Pathology: Anger & Depression

One would assume psychotherapists and counselors are savvy to the therapeutic benefits of anger. The bulk of the therapeutic industry however is captured by the feelgood cliches of PC culture, advising men to find ways other than anger to express themselves, referring to it as ‘toxic anger'. Such practitioners are unlikely to consider any expression of anger acceptable, preferring instead to nip it in the bud with kindly admonishments about it being a barrier to progress and personal growth.

Expressions of anger which move beyond healthy expression and into the rage-zone often come on the tail of being ignored when a man is expressing anger within more normal ranges. That rejection is what the PC therapist ironically tends to specialize in through his refusal of the anger that a man might otherwise use to articulate what’s pissing him off.

The purpose of emotions, or rather the aim of them is to find a way out; as tears on the cheek, smiles on the lips, clenched fists, or the quivering of the bowels. Anger likewise wants out – as outrage. In this move anger finds a target; it rages out at the family law courts, the misandric TV ads, the lack of funding for male health problems, infant circumcision, male homelessness. We don’t even need to have solutions to the things we’re angry about, at least not initially. 

The real danger here is that if you don’t get the anger out, if you don’t engage in outrage, it always finds another way. 

The old saying “Anger turned inward is depression” rings true for far too many men.  

The process of anger morphing into depression can be referred to as sublimation, a swapping of a supposedly unacceptable emotion for a more acceptable one in the eyes of our PC culture. The end result of that process is often suicide, and the therapeutic industry is directly implicated for some of those suicides by reason of its suppression of male clients’ anger.

The man-friendly therapist encourages expression of anger as a prophylactic against depression and suicide, and as a way to potentially reverse depression and suicidality in those already there.

Reference:

Peter Wright: Red Pill Psychology