Getting Angry
 

When I drink I get so angry. Really really angry.

At the world, people at the next table, life, my family, my in-laws, Donald Trump! Etc etc.

Why is that?

And does it go when your sober?

Some people are just angry drunks. I don't know if there's any explanation as to why. It definitely sounds like drinking isn't fun for you.

I agree with cantsleep. At some point drinking is just drinking and it's not fun. I know that during the past year when I drank I was still either bummed out that I was drinking, full of anxiety that I would get caught, or just beyond the point where I could feel anything including consciousness.

But for new drinkers I totally believe certain types of booze effect people differently. I avoided whiskey or bourbon because I always got sick or was angry.

I find I have zero of these issues or thoughts when having a protein shake

1. Quit watching the "news".

2. I think that letting go of the anxiety/stress/resentment and putting down the alcohol go hand in hand. They are mutually reinforcing and until you let go of it both, you're just going to be chasing your tail.

3. Did I mention to quit watching the "news".

At the core, I was angry at myself. But it was easier to direct it at the things I couldn't change than at the one thing I could change--which was me--but was afraid to.

What they said^^

If you are mad at DJT you definitely need to stop drinking.
I kid. Kinda

I could start a fight with my own shadow when I drank, but sober I am a reallly nice person lol. I’d get angry really easily and often over really trivial stuff I wouldn’t bat an eyelid at when not drunk. It does get better but for me personally I got angrier for the first month of sobriety and luckily was in rehab so learned to understand myself better and some tools to manage it which I never had before. xx

I stuffed so much negative emotion by numbing myself with booze.
It takes time and new strategies to release and process it safely.

Lots of tears, exercise, journaling, time in Nature, and simply going to bed early and long hot showers where I could cry or yell all helped. Pretty normal response so don’t worry just stay sober.

Only speaking about my experience here, but when I drank, I would pick a fight with the sky if I didn't like its shade of blue. Now living nearly 3 months sober, I don't fight with anyone. There is a quiet in my mind and I have some peace. Things still happen that are normal life kicking you in the ass, but now I can take a minute, look at it, right-size it in my calm head, and deal with it.

At the end of my binge drinking life I would turn into an angry drunk towards the end of the night. What I've learned about myself since then is that I was suppressing so many emotions until I drank and then they all came pouring out. Another thing is that when we are drinking we usually are not eating right, sleeping right, dehydrated etc so all those without alcohol can make someone feel angry but then you add the booze to the mix and you have a volatile combination. Since I stopped drinking, I don't have those outbursts of rage because each day I've learned to accept my emotions, feels the emotions and destress as needed. So yeah, I think the anger can definitely subside with recovery but even if you feel hues of anger then you have tools to work on ways to express it in a more constructive way.

Yes, I getting out of control angry when drinking. Currently sober and in therapy to try and unpack it. Anger and stress are very unhealthy emotions in my opinion. Now, when sober I do get angry, but only at things I should get angry with. But its mild, its not psychotic like when drunk.

Alcohol usually brings out the worst in us - anger, fear, violence, hatred - you name it. And unfortunately there really is no logical answer as to "why". I needed to simply accept that it did.

Removing alcohol from your life will be a very positive step, but in itself it won't be the solution to all of your problems. You may have to address some of your issues through other avenues - therapy, counseling, exercise, self-help, etc.

Alcohol does lower inhibitions. Maybe people hold in their anger, but release it when they drink. I didn't tend to get angry when drank. I just got stupid. Maybe I have a lot of stupid, and when I drank, I let it out. lol.

What did The Donald ever do to you?! (I jest, kinda)

As you can see from the replies many have been through this...

Only suggestion I can give is to put down the bottle and address root causes of your anger.

Often times, that anger/frustation/resentment is justified.

Drinking wont help that kinda situation. My 2 cents

I am like that as well
 

I've been sober about 34 days and I find that I still have a very bad anger problem even though I'm sober. That has not changed unfortunately although I may not be going on an all-out rage like I sometimes did when I was drunk the level is pretty close surprisingly that's something I'm working on with my sponsor and therapist & myself

This is a really good idea. Concentrate on not drinking. I have some mental health issues going on in addition to stopping drinking and I've avoided the news for over a year - what I could avoid. Some of it is so in your face you cannot avoid it.

Ditto.

And with stuff that I did have legit anger toward? That's the stuff I could only deal with once I myself got sober. In the present tense, for nearly 4 yrs I have been able to learn to identify emergent anger (or the correct emotion ie fear, sadness, guilt, whatever) and I don't lash out. I get upset sometimes, tho not often, but I have tools to deal.

Not possible when I was a drunk. And by that I mean literally, or in the ongoing drunken emotional state I reached, whether or not alcohol was in my body at any given time.

I am a happy (at first) then angry (after several drinks) drunk. It seems to let all spectrum of emotions be amplified and expressed with me. Stopping definitely makes me more mellow, so I think yes it will improve for you too.

And like others have said, stop watching the news, especially those anger-inducing 24 hour news stations.

How a person reacts to any intoxicating substance is a product of both set (mind) and setting (environment/social).
That's why we often act differently at a wedding (happy) and a wake (sad-crying) even though we could be drunk at either.

Having said that, Lance Dodes, MD has an interesting perspective on, "Rage." Dodes states that the purpose of addiction is to reverse feelings of intolerable, overwhelming helplessness. The anger or rage at the helpless feeling is what drives the addictive process. When anyone is trapped physically or emotionally, they will eventually feel great anger. Something to think about.

I've been busy so I'm only just seeing this thread.

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...-politics.html

Just a reminder guys - no politics - not even in jest.
Invariably, someone will get upset.

Dee
Adminstrator
SR