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When Your Anger Rears Its Ugly Head

Perhaps the ADHD impulsivity is to blame. Or a lack of patience. Or the daily frustrations of life with ADD piling up. Whatever the cause for your angry outburst, you immediately regret it — and with good reason. Here's how to move forward and learn from past mistakes.

2 Comments: When Your Anger Rears Its Ugly Head

  1. Thank you for posting this. This sounds EXACTLY like me. For years I was told I had anger management problems, but no anger management techniques I tried worked. In fact, they often made things worse. Then I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, except none of the treatments for that worked either. My mom off-handedly mentioned in my late 30’s that I had been diagnosed as mildly ADD when I was a kid, but she was told that my case wasn’t severe enough to need any treatment (because I got good grades in school), so I never received any. Instead I grew up believing I was a rotten person who couldn’t learn to control my temper. I’ve only recently started to learn that anger issues can be a part of ADHD and I’ve started looking for a doctor who specializes in adult ADHD. Thank you for posting your experiences so people like me know we’re not alone.

  2. This anger outburst happened to me just last week: I knew I was about to break, so I went into my backyard to take a breather for a few minutes before returning to my partner. I guess I didn’t take enough time, because the moment I stepped back into the house, he was right there to continue on right where he left off, and I lost it: thankfully, the feeling of the door handle breaking under my grip shook me out of my anger before I put my head through a glass door. I tend to see red when I get that upset, and I’m in the process of getting ADHD diagnosis and treated. The door handle cost me $50 to get repaired, and my partner doesn’t understand where my strenght to do such damage comes from. I guess I don’t know my own strength when I’m angry, and the anger outbursts are a problem that need addressing.

    Thank you SO MUCH for these articles. I share them with my partner, who is now a real partner in trying to help me address and get help for my ADHD/PTSD/anxiety and depression. (He used to think ADHD was a character flaw).

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