Here’s an experience many people—maybe even you—have had: You meet someone new and think to yourself, “Well, I don’t have a lot in common with this person.” That thought might make it less likely that you will try to develop a friendship with your new acquaintance.
But maybe you meet up again, and you discover to your surprise that you do, in fact, have a few things in common. Maybe you both like an obscure band that no one else seems to have heard of. Maybe you have similar taste in books or movies. Maybe you root for the same sports team. Whatever it is, it might not be quite enough to launch a new friendship, but it’s a step in that direction.
Now imagine that on your third meeting, you really get to talking and you discover you have much more in common than either of you previously realized. Maybe you are both passionate about a particular cause. Maybe your families share a background that means you honor similar traditions. Maybe you share a desire to keep learning and trying new things. Now a true friendship might be forged because you realize you really do have a connection. It might not have been obvious at first, but over time, it became more and more clear.
That gradual realization that you have more in common than you first thought might also apply to two ways you sometimes feel—two emotions or mind states that might seem to have little in common, but which actually sometimes turn out to be two sides of the same coin.
What are those feelings? Anger and anxiety.
Let’s take a look at the ways in which these two feelings mirror and mimic one another—and how to maintain your sobriety no matter which one arises.
Different Feelings with Similar Profiles
The idea that anger and anxiety have much in common might strike you as unlikely. Silly even.
After all, anger is generally characterized by some yelling or stomping around or just plain bullheadedness. Anxiety, on the other hand, sometimes makes a person want to hide away from other people, which means avoiding confrontation rather than charging headlong into it.
But when you take a closer look at anger and anxiety, certain similarities start to become clear.
Here’s how Rebecca Joy Stanborough, writing for Healthline, puts it:
Anxiety and anger share a lot of territory.
Both emotions cause physical symptoms by releasing powerful hormones into your bloodstream. Both can be triggered by everyday experiences. And both can be either improved or worsened by your thought patterns.
Stanborough goes on to point out that anger and anxiety share a set of physiological symptoms:
When you’re angry or anxious, your body secretes hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline, that prepare you to fight or to flee.
During anxious or angry moments, you’re likely to experience:
- rapid heart rate
- chest tightness
- clenched or tight muscles
- rushes of heat
- gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea
- tension headaches
These sorts of symptoms—especially if experienced frequently and intensely—can pose a danger to your hard-won sobriety. None of the symptoms listed above are pleasant, and a person’s desire to escape them could lead them back toward drug or alcohol use. Obviously, that is not the direction you want to go, so it is important to have some strategies for addressing anger and anxiety when they arise.
Several Strategic Suggestions
In her article, Stanborough suggests several strategies for dealing with difficult feelings like anger and anxiety. Several of those suggestions will likely be familiar to regular readers of this blog. They include:
- Getting regular exercise
- Practicing mindfulness
- Breathing exercises
- Getting a massage
- Engaging with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Managing feelings of anger or anxiety with any of these methods—or any combination of them—is a wonderful way to protect your mental health and your sobriety.
We Offer a Path Back to Sobriety
Located in Henryville, Indiana, Wooded Glen Recovery Center offers comprehensive treatment for substance use and mental health disorders. Our inpatient program includes medically supervised detoxification, allowing you to reclaim your sobriety in a safe environment that is free from temptations. We follow detox with a robust rehabilitation program centered on group and individual therapy sessions. When your time in residential treatment comes to end, we provide ongoing support so that you can begin your recovery journey with confidence.
In addition to our inpatient program, Wooded Glen offers outpatient and virtual treatment programs that may be better options for some individuals. Both outpatient and virtual options can also be good follow-up strategies after residential treatment. No matter the program you choose, our goal remains the same: to help you get and stay sober.
We don’t want you to feel angry about your current situation, and we don’t want you to feel anxious about your next steps. Instead, we encourage you to let the highly trained, experienced, and empathetic staff at Wooded Glen Recovery Center help you reclaim your life.