Research backs up the claim that anxiety can lead to anger. Jesse Cougle, a professor of psychology at Florida State University, and his team studied the frequency of aggression across several different anxiety disorders, according to research published in the journal Depression and Anxiety. The researchers found elevated anger levels across all anxiety disorders.
There are several possible reasons for this link. For one, the very experience of anxiety is a type of emotional arousal that can be distressing. In other words, people with anxiety might have a tendency to overreact in general.
"When someone cuts them off in traffic or when there's a perceived slight(轻视) or an inconvenience—these can lead to anger because they're already in a distressed and aroused state." says Cougle.
Another possible cause might include the temptation to push aside the anxious feelings. "When you avoid feelings, you don't deal with them so well. Just avoiding anxiety—not acknowledging it because it's too scary — can result in anger building up until it's uncontrollable and it explodes." says Schneier.
Take social anxiety for example. Those with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) tend to avoid conflict and might go out of their way to comfort others. But they also expect others to act in a negative way towards them. Feelings of rejection can lead to irritability(易怒) or behaviors that are aggressive: the exact opposite of the timidity that one might expect of someone with social anxiety. For example, if you put a socially anxious teen in a setting where they can't judge another's intention, like a high school dance, and when the teen returns, she scolds at her parents for forcing her to go.
Another overlooked link between anxiety and anger involves lack of sleep. People with anxiety disorders have difficulty falling and staying asleep. Overtime, this repressed tiredness can lead to an irritable outburst.
