Does anyone else experience anxiety as irritability/rage?

It gives me a super fragile, hair trigger temper and I could go on being inconsolable and aggressive for hours. Wondering if anyone else ruins their chances of sympathy by flipping out over nothing multiple times a day.

For what it's worth I haven't been diagnosed or tested for GAD, though anxiety is one of the symptoms I get medication to control.

Dear leafy97:

yes, fear and anger happen almost at the same time for me often. I feel intense annoyance, ready to fight because I think I am being attacked or about to be attacked, only I often did not realize I was afraid, I only felt the anger.

I am getting better at recognizing the fear underneath the anger.

atina

I think I do. I've always had anger problems, I'm diagnosed with a cluster B personality disorder and traits of two others, as well as mild OCD. I was prescribed Xanax yesterday for a string of anxiety attacks all week and after it kicked in I found things that normally irritated the crap out of me really didn't seem to anymore. It could be an isolated incident, and I'm not inclined to take them unless I'm freaking the hell out again, so I'm not exactly in a position to test this theory. But it's something I noticed yesterday.

I generally don't notice my alleged anxiety. It manifested as mild OCD throughout my childhood and into my early adulthood, but the last ~8 years or so it mostly seemed to have gone away. This week was the first time I really experienced anxiety attacks with the elevated heart beat, pressure in my chest, and actually worrying myself sick and losing sleep over it. Since I've known I've had some form of anxiety since starting therapy 10 years ago now I wonder how much of my hostility and irritability is from the anxiety.

I generally don't feel fearful or nervous, this week was literally the first time in my life I didn't justifiably feel that way.

Almost exclusively. But then I mostly get anxious because of PTSD symptoms which kicks me straight into the fight reaction.

Yes. Absolutely.

Sometimes, I feel like anything will trigger my rage because I'm feeling so much anxiety. I'm really quick to sometimes snap at someone because I'm so caught up thinking about other things that cause my anxiety...so when anything interferes with that train of thought, it really puts me on edge.

I experience all three at the same time. I get super aware it's like I'm just waiting for a reason or reasons to lash out finally, but nothing happens.