How Does Alcohol Use Interact With Anger?

By consistently becoming angry or belligerent when you drink, you put yourself and others at risk. Therefore, seeking a solution for alcohol-related aggression is essential for your future health and safety. Unfortunately, feeling aggressive from alcohol can stem from more than one variable that’s beyond your control. Aside from existing anger issues, people can turn into aggressors when drinking for several reasons. While anger is an emotion you experience when you feel threatened, aggression is a hostile behavior that results in physical or psychological harm to yourself or others. Some individuals exhibit “trait anger,” a personality trait that means they continually look for triggers that make them angry. People who are closest to the alcoholic take the lion’s share of the abuse.

People lash out at their spouse or partner as a way to release stress. This may feel like a safer target rather than against someone on the road or at work. The loved one becomes a bullseye at which to direct pent-up frustration, stoked by alcohol.

Who is at Risk of Becoming an “Angry Drunk?”

In a WHO assessment on domestic violence and alcohol, 55% of surveyed Americans stated they thought their partner was intoxicated during a physical assault. In most cases,women are at a higher riskof experiencing alcohol-related domestic violence from male partners. If you feel like you have a pattern of being aggressive when drinking alcohol, you should understand how your behavior can impact yourself and others. For example, some cases of domestic violence have turned fatal because one person refused to leave when their partner was being abusive to them. In some cases, you can’t change an angry drunk, and you need to make the decision that’s right for you and other members of the household, especially children. A “crazy drunk person” is one who drinks excessively and frequently due to alcoholism. Because they’re naturally predisposed to be angry when they drink, this becomes a key part of their personality because they can’t control their drinking or their temper.

Sometimes, little things like being unable to deal with or express a specific feeling can lead to an angry outburst. As a result, there’s a lot of trial and error throughout your recovery, including finding the best anger-management techniques for you. Researchers have studied the connection between anger and aggression for years. There’s a reason the angry drunk is such a familiar stereotype. However, it’s about more than getting easily upset or having a short fuse when you drink alcohol. The outcomes of alcohol and anger can be hazardous, causing traumatizing situations for the inebriated person and the people around them. Often, when children, spouses and other loved ones spend time close to someone who becomes abusive when they drink, their lives change for the worse.

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When they aren’t under the influence, you can try speaking openly with them about how their actions make you feel, how they’re affecting your family and why something needs to change. One study published in a journal calledCognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neurosciencesought to explore factors that make some people more aggressive when they drink. In a 2017 report, researchers shared their findings of the relationship between alcohol and dating violence.

The link between anger and alcoholism is complicated, but there are several factors that play into why they are interrelated. For one, alcohol can serve as an excuse for aggressive and angry behavior. Actions while drunk are usually more socially acceptable or passed off as merely drunk behavior. Alcohol also induces tunnel vision, which can make anger seem like the only appropriate response in a given situation. Alcohol also reduces inhibitions and makes you less afraid of the potential consequences of showing your anger, making the likelihood of an outburst greater. Lastly, alcohol also greatly impairs your decision making and judgment skills, which makes controlling your anger much more difficult. The most self-evident way to stop being an angry drinker is to quit drinking altogether.

Why do we like drinking alcohol?

Together, you can choose the best course of treatment for your needs. This aggressive behavior may result in other issues, such as verbal abuse. If drinking causes a blackout, you may not even remember being aggressive unless someone reminds you about it. By perpetuating such behavior, people can end up damaging meaningful relationships — yet another effect of alcohol-based aggression. No matter the reasons behind feeling anger when drinking alcohol, such behavior can be harmful.

By understanding the underlying feelings and thought processes that cause their addictions, substance abusers can gradually learn to control the impulse to drink or use drugs. Soon, they will find new ways to address their problems and insecurities, without having to turn to substances.

Links between Anger, Aggression, and Alcohol Addiction

Whereas you’re usually the guy or gal under control, when you drink, you tend to lose control. Identifying those factors that might contribute to heightened anger when consuming alcohol is important for individuals who have anger issues and those who treat them. Increasingly, research offers answers to determine this interaction. Addictive lifestyle and turn your life in the opposite direction.

If no one can defuse the tension, they may become an aggressor, escalating the situation to a violent one. If you or a loved one is struggling with alcoholism, contact FHE Health today and get on the road to recovery. If you live with an alcoholic, it’s important to get them help.

Effects of alcoholism on the body

Understanding the relationship between alcoholism and anger is essential to continued success, and an alcohol rehab in Florida can help you with that. If you think that a loved one is suffering from alcoholism, there are alcoholics and anger some signs that you can look out for. If someone displays these signs, it does not automatically mean that they have alcoholism. These signs are simply used to help people identify when a problem may be occurring.

• Luckily, addiction treatment professionals are aware of the connection between alcohol consumption and anger and have developed resources to help.
• For more information about how we can assist you in your recovery journey, read about our alcohol addiction treatment options.
• It’s because you’re not willing to feel those emotions, that anger and that hurt, and your energy is getting trapped.
• Our integrated treatment model addresses the spiritual, physical and mental components of addiction.
• Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles.
• Many addiction treatment programs also provide Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, which helps individuals process negative habits and behaviors and develop more positive, healthier alternatives.