All About Alcoholic Rage Syndrome: The Angry Drunk Phenomenon and How To Get Past Alcoholic Rage

The difference between inhibiting and disinhibiting influences constitutes a person’s “urge-impedance,” or the overall ability of an individual to inhibit an aggressive inclination. AM focused on the development of relaxation and cognitive coping skills for anger regulation (see Table 1 for outline of AM). Cognition-relaxation coping skills (CRCS; Deffenbacher & McKay, 2000) was chosen as the anger management protocol for four reasons. First, its coping skills approach fits conceptually into coping skills relapse prevention conceptualizations (Marlatt & Gordon, 1980; Witkiewitz & Marlatt, 2004). Moreover, meta-analyses (Beck & Fernandez, 1998; Del Vecchio & O’Leary, 2004; DiGuiseppe & Tafrate, 2003; Edmondson & Conger, 1996) show CRCS to be an effective intervention that had roughly equivalent effects to other interventions.

Anger Treatment Options

For more information about how we can assist you in your recovery journey, read about our alcohol addiction treatment options. There’s no better way to put it — properly addressing alcohol-fueled aggression is crucial for your well-being and relationships. By seeking recovery for problems with alcohol and anger, you can work toward a more positive life.

1 Outcomes of Alcohol-adapted Anger Management Treatment

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. Researchers have studied the connection between anger and aggression for years.

Alcohol’s Negative Emotional Side: The Role of Stress Neurobiology in Alcohol Use Disorder

When confronted with anger in intoxicated individuals, maintaining calmness and composure is key. Avoid escalating the situation further by remaining level-headed and composed, even in the face of provocation. alcoholism and anger Some people have a genetic variation of the serotonin 2B receptor gene HTR2B. In the study, nearly 500 participants completed a questionnaire about their inclination to consider future outcomes.

Research suggests several factors may be involved, including personality, genetics, social considerations, brain chemistry, and brain changes. However, some people are more likely than others to be angry when https://ecosoberhouse.com/ drinking alcohol. Instead of being a natural emotion, someone with an alcohol use disorder (AUD) will express anger to avoid dealing with unpleasant or adverse circumstances, including the addiction.

This includes a 2022 study showing that in around 27,000 people, consuming up to 40 grams of alcohol (around 2.5 drinks) a day was linked to a lower risk for dementia versus abstinence in adults over age 60. A much larger study of almost 4 million people in Korea noted that mild to moderate alcohol consumption was linked to a lower risk for dementia compared to non-drinking. Erin is a Nurse Practitioner with 8 years of experience in midwifery and women’s health.

Without the OFC doing its job of calming those intense emotions, a person can have a strong reaction (2). Anger management therapy is one of the best options available for helping you understand your emotions and find effective ways to cope with them. People who are the closest to the alcoholic who struggled with anger often get the most abuse. You may find yourself walking on eggshells to avoid an alcohol-induced anger outburst. BetterHelp offers affordable mental health care via phone, video, or live-chat.

• The participants were assigned to either alcohol, a placebo, or a sober group.
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• The literature does not, however, describe whether specific areas of self-confidence, such as confidence specifically related to coping with anger and related emotions, predict outcomes.
• There is little debate that alcohol is a contributing cause of aggressive behavior.

Impaired emotional regulation, decision-making, and impulse control

Once these factors are organized into the I3 framework, their effects on aggression as well as their interactions with other relevant risk factors can be examined. For that reason, abstaining from alcohol altogether may be the best way to prevent undesirable effects, such as relationship issues or legal trouble. Alternative solutions may involve setting drink limits, avoiding alcohol when you’re already having intense emotions, or opting to have emotional conversations when you’re sober. The tendency to avoid looking ahead and assessing consequences for one’s actions is a risk factor for aggressive behavior while drinking. That may sound obvious, and it’s a theory backed by a small, interesting 2012 study from Ohio State University (9).

• Although alcohol consumption may produce short-term relaxing and soothing effects, it has many adverse effects on human behavior and emotions in the long run.
• Through behavioral therapy and counseling, a person is better able to recognize how their thoughts tie into their actions.
• Another study that explored the impact of alcohol consumption on facial recognition found that individuals with alcohol use disorder exhibited a bias toward misidentifying emotional facial expressions as hostile or disgusted (Freeman et al., 2018).
• Alcohol-related aggressiveness can also occur commonly if you’re already struggling with a mental health issue such as anxiety, stress, and depression.

Repeated alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism increases the odds for developing problems related to alcohol, however. It also raises the risk for negative consequences of outbursts related to explosive and uncontrolled anger. One study found that chronic alcohol use decreases the function in the prefrontal cortex, which plays a key role in impulse control. Researchers have also linked impulsive alcohol-related behavior to genetic involvement, with the presence of the serotonin 2B receptor gene (HTR2B) playing a role in impulsive and aggressive behaviors while under the influence of alcohol. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that’s responsible for things such as decision-making, impulse control, and emotional regulation. This part of the brain is particularly sensitive to alcohol’s effects which can also make it difficult for those drinking alcohol to control their responses and reactions to certain emotions.