When it comes to Huntington’s Disease, there are a lot of things to be angry about.

I certainly am.

I’m angry that I tested positive.

I’m angry that my kids are now at risk.

I’m angry that I might miss out on so much of life.

I’m angry that I might not get to enjoy a retirement.

I’m angry because I feel like I’m being ripped off.

I could go on and on.

Why do we feel anger?

Often, anger is a symptom of something else, like frustration. Perhaps fear. Perhaps sadness. Perhaps even emerging psychological symptoms related to the Huntington’s Disease.

Whatever the root cause may be, the anger can explode to the surface very, very quickly.

When the anger does surface, it tends to explode all over the people we love most: our spouses, our kids.

I get angry from frustration or being overwhelmed. There have been many times that my wife has taken the grunt of that from me. In fact, I’m convinced she’s a saint, but that’s a story for another day.

What do we do about it?

Years ago I read a sign somewhere that had this statement on it:

Anger is one letter away from danger.

Cheesy, yes. But, that little seven word sentence has stayed with me for years and I think of it often.

I try to think of it when the anger is controlling me because I know that nothing good is going to come from heading down that road to danger.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, there’s a great deal for us in-betweeners to be angry about.

There’s no doubt about that.

That doesn’t mean we should just curl up into an angry ball and do nothing. We have to fight the anger. We have to figure out what is triggering the anger. Search for that root cause. Have open conversations about it with our loved ones and our healthcare team.

Counseling can be a huge help here, specifically when it comes to developing strategies that you can put into place when you sense that anger beginning to bubble.

Medications can go a long way in many cases, for example, if you struggle with anxiety or depression. Don’t be shy about bringing it up with the doctor. Even if they don’t ask. Write down your concerns on a sheet of paper so you don’t forget to mention it the next time you’re there. Be honest about it. That’s the key to finding solutions.

You’ll never be able to erase the emotion of anger from your life altogether, but developing strategies to minimize or block it will help to reduce the number of trips you take down that road to (d)anger.