Could being angry actually be a sign of depression?

"No matter how hard you've tried, it's no longer possible to hold a positive conversation with them”

Teenager deep in thought during a therapy session. Picture: Contributed

LIVING NATURALLY by OLWEN ANDERSON

IF YOU'RE lucky, you'll spot them coming down the street.

Enough time for you to dive into the nearest store entrance, or furtively cross the road. It's understandable, you're trying to avoid interacting with that grumpy, perpetually angry person you know.

Even though you feel guilty that you're giving them a wide berth.

They're always upset about something that's going on, or someone who's done them wrong.

Their outraged anger can quickly erupt over the things that would only mildly irritate the rest of us.

Like other people's quirky driving habits. There's always something going wrong for them and nothing is going right.

No matter how hard you've tried, it's no longer possible to hold a positive conversation with them.

You wonder if they're aware of their effect on others, because they certainly don't seem to ever ask about how you are.

You might feel tempted to tell them how unpleasant they are to be around, even though this might trigger another outburst.

But before you give them a verbal dressing down, consider that this person might actually be deeply depressed, in need of help.

Although we're familiar with the image of a depressed person as a sad, unmotivated soul that just can't cheer up or get off the couch, anger can be a sign of depression too.

I guess it's no accident that 'the black dog' has become the saying for depression.

Because like dogs, depression comes in many different varieties.

If they're an acquaintance you could just keep trying to avoid them.

But what about if this perpetually grumpy person is someone close to you?

Sometimes when you're really close it's even harder to recognise that they're unwell; they just seem to be tough to live with.

It can be really tricky to explore this topic with them too - because what you say might give them another chance to explode in anger.

Fortunately there are lots of resources on the internet from specialist sites like Beyond Blue that can help you develop strategies around how best to get help for once loving now unhappy person who has become so hard to live with; or you could brainstorm strategies with a professional practitioner.

But after helping them recognise they have a problem comes the next challenge: encouraging them to accept treatment.

But if they can achieve that, a chance meeting with them might become a pleasure rather than something to cross the road to avoid.

• Olwen Anderson is a naturopath and counsellor. www.olwenanderson.com.au