your mood and causing feelings of reward and gratification. It is an important part of what allows you to feel pleasure. Serotonin is another neourotransmitter, which causes feelings of happiness and well-being. When something hinders the ability of dopamine and serotonin to get to your brain, it can lead to serious Read the rest of this entry »

Can Serious Brain Injury Lead to Depression and Anger Outbursts?

May 20, 2012 in Anger and Depression, Anger Management, Brain Science | 4 comments

There could be any number of causes for feeling angry and depressed. However, if you have recently sustained a traumatic brain injury, the cause may be quite clear. Brain trauma can often lead to severe mood swings and a lack of control over one’s emotions.

A traumatic brain injury is commonly referred to as a concussion. While not all blows to the head result in a concussion, many, especially severe ones, do. Any strong impact to the head can cause traumatic brain injury, but the symptoms and severity vary from person to person and from incident to incident. The immediate symptoms include loss of consciousness, post-traumatic amnesia, and disorientation. These symptoms will fade in all but the most severe of cases, but the damage sustained by the brain can also lead to lasting psychological effects, including outbursts of anger and depression.

Many patients who have undergone a traumatic brain injury will experience episodes of anger and depression as a part of the normal recovery process. This occurs because the area of the brain that regulates emotions will often undergo trauma during a head injury that does not allow it to function Read the rest of this entry »

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What is the Relationship Between Anger and Depression?

April 21, 2012 in Anger and Depression | No comments

relationship between anger and depression pictureThe relationship between anger and depression is a complex thing, but it is also something that we subconsciously recognize. Phrases such as “depression is anger turned inward” that have found their way into common parlance clearly demonstrate that even though we are not always consciously aware of it, we all know on some level that there is a direct relationship between the two. It is perhaps this tenuous understanding that has prompted so much psychological study of that relationship.

One of the most interesting things psychologists have discovered is that depression and anger often feed each other, creating a cycle of negative emotions. The root cause of both anger and depression is stress and negativity. Generally, when something harms or provokes a person, the natural response is anger. Anger is not necessarily a negative emotion, and there are ways to properly deal with anger. However, when angry, most people will either lash out or bottle up the anger. There is a lot of pressure on people in modern society to not express anger, even in a healthy fashion, so people end up repressing their negative emotions rather than dealing with them.

The repression of this anger and other emotions is often the cause of depression. All of that anger turns inward, so instead of attacking the problem, you begin to attack yourself. You begin to focus on your own faults and failures and pull yourself down. Carol Landau, a clinical professor of psychiatry and medicine at Brown University School of Medicine in Rhode Island, studied this phenomenon and noted that Read the rest of this entry »

Is Depression Anger Turned Inward?

April 8, 2012 in Anger and Depression, Anger Management | No comments

anger and depression in lifeHave you ever gotten angry before? Well sure you have, we all have at one point or another, and it’s OK, because it is simply another natural emotion of life. Ever felt like maybe you were depressed? Perhaps so, and that is OK too, because we all know that life has its ups and downs, and it can be hard sometimes. Unfortunately for some more then others, the feeling of anger or depression is a frequent visitor. There are a few theories of the causes that stem from anger, some of which are betrayal, violence and one of which is certainly depression. While there are varying levels of depression, from having a bad day, to not getting out of bed in the morning, or spiraling into the real depths of agonizing depression, depression from anger can be particularly destructive.

Unfortunately, anger has become so common of a emotion, and expression of all humans, that it does not seem out of the norm (in most situations) for people to react in such a way. For instance, did you know that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) does not actually list  anger as a sign of depression? Why not? Perhaps of its common occurrence, not only with other possible disorders, but also with pure human nature. So what does all this have to do with depression?

Well, some would suggest that “depression is anger turned inward”, as the saying goes. While there are of course many causes of depression, anger is certainly Read the rest of this entry »