If depression is anger turned inward, then is it fair to say anger is depression

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   reggieTullposted 14 years ago

   If depression is anger turned inward, then is it fair to say anger is depression turned outward?

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   pgrundyposted 14 years ago

   Wow. You know, that's an excellent question, I'm serious. I'm going to think this through and do something with it--I've been looking for a way into a hub on depression for some time now, and I think this is a terrific angle. Thank you. It will be a day or two, but I'll get to it. That's just the way in I was looking for.

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   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

   I don't believe it is accurate to always assume that depression is "anger turned inward".  Depression may or not arise when someone has a chemical imbalance.  It can arise, too, as a result of some medical conditions.   Although clinical depression is not necessarily tied to sadness in one's life there are people who have long-term sadness (or several sadnesses) who may become depressed.  Any and/or all of these circumstances can mean there is no particular anger at all - just plain, old, sadness (and often despair).
   
   I would more guess that expressed anger is "frustration turned outward".  Underneath most, if not all, anger is a sense of a need not being filled or a sense of threat to one's physical, mental, or emotional wellbeing.  I can see how frustration turned inward could be the cause of depression, but depending on how well a person can understand his feelings, and maybe not allow frustration to turn to "out and out" anger; I would think it's possible for frustration to turn to depression without their ever really being anger.

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   socio-literatureposted 14 years ago

   Emotions are actually transactions of feelings expressed according to the situations.Depression is actually DSH emotion that means it is really Deliberate Self Harming (DSH)emotion and it is anger turned inward...suicide or suicidial attempts are its covert extends...But anger is a normal emotion and it is not fair to say it is depression turned outward...At any situation of disagreement or disapproval of a need or wish the emotion of anger arouses and expressed outwards.Hence Anger levels of a person can be easily measurable and tamed and treated well for his wellbeing through various assertive trainings...or undergoing through better therapeutic counselling..I can thouroughly say that anger is essential in everybodys life but in a controlled or managed in constructive manner...A man without anger is passive and become worthless and slowly depressed in later days due to lack of real self expression of his/her likes and dislikes....

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   Answer Manposted 14 years ago

   Indeed it is!  Depression is anger turned inwards, or is it outwards? Inwards, outwards, it matters little to depression because depression is what it is...depression.
   
   I'm getting a bit depressed just writing the word, and I was pretty happy a minute ago.  Gosh.
   
   At any event, imagine this: you have a tomato in one hand, let that equal anger. You have say an orange in the other (one of those big juicy, California oranges...yum) and now toss them into the air and catch them with opposite hands.
   
   If you don't have any opposite hands, borrow some for this exercise.
   
   Now what do you have?  A tomato where the depression was and an orange where the anger was. Or vice versa. I'm not sure. I lost track when the tomato slipped and broke the Ming vase on my mantel.
   
   The upshot of this is that you should never ever ever toss fruit in the house. If you do then you could get REALLY depressed.

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   shirleybillposted 14 years ago

   Depression is a state of being, and not an anger. Many people have gotten into a depression from loosing a loved one, etc.

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   krillcoposted 14 years ago

   Bunk! Depression is NOT 'anger turned inward'. This is a very naive analysis. Depression, in te clinical sense, is a neuro-biological aberration that takes many forms, from mild forms such as dysthymic disorder to severe forms like psychotic breaks. While anger may be a symptom of depression, but is generally not the source of it.

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   cynthiaaliseposted 13 years ago

   As someone that worked with anger management for years, I have to say that it is better to think of anger as a secondary emotion.  Usually, (and I mean usually, not always) anger presents itself because there is another emotion not being dealt with.  For instance fear.  When you are afraid it is common to become angry at someone that is either causing or reminding you of the fear.

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   clara mennaposted 13 years ago

   in my opinion , if we can throw up everything that is unpleasant to our sense that come in through our eyes, up above through our sahasrara chakra , that negative energies can not stay and condense in our ajna chakra, depression won't occur.
   Actually anger is the manifestation of  excessive  negative energies burst up from anahata chakra through vishudha chakra.
   Prolonged depression is happening if people enable to have healthy ajna chakra. Also  UNCONTROLLED ANGER MANIFEST IN people with sick anahata chakra. So I thought that is true if one said, " she is so sad, and cried until her eyes become blind".

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    s05056posted 13 years ago

    I'd say it was more accurate to say self-harming is anger turned inward, and although all self-harmers are depressed, well in all scenarios I can think of, not all depressed people self-harm. I have a close friend who has been depressed for much of her life and has only recently developed anger problems. She's still depressed though, so it can't be that simple. Logically then, as it's not possible to take depression and turn it into anger, anger cannot be depression turned outwards. Then again I'm always surprised by the variety of problems people have, and your analysis might be true in some cases. Any thoughts?

