Anger and Mood Disorders

Anger issues may suggest underlying anxiety or mood disorder, some psychiatrists say.
In the Wall Street Journal (3/9) "Health Journal" column, Melinda Beck writes that not only is there no direct evidence that anger management therapy programs work, but mental-health experts cannot even agree whether anger-related outbursts indicate an underlying mental-health problem or are just a manifestation of bad behavior. Psychiatric exams are sometimes suggested by psychiatrists for those with anger issues because anger may indicate an underlying anxiety or mood disorder. Some experts now believe that as many as one in 20 people, primarily males, may suffer from Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), in which aggression totally out of proportion to provocation is directed against other people or objects. In the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), IED may be paired with Temper Dysregulation Disorder, Beck notes.