Feeling bitter is typically a consequence of accumulated anger and sadness as a result of past experiences. Work and personal relationships are often impacted when a person has become bitter. Adopting a new approach to life—taking action—can reduce bitterness and increase one's hope for the future.
Being hurt by someone, particularly someone you love and trust, can cause anger, sadness and confusion. If you dwell on hurtful events or situations, grudges filled with resentment and hostility can take root.
For those who have been laid off from a job, gone through a divorce or had a loved one die, that seething, bitter feeling inside might have a name: Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder (PTED). First identified by German psychiatrist Dr.
Bitter individuals often operate from a blaming and non-empathic perspective. In their personal and professional relationships, bitter men and women often blame others when things go wrong or when things do not work out as they wanted or expected.
From the root of bitterness springs anger, wrath, ill speaking, cursing, hatred, envy, and jealousy. Bitterness can also be the seed of many diseases, mental illness, and emotional instability. Many of these symptoms are treated with medication, drug and alcohol addiction, even destructive behaviors.
Becoming bitter is the likely consequence of feeling invalidated and unappreciated in one too many situations and relationships, but the problem snowballs when the hurt, bitter person gives in and gives up.
According to scientific findings, anger can change your brain. The first trigger of anger activates an organ inside the brain called the amygdala, activating the hypothalamus, which signals the pituitary gland, releasing a hormone that affects the adrenal gland's stress hormones: cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline.
Virtually every writer who has weighed in on the subject of bitterness has discussed its ultimate remedy: forgiveness. Forgiveness alone enables you to let go of grievances, grudges, rancor, and resentment.
PTED is best described as a reaction to negative life-events. Whilst it is often attributed to an injustice or to social rejection, it may also be attributed to a traumatic life-changing experience, such as assault, rape or loss of a job, which results in chronic feelings of bitterness and anger.
Why Am I So Angry? Anger is a natural human emotion, but when it feels constant and unrelenting, it may be a sign of something more such as stress or anxiety. It's OK to get angry. Life doesn't always happen in the way you want or need, and anger is a natural response to feeling wronged.
People often express their anger in different ways, but they usually share four common triggers. We organize them into buckets: frustrations, irritations, abuse, and unfairness.
Bitterness is "so common and so deeply destructive," writes Shari Roan at the Los Angeles Times, "that some psychiatrists are urging it be identified as a mental illness under the name post-traumatic embitterment disorder." "The disorder is modeled after post-traumatic stress disorder," she continues, "because it too ...
Sweetness: From sugar, honey, fruits or otherwise, sweetness will counteract bitter and sour flavours. It can also be used to cut down the heat of a particularly spicy meal.
Those who experience resentment may have feelings of annoyance and shame—they might also harbor a desire for revenge. A person may become resentful as a result of a slight injustice or a grave one, perhaps harboring the same bitterness and anger over a small matter as they would over a more serious issue.
Bitterness causes a person to live in darkness (1 John 2:9-11). You'll recall that it was bitterness that grew in Joseph's brothers' hearts that turned into hatred and murder (Genesis 37). Bitterness even enveloped Cain to the point of murder (Genesis 4:3-8).
Physical effects of anger
The adrenal glands flood the body with stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. The brain shunts blood away from the gut and towards the muscles, in preparation for physical exertion.
Our lower backs store most of our unexpressed anger. Many people develop severe and debilitating pain in the lumbar region of the back. Chronic stress activates the sympathetic nervous system that puts pressure on the spinal cord.
Epinephrine and non-epinephrine are the main chemicals which play the vital role in chemistry behind anger. In the absence of these chemicals, the body wouldn't be able to deliver off any reactions while you are in anger or in any other emotion that has involvement of adrenaline.
They make (and defend) sweeping assumptions. The bitter person can't look too hard at what they say, think, or do. Quick as they are to criticize others, they can't bring themselves to ask, “Is this really true?” about something they put forth as true or factual.
Some of the factors leading to rudeness in old age are: Hormonal changes. Men see a decrease in testosterone beginning around age 40, and women see a decrease in estrogen beginning around age 50, both of which can lead to depression and mood swings.
Not forgiving yourself
And the ensuing negative thoughts, stress, and pessimistic outlook can create a dynamic in which you view the world in a bitter way—all because you feel that you are unworthy of feeling OK.
A bitterness definition from psychology
It is an emotional state of feeling let down and unable to do anything about it. Embitterment is different than anger because although it involves the same outrage it also involves feeling helpless to change things.
Bitterness is defined as an attitude of extended and intense anger and hostility. It is often joined by resentment and a desire to “get even." It is the result of not forgiving someone and letting hurt and anger grow until the pain and resentment hurt the person's view of life.