The destructive emotion du jour: bitterness

You know them. I know them. And, increasingly, psychiatrists know them. People who feel they have been wronged by someone and are so bitter they can barely function other than to ruminate about their circumstances.

This behavior is so common -- and so deeply destructive -- that some psychiatrists are urging it be identified as a mental illness under the name post-traumatic embitterment disorder. The behavior was discussed before an enthusiastic audience Monday at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Assn. meeting in San Francisco.

The disorder is modeled after post-traumatic stress disorder because it too is a response to a trauma that endures. People with PTSD are left fearful and anxious. Embittered people, however, are left seething for revenge.

"They feel the world has treated them unfairly. It's one step more complex than anger. They're angry plus helpless," says Dr. Michael Linden, a German psychiatrist who named the behavior.

Embittered people are typically good people who have worked hard at something important, such as a job or a relationship or activity, Linden says. When something unexpectedly awful happens -- they don't get the promotion, the wife files for divorce or they fail to make the Olympic team -- a profound sense of injustice overtakes them. Instead of dealing with the loss with the help of family and friends, they cannot let go of the feeling of being victimized. Almost immediately after the traumatic event, they become angry, pessimistic, aggressive, hopeless haters.

"Embitterment is a violation of basic beliefs," Linden says. "It causes a very severe emotional reaction.... We are always coping with negative life events. It's the reaction that varies."

There are only a handful of studies on the behavior, but psychiatrists meeting Monday were in agreement that much more research is needed on identifying and helping these people. One estimate is that 1% to 2% of the population are embittered, says Linden, who has published several studies on the behavior.

"These people usually don't come to treatment because 'the world has to change, not me,' " Linden says. "They are almost treatment resistant.... Revenge is not a treatment."

Nevertheless, Linden suggests that people once known as loving, normal individuals who suddenly snap and kill their family and themselves may have post-traumatic embitterment syndrome. That's reason enough for researchers to study how to treat the destructive emotion of bitterness.

-- Shari Roan 

Comments

[brettstrodamus]

This article really makes me bitter!

[c]

Uhhh ok

[I woke up sucking on lemon]

Instead of dealing with the loss
LOSS_ES_--OF LOVED ONES AND DREAMS
with the help of family
THEY ARE ABOUT THE LEAST HELPFUL PEOPLE ON EARTH
and friends,
ALWAYS THERE FOR ME, EXCEPT WHEN I NEED THEM
they cannot let go of the feeling of being victimized.
WELL, I PLAYED BY THE RULES--WHICH WAS A STUPID THING TO DO. I GOT EDUCATED, WORKED HARD--AND NOW I'M BROKE AND NEARLY SEPARATED. PROBABLY THE LEAST SUCCESSFUL PERSON I KNOW!
Almost immediately after the traumatic event,
PLURAL: CAN I COUNT THEM? DEATHS? BREAKUPS? FIGHTS? SUICIDES?
they become angry, pessimistic, aggressive, hopeless haters.
YEP, THAT'S ME TO A "T." A WALL-PUNCHING, RECKLESS, SLEEP-DEPRIVED MISANTHROPIST!

[William Thompson]

Now I suppose the pharmaceutical companies will create high priced meds for this condition just as they have for other questionable conditions.

[sharinlite]

Ms. Roan,

There is absolutely no need to find a name for this disorder. All you need to do is go to the Huffington Post, the Daily Kos, Atrios, MyDD, DUnderground and read the comments and posting or, even easier is to look at and hear Ms. Garofolo's comments regarding anyone not an Uberlefty like she is. You will find, I am positive, that all you need do is simply call these people what they are: Uberliberal Lefties. Nuff said!!

[Anne]

We'll have this as a full-blown syndrome unless some researcher points out that bitterness is a common and utterly normal reaction to nasty treatment. It goes away. People do move on.

If you don't take that into account, we'll start classifying 10 or 20 percent of the population as "bitter" "haters" -- when they are simply going through something that will pass.

[Anne]

We'll have this as a full-blown syndrome unless some researcher points out that bitterness is a common and utterly normal reaction to nasty treatment. It goes away. People do move on.

If you don't take that into account, we'll start classifying 10 or 20 percent of the population as "bitter" "haters" -- when they are simply going through something that will pass.

[JWnTX]

I'd say it's more like 20% and the vast majority are Dems.

[Hartnett]

this kind of so-called post-traumatic embitterment disorder most likely will lead to a disbelief of people including their family, friends, even themselves. One may lose in the pursuit of life meaning...

