I think there's more anger in the world than can possibly be provided by just the BPs.
Anger originates in fear. Control the fear and you control the anger.

There are holes in the walls and doors all over my parents house. All from me. Most of them were made during a manic/psychotic episode, but others were made when I was a teenager expressing my unfounded rage.
I also totalled my car with my bare fists during the same manic phase. So apparantly that rage is part of our broad emotion spectrum.

That's too theoretical sounding.Any personal accounts would be more helpful.Thanks

Sorry .That was a reply to Tommy's

I had a difficult discussion with a good friend about this recently. I acknowledged that i was quick to anger and asked for help on ways to diffuse it. it was a very humbling experience. i need to learn to voice my anger with less intensity so i dont push people away. it is sooooo very hard.

Its my personality, I can choose to control it but I'd rather express it to get my point across. My mental illness is not a choice

I think my anger is just pure and simple anger. I was never taught that it must be controlled. My mom, I think, was BP and she would go ballistic. I learned from her.
I have since learned to deal with it in an 'adult' way, before it gets out of control. Though sometimes I don't feel angry and one little thing will happen in a store and I completely lose it. I don't know where that comes from. I have to run to my car as I'm so embarassed.

I agree with Tommy and you Pluck...I use to have major anger control problems...I have learnt over time to slow down take a huge breath and think about what Im going to say...I think occasionally Beepers has some to do with it. The other thing for me I was drag up in a house where ager and rage were the only emotions shown. My mother was and still is to a point a very angry person. Our environment helps to shape us as people and it is only through continual learning that we can change.

For some reason, reading these replies is very calming too.
That's odd but good.

i hate anger - its everything i dont wanna be, and my own irritability just multiplies.
I do sit-ups til i just cant sit-up no more - even if still angry - i cant move to do anything about it...you have to calm eventually..

I've been known to go on hell-runs when pissed off, Very therapeutic x

it depends so much on the situation and the degree of anger you express. For me, I think it's a modulation issue; like there were times at work I snapped at people and my friend who knows I'm BP thought I was being unhinged, but he didn't know the backstory. (a coworker was badgering me to get a free cellphone that he knew he couldn't get) So while I was right to be angry, it made me look bad to snap at him.
On another front, I have a friend who isn't BP and she gets pissed off all the time about the dumbest shit imaginable. If I express irritation with somebody's lameness, she thinks I'm being agressive, but she's turned heads in public from her snippy fits with service people (a woman in a cafe gave her coffee that had some grounds in it, how tragic).
People are so selective in how they judge emotions; once they know you have BP they will look at your every move thru that filter. I think that if you do feel your right, you have to explain yourself to people. You can even say "ok, maybe I'm overreacting, but here's where you're wrong...x, y and z." That way they can judge your emotions yet they still have to face the facts if they're wrong.
Then again, sometimes you just have to walk away. I've learned that's the best thing; step away before exploding, gather your thoughts and then discuss it when you're calmer. But I don't think that dismissing all your emotions outright is really helpful. Yes, we get extreme feelings but it doesn't mean that all of them are meaningless. And plus, everyone can feel things even if they're wrong. Even non-BP's get angry unjustifiably.

jeebus that was a long post, whew...

It's 2am.I'll read it tomorrow.
Don't get angry Zsa.
xxx

So true about ppl seeing everything through the prism of yr psych label..s'why I never told some old housemates about it cos it'd be all 'bipolargal didn't do the dishes...oooohahhh'...never was a problem, luckily.