How To Work Through Anger, Rage, Prickliness

[Whichway?]

I've noticed over the last few years I’ve become increasingly prickly, sensitive and defensive about even little issues. I seem to get triggered to rage very easily and then I spend hours or days thinking through how I’ve been wronged and how to wreak revenge or exert power over the situation.

I can see the futility of it all. But as it’s emotional it seems like you have to digest and process the emotions for them to go. How to do this in the best way? What approaches have worked for you?

 

[Max23]

Cognitive behavioral therapy is great for that problem. It can help explain why one acts the way he does and what are alternative ways to think. Can be a very powerful tool. Mastering requires great effort, but is satisfying when it gives practical solutions.

 

[Homo Consumericus]

I've noticed over the last few years I’ve become increasingly prickly, sensitive and defensive about even little issues. I seem to get triggered to rage very easily and then I spend hours or days thinking through how I’ve been wronged and how to wreak revenge or exert power over the situation.

I can see the futility of it all. But as it’s emotional it seems like you have to digest and process the emotions for them to go. How to do this in the best way? What approaches have worked for you?

Lithium seems to stabilise mood through GSK-3 inhibition (inflammation reduction?): GSK-3 - Wikipedia. This MD says boron inhibits GSK-3 as well: A work in progress on Boron as a possible treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

From my own experience, with enough taurine, I could not get mad at anyone.

 

[Whichway?]

Lithium seems to stabilise mood through GSK-3 inhibition (inflammation reduction?): GSK-3 - Wikipedia. This MD says boron inhibits GSK-3 as well: A work in progress on Boron as a possible treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

From my own experience, with enough taurine, I could not get mad at anyone.

@Homo Consumericus How much taurine do you use? I've tried 1g/day but didn't notice any effect on my mood.

 

[Arnold Grape]

Having been at this, it seems clear to me that hormonal status dictates emotional states and that (neg) worldview is often referenced in defense of inner turmoil. While there is generally a lot to get down about, a healthy metabolism will facilitate something akin to a coping mechanism or resilience to stress, although there could be many factors at play.

My experience dictates that you need to lower e when you are feeling edgy. (I know this is stock advice.) My method of doing this is by taking a dose of A, d, e, k which can usually get me out of a funk. Keeping blood sugar elevated and reducing bad food will also go a long way: also try to get outside in natural sunlight. As you move along different methods will become readily apparent to you. The most obvious one will be to consume a hefty dose of aspirin when you’re feeling off.

 

[Whichway?]

Having been at this, it seems clear to me that hormonal status dictates emotional states and that (neg) worldview is often referenced in defense of inner turmoil. While there is generally a lot to get down about, a healthy metabolism will facilitate something akin to a coping mechanism or resilience to stress, although there could be many factors at play.

My experience dictates that you need to lower e when you are feeling edgy. (I know this is stock advice.) My method of doing this is by taking a dose of A, d, e, k which can usually get me out of a funk. Keeping blood sugar elevated and reducing bad food will also go a long way: also try to get outside in natural sunlight. As you move along different methods will become readily apparent to you. The most obvious one will be to consume a hefty dose of aspirin when you’re feeling off.

Thanks @Arnold Grape. That gives me something tangible to try.

 

[danishispsychic]

sounds like you could use a liver cleanse?

 

[Homo Consumericus]

@Homo Consumericus How much taurine do you use? I've tried 1g/day but didn't notice any effect on my mood.

500mg had the best effect for me but I became greedy for more benefits and doubled the dose over time to 8g. Now I don't take at all because, after frequent high dosing, it (feels like it lowers cortisol too much and possibly raises prolactin) eliminated my motivation. But Haidut said we can load and store it (much like creatine), so I'm likely still running on a full tank.

Other supplements that have been keeping me zen are gelatin and niacin.

But consider lithium. It is underappreciated.

When stressed, it can be beneficial to give your body the tools it needs to efficiently turn glucose into energy (thiamine, manganese, riboflavin, CoQ10, etc). Avoiding unnecessary fats can help your body do this.

 

[PeatPeeve]

I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as many others on this forum, so I can't really speak of the biology behind issues like the ones you're dealing with, or how to address these "biologically". I believe that every emotion and thought and everything can be explained biologically. It's a symptomatic explanation of how your biology regulates your thoughts. But, it can be beneficial to realise that your interaction with your environment, e.g. your social environment, also affects your biology.

I'm not sure if you can relate to my experience, but I used to be very defensive and angry, too. Every perceived slight would hit hard, and I had a hard time forgiving. I seemed to love bearing a grudge and generally being vengeful. I was very focused on receiving the respect I "deserved". I'm sure these feelings stemmed from a very fragile ego. A fragile ego could be a defense mechanism against feelings of inferiority. Feelings of inferiority for example can be described in terms of neurotransmitters, pathways, neurosteroids and such. But the existence of such a profile can also be described being the result of epigenetic, cultural, and social influences throughout ones life, as well as from what is coded in ones genes.

My days of that emotional turmoil are long gone though. I think that being conscious of the deterministic nature of everything in life helped me be more sympathetic to and accepting of others', as well as my own, faults. Everything is causal. This and the following will probably read sound to many on this forum, but most people in general life fully believe in free will and individual responsibility.

Pretty early on, after the illness of a parent, I realised (or I guess started believing) that we're slaves to our environment - social, cultural and everything. Every action and every thought is the culmination of everything that came before it. This is not a new thought at all, and I'm sure many are familiar with the concept of determinism in philosophy. I'm just saying that being conscious of the causal relationships around me has helped me be happier.

As an example: that roidhead who wanted to pick a fight?
- A skewed and supraphysiological hormone profile could be talking.
Why is he roiding so much?
- Maybe he has an inferiority complex which leads him to try to compensate.
Why does he have one?
- Maybe he had a less-than-ideal home-environment. Maybe his parents weren't equipped to nurture him as much as he could have been. Couple that with maybe a bad diet, a low IQ, bad looks or similar disadvantages and you have someone who really is and probably feels inferior to his peers throughout early life in many ways.
Why was his home environment like that?
- Maybe his parents had issues. And he was born to his parents.
Why was he born to his parents?
- Because they...
Why did they...?

...And so on and so on.

Of course, in daily life, we all feel like we're in control and have our free will. But my experience is that consciously considering the importance of the circumstances of other people has helps you become much more accepting. It makes it difficult to blame someone. It's essentially resignation, and it's pretty freeing.

I think it just takes effort to consciously keep in mind the fact that everything is causal, in daily life. Naturally, I'll get mad at people occasionally, but this happens less and less often. When I do, I will usually forgive forget, and feel bad for getting mad soon after cooling down. Although. That cooling-down period is proportionate to how mad I get. If you're really mad, it's hard to be sympathetic to someone else's circumstances. But I find that once you do (and this is of course easier if you know a bit about the person) it is easier to be at peace with whatever happened.

Forgiving someone frees up your headspace. it gives peace. There's a quote saying something like "By forgiving someone you're really mostly making yourself a favour" or something like that. It feel it rings true. I used to hold grudges "with a grudge", and rarely forgave stuff that I felt was indignating to me. Actually, whenever I "forgave" someone, I often didn't do it internally, and secretly was still angry. Not being like that anymore has freed me up in a big way and made me more happy.