[John]

Ahh yes, a perfect if not eloquent definition of a "liberal".

[kristin]

Pretty soon, every thing will labeled as a mental illness.

[Dave]

It is almost the definition of bitterness to spend your time posting anti-"liberal" messages on the LA Times. How bitter can you be? Perhaps you have been traumatized by the defeat of your candidate? Perhaps you cannot move on from that and engage with the new administration and work towards a better democracy? Try talking to your support network (or a crisis counseling center) to work through this bitterness and become a non-destructive citizen.

[steve]

Excuse me. This is an article about mental health. What's with this "liberal" name-calling nonsense? Does EVERY web discussion have to devolve into such childishness? Keep the politics out of it, you clowns!

Not only that, it's WAY past your bedtime...

[Ellie]

& I thought I would be the 1st to connect this with the post-election trauma on the east coast in '04. I don't think liberals and democrats want to be cured though. At least I'm hopeful it's the one thing they won't be reaching into my wallet to "fix."

[phoenixandrew]

So what these quack shrinks are saying is that it's not normal for me to be angry if someone wronged me or if I become a victim of an injustice. These quack shrinks would be better off diagnosing the people who committed the wrongs instead of the victims. Another example of Nazi psychiatry. The American Psychiatric Association must be a Republican organization.

[B. George]

Everyone feels bitter at times but when it lingers and grows it can ruin a person's life. I've known someone like this...it lasted decades and they never moved on after a clearly cruel betrayal. Everyone feels sad and unmotivated at times, if it lingers too long it becomes chronic depression. Many psychiatric illness are exaggerated, longer-lasting versions of normal feelings taken to extremes and interfering with life.

I don't know if bitterness could be a psychiatric disorder but it is palpably destructive for many people.

Being emotional and mentally healthy is truly a blessing and to be sought and treasured.

[Muxtek]

That's me. You'd be bitter too in my shoes. It's been two years and I have to force myself not to think about it all the time. It's not the "world" that screwed me. It's certain people in my family. I would never harm anyone who was not an imminent threat. But I know two people who deserve a thorough thrashing a'la Sonny Corleone with a trash can lid. It's a complicated situation. I deserved better. People I care for deserved better. Codependency masquerading as altruism toward a couple sociopathic nephews would negatively impact your child's life too. It's not fair. You can screw up my life, fine go ahead. Don't mess with my kids childhood. Two words: Grizzly Bear! I had nothing to do with creating this situation. I tried to prevent it, to no avail.

[Peter]

Sheesh, look at all the commenters expressing their bitterness about liberals.

[Michael Andrade]

Sounds exactly like what I see on Fox News every night: Conservatives and Republicans ranting over the collapse of their party and cause.

[John Smith]

Bitterness disorder? You mean woman over 45 and under 65? who kicked out her husband and found out no one else wanted her either? She has Valium!

[golden]

It's difficult to believe this is journalism when the author begins with, "You know them. I know them." How would she know who is, "left seething for revenge," and then, "snap and kill their family"? The Times can do better.

[Old Geezer]

Ha, ha, those two posts above made my day. I see the die-hard Republicans can not get over the bitterness they feel over the loss of the White House to the "Liberals," can they --- John and sharinlite? Would going out and buying yourself a new AK-47 and 10,000 rounds of ammo make you feel better? Shopping helps sometimes.

[cynthia]

Wow, some are making this a Dem problem? Maybe that is why the Repubs are doing so-oo bad.
Bitterness finds it's roots in disappointment. Whether it's personal, political or, of a professional nature, it's a feeling of being helpless to do anything about what happens you.
If you want to make something as this as political in nature, then I
have no choice to point out that some governmental policies by Republicans ignore the very human responses to the very real pressures of war in light of what religious teachings have taught you about the sancity of life.
It's hard to endure the pressures of inconsistant messages.
The challenge to all of us, is to question where the bitterness started to interfere with what should have been a life full of promise.

[Ross]

I'll stick with the old term...LOSER

[Shauna]

Do you suppose that when the Supreme Court made the decision in favor of Bush in 2000 that traumatized a whole section of our country and turned them into the haters they are now? I mean they just could not let go and move on... they became more and more irrationally rabid toward Bush... It didn't matter what the Bush administration did these people hated. I actually think this is real. And I think it will effect our country forever. It has lead to the bankrupting of our country. We will pay the price for a tied election for the next 100 years.