Are You a Hungry Bipolar Bear?

Anger and Agitation Can Be Signs Of Bipolar Disorder

We all know that lethargy, daunting feelings of defeat, thoughts of suicide, and a keen unwillingness to go on with life can all take you – a perfectly good person – and leave you feeling empty, a fragile shell of who you once were or hope to be.

We call this manic depression or bipolar disorder – and it can be much more than just anxiety and sadness.

Intense anger is also a nasty by-product of this debilitating disease.

Depression can “drop the gates” and allow you to get irritated more easily and downright mad when things don’t go your way. Some examples of depression and induced anger can be:

• When daily tasks prove harder than you thought…or when items you use every day don’t work the way they should.
• Something as simple as refitting the canister in your vacuum cleaner after emptying it – if it doesn’t snap right into place as it should, you may grimace, grit your teeth, and shout obscenities in your head or even aloud (Yes, this one is from personal experience!).
• A link to an internet page might not load as fast as it should, your email might not refresh and you miss an important message, a seemingly harmless storm could cause a power surge that leaves you without electricity and any of these could set you off.
• And how about a relationship issue? A friend, loved one, or colleague might say or do something that under normal circumstances wouldn’t be worth a scowl but when you’re depressed, it commands as much negative attention as you can muster. You harp on the action or words until you go nuts with anger.

Sound familiar?

Explosive behavior in folks with bipolar disorder is very common, especially in children, tweens and teens.

What Causes the Fury-Fueled Conniptions?

The root cause of depression-induced hissy fits differs from person to person.  A few common causes are:

• 

  • Pinterest
  Lack of sleep.
  Depression can and does affect your sleep patterns. You may find it difficult to saw the wood no matter how tired you might be. Lying awake with too much on your mind and an internal dialogue that won’t quit can ruin your slumber. Sleep deprivation is responsible for all sorts of maladies in all of us and anger is a big one.
• No more pleasure in things.
  If you can’t seem to take pleasure in the things you should or did in the past, you may find your level of tolerance for others and certain situations hits the ground with an annoying thud. Because your mind is tricking you into thinking your life isn’t worth the birth certificate it’s printed on, it’s perfectly logical to understand why you can’t enjoy the things that make for a healthy, rich living experience.
• Inability to focus on work, family or friends.
  They say you don’t know what you got till it’s gone. It can be very frustrating to lose your desire to do a good job at work, take a picnic with friends and family, or even sit down to watch a good movie. It’s especially irritating when you were able to do these things before you became depressed.

If any of this rings a bell for you, or if you know someone who shows the signs, stick around. You’re going to discover how to beat it without using dangerous pills to alter your natural chemistry.