Anger attacks in seasonal affective disorder.

Previous research has linked aggression especially anger attacks with depression. The objective of the present study was to examine the prevalence and clinical picture of anger attacks in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in comparison to non-seasonal depression. Thirty-six SAD patients and 24 non-seasonally depressed controls were included in this evaluation. Anger attacks were assessed with the Anger Attacks Questionnaire. The prevalence of anger attacks did not differ statistically significantly between seasonally and non-seasonally depressed subjects. However, the monthly number of anger attacks was significantly higher in SAD patients (p=0.009) and they presented with more vegetative symptoms and behavioural outbursts during the anger attacks (p=0.006). SAD patients with anger attacks had significantly lower age of onset (p=0.021) and obtained lower global seasonality scores than SAD patients without anger attacks (p=0.001). Anger attacks are experienced as particularly intense in SAD patients and seem to contribute considerably to their symptomatology.