Is Alcohol Withdrawal Anger Common?

Understanding Anger in Early Sobriety from Alcohol Use Disorders

Many different withdrawal symptoms can arise when an individual stops drinking, and alcohol withdrawal anger can be one of them. But how common is this issue?

Let’s take a closer look at the matter below to help you understand what to expect if you embark on this journey in your own life.

Of course, even if issues arise that make it hard to manage anger, it’s still very much worth making the choice to stop drinking alcohol. The negative toll that alcohol consumption can take on all areas of your life means it’s important to work through withdrawal symptoms and come out better for it on the other side.

Breaking your alcohol dependence is not easy, but it becomes much easier with the help of others who have been through the same experience.

The South Shores Recovery team is here to help you deal with all kinds of substance use disorders, including alcohol addiction.

Keep scrolling to learn more about withdrawal from alcohol and the anger it can cause, and remember you can call us at any time to discuss your drinking habits and goals for the future. We would love to be a part of your recovery journey.

What Causes Anger During Alcohol Withdrawal?

To understand the connection between alcohol withdrawal and anger, we need to first understand what alcohol does in the body.

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, meaning it turns down some brain functions when consumed. Among those functions are the parts of the brain that are responsible for emotional regulation.

So, heavy alcohol use impacts this area of brain function significantly, and when drinking alcohol stops, the brain is left to scramble and try to recalibrate.

It is during this chemical shift that a flood of new emotions may surface. Those can include frustration, irritability, and rage. It’s not so much that these underlying feelings are new, it’s just that alcohol is no longer available to hold them down.

Intense emotions are now free to flow to the surface and you might find yourself expressing anger more freely or readily than you have in years.

Recognizing Alcohol Withdrawal Anger

You might think it would be pretty easy to recognize alcohol withdrawal anger. You are probably picturing a loud, aggressive scene, but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes, there will be subtle ways that alcohol withdrawal anger can manifest. These might not be such an outward display, but they can be harmful just the same.

One example is irrational thinking during the phases of alcohol withdrawal. You might be silently angry at others, blaming them for your drinking and past alcohol addiction. There could also be quiet anger around feelings of injustice over having to quit.

You might not really want to quit, even though you know it is necessary based on the mental symptoms and physical symptoms you are experiencing in life.

Of course, we can’t dismiss the more aggressive, intense emotions and forms of anger that may also be displayed. These can include having a short temper with loved ones, perhaps even leading to events of domestic violence. You could also have difficulty with anger management in public, like yelling at strangers who you believe have done something wrong.

Why Anger is So Common in Early Sobriety

It would seem that the early stages of recovery from alcohol abuse would be a positive time, and in many cases, most of the time, this is true. You have started to make a great change in your life, and you have support groups and other forms of emotional support on your side. Some people even describe this phase as a ‘pink cloud.’

Yet angry feelings are common at this stage of the recovery process. Why is that? Let’s take a closer look below.

Loss of Coping Mechanism

This is one of the major problems. It’s likely that you have been using alcohol in order to numb pain or escape anxiety that you have been experiencing. That numbing agent is now gone if you stop using alcohol, so those emotions will be free to come to the surface.

It’s hard to deal with them suddenly for the first time in a long time, and they can lead to anger and other mental health challenges.

Guilt and Shame

You may also find that you experience clarity as part of the healing process. No longer drinking alcohol regularly, you see things clearly and have regrets over what you have done.

That might include feeling bad about how you have treated others, or even what you have done to yourself.

Fear of the Future

For many years, your life may have been marked by the consistent use of alcohol. What will that life look like moving forward? What coping strategies will get you through hard times?

There are so many open questions with your central nervous system now free to operate as intended for the first time in so long.

Unprocessed Trauma

Anger problems can also stem from unprocessed trauma that now comes to the surface. There are healthy ways of dealing with past trauma, of course, and you will work on developing those coping skills in the weeks and months ahead as you move past anger and into lasting recovery.

The Dangers of Unchecked Anger During Withdrawal

It doesn’t feel good to be angry. It can also be dangerous for yourself and others. If you don’t have a plan for what you’ll do when feeling angry, and if you don’t have anyone available to help with this process, plenty of negative outcomes are possible.

One of the primary negative outcomes that is possible when you experience anger is simply relapsing back into drinking alcohol. That will surely feel like the path of least resistance at the time. You may get tired of feeling angry, or see how it is hurting others around you, so you could just go back instead of staying sober. That’s obviously not for the best in the long term, but it could feel like the right solution in the moment.

You could also do serious damage to your relationships when you are angry throughout the withdrawal period. You might snap at friends and family, doing damage to connections that may not ever fully recover. Getting professional help right from the start can help you avoid the worst of these symptoms and will protect your loved ones as a result.

There is also the potential for violence and the harm and legal trouble that it can create. If you get into altercations as a result of aggressive behavior, you may be arrested and face serious charges. Or, you could get yourself hurt by entering into a fight that escalates out of control.

How Professional Detox and Treatment Programs Can Help

Having taken a closer look at what can go wrong when you are having trouble handling anger, we can now see clearly why professional detox and ongoing treatment are so important.

For starters, a medical detox program is far more likely to be successful than trying to quit drinking on your own. The professionals helping you will guide you through the process, explaining that anger is a normal part of withdrawals, along with other symptoms.

You will learn breathing exercises and other techniques to turn down your anger in the moment. Eventually, you’ll make it through the detox phase and will be ready to enter a long-term treatment program.

In treatment, you’ll get to take part in individual counseling as well as group therapy sessions. This will help you start to see a future for yourself that is free from alcohol addiction. One session or meeting at a time, the future will gradually look brighter and you may start to feel more excited for what is to come.

At the same time, as your anticipation for the future builds, your anger that was stemming from alcohol withdrawal should start to fade.

Building a Lasting Support System

Staying sober is a lifelong battle. You can never consider the job to be done, even if you have been sober for years. A big part of staying sober and avoiding any issues with relapse comes down to having a quality support system in place. This can start with your family, but it doesn’t need to end there.

It can also include members of support groups such as AA that you join, friends who support your sober lifestyle, coworkers, and more. The more people you have around you who are invested in your success, the easier it will be to resist a return to alcohol.

Sure, there may be difficult moments along the way, but you can turn to your support system in those times to make it through safely to the other side.

Explore Your Treatment Options for Alcohol: Get Help Today

South Shores Recovery is ready and waiting to receive your call. We have already helped many other people confront the anger issues and other challenges faced during alcohol withdrawal.

Putting yourself in the care of our team is a wise choice that could quickly turn your life in a new direction.

We understand that making the choice to pick up the phone and call for help isn’t easy. It takes tremendous courage to admit that help is needed and that consuming alcohol is no longer the right coping mechanism to use when facing life’s challenges.

Please reach out confidentially, you will be met with a friendly voice on the other end of the line and get solid options to support getting sober.