You treat them, and the anger then comes to the surface. This happens mainly with modern SSRI anti depressants (and of course with meth/cocaine etc), but can happen with sedatives (including marijuana, heroin, and other street drugs).
Even non medical treatment such as psychoanalysis or hypnosis can do this. (I was a doc before they had these medicines)...
and this is why the depressed often commit suicide, not when they are severely depressed, but when they are starting to get better.
this is especially a problem if the depression is associated with bipolar disease, where giving them anti depressants can flip them into mania with paranoia and violence.
I once refused to treat one of my patients with hypnosis for cigarette smoking because I sensed his easy going personality was hiding anger. On talking with him, I found he hated his father who had abused him, and that after his psychiatrist started him on prozac, he was having trouble controlling the anger. I cautioned him about the drug and told him to tell his psychiatrist about the problem and maybe to switch medicines. but you also have to remember that the side effect of untreated depression is suicide, which is a major cause of death in both youth and the elderly...
Bttt
often depression is repressed anger.
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Thank you for that explanation and you’ve also indirectly answered another question I’ve had.
I’ve often wondered why some people finally being treated for depression committed suicide. If they were feeling righteous anger about some event or circumstances in their past, was their suicide a misplaced attempt to hurt the one(s) who hurt them? That made me wonder why commit suicide instead of homicide, but I think I understand now. Depression is a passive method of dealing with pain and anger and suicide is a passive method of lashing out to hurt those who’ve hurt them.