Anger from Social Interactions

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I'm noticing that I have supreme anger from any little stressor. Washing dishes. Basically doing anything besides sitting around and looking at a computer or TV or laying in bed before going to bed.

 

The worst part of this is anytime I have to engage in a social interaction, I feel the anger come on very strong. I know that I've dealt with some social anxiety throughout my life but this is different. If I have to talk with anybody or interact with anybody, I can feel the anger kick up and it feels completely out of my control.

 

How many others are dealing with this? I feel like I need to be isolated and it sucks.

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I see a theme in your posts being fears over anger.  Anger is just a reaction, but what is driving the anger?  I'm sure it's the frustration, fatigue, and wear and tear from benzo withdrawal.  You just happen to manifest this as anger while someone else may manifest it as sorrow, depression, agitation, etc.  At the end of the day, the anger is not you, it is just your mind trying to cope with all this withdrawal crap.

 

More often than not, our mind manifests our worst fears because it is trying to couple a reason with why we feel so horrible and overstimulated and in fear.  If there is no 'real' fear then our mind will create some for us so that we can rationalize a reason for our feelings.

 

This is all chemical, it is not the real you.  You have now created a mindset of being afraid of your anger and your mind will happily play that recording over and over again because it has now associated this with how bad you feel.  You need to try and not fear the anger.  When it comes, just tell yourself, "Oh, there's that anger reaction, but it's just my mind.  I don't need to fear it or pay attention to it."

 

Cheers,

          RR

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recoveryroad, it does truly feel chemical because there is nothing I can do to make it stop, it just happens. I've tried all the traditional methods to cope with it like exercise and taking naps and eating well and nothing has really been able to make these reactions stop.

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I want to add that I've had the urge to cry at work all the time since this has been going on. It goes right along with the anger.

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I want to add that I've had the urge to cry at work all the time since this has been going on. It goes right along with the anger.

 

Sure BBB21, after all this disruption and incessant symptoms it is perfectly reasonable to want to scream, cry, pound our fists, rage, etc.  These feelings suck, they are uncomfortable, we don't like them, we want them gone.

 

I think for the moment you need to focus away from symptom resolution and just try to life your life as best you can and let the symptoms 'be'.  It doesn't mean you need to enjoy them, but just recognize there is nothing wrong with the core 'you' and what you are feeling are only symptoms.  Not minimizing how much they suck and how badly they can make you feel, but at the end of the day they cannot hurt you.  There is also no point in trying to 'figure them out', that is just wasted energy.  They will be there while your body is healing, and as healing progresses the symptoms will recede into the background.

 

I highly recommend checking out Claire Weekes 'Hope and Help for your Nerves.'  You can get it on audio, she has a very calming grandmotherly voice.  You may find some excerpts of her stuff on YouTube.  She has excellent info on the WHY of symptoms, and the HOW to address them.

 

Cheers,

        RR