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    stricktlydatingposted 13 years ago

    Someone can be angry and not be depressed at all. In the heat of the moment they feel anger because they haven't received something they think they deserve (whether it be good service, respect etc), they may be otherwise relatively balanced.

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    Ruchiraposted 13 years ago

    If one is depressed, one cannot relate to anything or anyone. Being depressed can sometimes make a person go angry or can make someone go in the shell. Depression turning into anger is likely since the person is not able to achieve what he/she wants. That could lead to frustration.  And Frustration can bring in Anger. So, Depression and Anger can relate.

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    Dark knight ridesposted 13 years ago

    There are several good points made so far. The roots of depression are far deeper than just anger turned in. For some it's a matter of biochemical deficiencies in the brain. For others it is just a question of feeling isolated from others. Anger towards self often develops in depression, because the person sees that what they are doing is hurting themselves and those around them. But then the anger is a symptom, not a cause.
    
    And anger is an issue all it's own. You can't say that an angry person is depressed. More likely their anger stems from frustration. The frustration of expectations and goals. In our minds we see things being a certain way and when it turns out we're wrong, we tend to get angry. That's not depression.

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    Craig Mposted 13 years ago

    I don't think this is an accurate formulation. I do think that depression in some cases is a result of suppressed anger. But anger as a result of depression? I don't think so.
    
    Anger is more of a protective emotion, meant to protect us from hurt, venerability, and being threatened. We also use anger to sheild us from our own sadness and fear. Rather than feel these painful feelings in our heart, we project anger to avoid actually feeling what's going on inside us.
    
    Depression is more of a deadening of energy and emotions rather than a cause of other emotions or energetic movement.

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    mpchekuriposted 13 years ago

    It is a good question to analyze on. You may be right. When depression reaches yield point it may turn as anger.

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    Tarek Coachingposted 13 years ago

    Put simply, anger is a frustration built up. It doesn't have to be outward.
    
    Think about it. You're trying to do something, you don't know how, you get frustrated, your frustration increases, you get angry. You either keep it in. Or you lash out on something or someone.
    
    So I wouldn't say depression has anything to do with anger.

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    sukena@gmail.composted 13 years ago

    well !!!!!!!!11read this http://hubpages.com/hub/angerandfamouspeople

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    smarmonkposted 13 years ago

    I have suffered from depression my entire life. It is organic...due to imbalances in my brain. Abuse may have caused those imbalances or triggered the gene that in turn causes depression (mental illness runs on both sides of my family). My depression is never so simple as to be anger turned on myself. It can be triggered by any number of factors, most often by a cluster of stressful and/or sorrowful events. The emotions that lead to it are most often grief, misplaced guilt, anxiety, long bouts of severe physcial pain (I have multiple autoimmune disorders), suffering of any kind by others, as well as myself, etc.
    
    It is not triggered by anger and certainly not by anger I have failed to acknowledge. In my early therapy, I learned that failing to acknoweldge emotional or spiritual pain guaranteed an episode. My considerable anger at that time in my life was expressed...quite loudly on occasion. There were very good reasons for that anger and I held on to it because it felt so much more powerful than anguish, fear, or anxiety. As it denied the reality or truth of the experiences over which I was angry, it was very unhealthy, but not depressing. It took several years of therapy to resolve that anger. While I felt a sense of freedom and "lightness," I continued to be depressed.
    
    This notion, taken as truth within our polpular culture, as well by many  mental health service providers, is so harmful. It also easily leads to a kind of circular logic. If you refuse to admit you are angry and that  anger is turned inward, you are in denial. it can lead to failure to find the real triggers for a patient's depression and lead to years of unsucsessful therapy. As Lisa points out below, it's usually a cluster of  events that leads to depression. For myself, a survivor of childhood and adult abuse, those events touch the part of me which is most wounded. I am in an episode right now and have called what lead to it a "Perfect Storm" of stressors and emotion..

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    Dian'swords4uposted 12 years ago

    I do not believe that I would say that depression is anger turned inward.  Anger has nothing to do with depression.  Depression is a feeling of despair or discouragement.  Thus I would not agree that anger is dedpression turned outward.  Ange really has nothing to do with depression.

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    Love-Lifeposted 11 years ago

    I think anger is more of an outcome of hurt and unforgiveness. Depression is more of an outcome of hurt and fear. I don't know if this helps, but that's all I can say.

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