Is It Anger or Anxiety?

Anger and anxiety can go hand in hand, which is why our team is full of anger management AND anxiety therapists in St. Louis.

Our therapists have specialized training to identify and treat anxiety-driven anger, a specific anger subtype due to underlying anxiety issues.

Anger can often mask what’s underneath the surface.

Because anger leads to really big reactions, parents, and even other therapists, aren’t always looking for another explanation for the behavioral reactions. But stress and anxiety can lead to outbursts, too, and rarely if ever is a person just angry. There’s usually something else going on.

While parents often call us expressing concern that their child may have a conduct disorder, CD is actually a really uncommon diagnosis.

Conduct disorders impact a small percentage of the population, and oftentimes it is misdiagnosed. A big area that gets missed, that might look like conduct disorder? Anxiety.

Some stats on anxiety and anger:

• Anxiety disorders affect 25.1% of children between 13 and 18 years old (ADAA)

• For children aged 3-17 years with anxiety, more than 1 in 3 also have behavior problems (37.9%) (CDC, Ghandour et al.)

• Higher levels of anger were associated with worry and anxiety. In addition, hostility and internalized anger contributed to the severity of their GAD symptoms. (Deschênes et al.)

• 2019 study on middle and high school aged youth revealed a clear and specific association between anxiety and aggression in Korean adolescents (Chung et al.)

Anxiety-driven anger is an area that is becoming more and more researched in the field, which is why we want to encourage more therapists to be trained on it.

As a starting point, here are some of our top blogs on anxiety-driven anger.

Start clicking around to read, and learn more about this super important, oftentimes hidden, clinical issue.

• Parenting a Child with Anger Management Issues

  Part of an 8 part series on parenting anxiety, this post walks you through identifying overwhelming reactions and walks you through Kelsey’s three step framework to actually deal with what’s going on, rather than having another meltdown.

• Is Your Angry Child Actually Anxious?

  A primer on anxiety-driven anger.

• Anger and Anxiety: What's Hiding Underneath the Surface

  Looking at how anger can specifically mask underlying anxiety disorders.

• Games to Build Anger Management Skills In Anxious Kids

  A two part series, walking you through how to incorporate specific games to build impulse control, emotional regulation, and your relationship - all hugely important pieces of treating anxiety-driven anger.

Reaching out for more help

If you’re interested in learning more about anxiety-driven anger, or you want help connecting to therapists trained in this specific anger subtype, you can schedule a free consultation on our website.

Does your kid seem angry all the time? Are you wondering if your teen is angry or actually anxious? Compassionate Counseling St. Louis is here to help. Our therapists provide specialized anger management and anxiety therapy in St. Louis for kids, teens, and college students. We work in Clayton, MO and serve kids, teens, and college students throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, University City, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Coeur, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood. You can set up your free phone screening to see if we’re a good fit for your needs right on our website.