Irritability, an agitation that may result from provocation, illness, or seemingly no reason at all, may be simply an expression of normal annoyance, but it may also indicate a mental health or medical condition. When experiencing consistent irritability that causes stress and interferes with the ability to sleep, work, eat, or maintain good relationships with others, or irritation that may be inappropriate for or out of proportion to a particular situation, it may be helpful to speak to a therapist.
In itself, irritability is not a mental health condition. Most people feel irritable from time to time, and some people may become frustrated more easily than others as a result of irritability. Even if there appears to be no source behind the irritability, there generally is a cause, such as dissatisfaction with one's life or relationship difficulties. Irritability can also be a symptom of withdrawal from drugs or alcohol.
Irritability is a symptom of many mental health conditions, and chronic irritability may be indicative of an underlying health condition, poor coping skills, or negligent self-care. Common causes of chronic irritability include:
Irritability often leads to a short temper and may cause excessive frustration with others. Excessive irritability may cause a more extreme reaction to outside stressors than would normally be experienced. Irritability might also be directed at unrelated individuals, especially in times of depression, anxiety, or stress or when the feeling seems to have no direct cause.
Many people may prefer to avoid an irritable person, and frequent irritability can interfere with friendships and romantic relationships and may also lead to trouble in the workplace. Children might become fearful around irritable parents, and irritability may also affect relationships between other family members.
Coping with chronic irritability might also cause significant stress, especially when the irritability is internalized and not directed outward at others.
Self-awareness can be an important tactic to combat irritability. Some people become irritable after hours or days of stress and anxiety. But maintaining awareness of emotions can help stop irritability before it becomes overwhelming or unavoidable. Contemplating feelings, talking about them, and gaining control over them can help reduce the frequency of irritability. Recognizing physical warning signs of irritability—muscle tension, shallow breathing, and increased sweating—may be beneficial.
When feeling irritable, it may be helpful to avoid or walk away from provocative situations rather than attempt to respond. This may prevent outbursts or comments that might be regretted at a later time.
Time may be a necessary factor in overcoming irritability. While attempting to calm emotions, it may be helpful to exercise or otherwise move the body, avoid interactions that might lead to further irritation, and try to find a mood-lifting activity or something to laugh at. Studies show that laughter is generally an effective way to reduce stress and tension.
Therapy for irritability focuses on discovering the underlying cause, which may be an outside factor or a mental health condition, addressing the issue, and establishing coping skills. Any number of types of therapy are likely to be effective in treating irritability and its underlying causes.
Cognitive behavioral techniques, for example, which can help reframe thoughts to improve behavior, appear to be popular among people affected by irritability. In addition, learning effective stress management skills and techniques such as meditation and mindfulness as well as exploring helpful outlets for stress, anxiety, and frustration might all be aspects of therapy to treat irritability. Sometimes irritability can be the result of deep feelings of grief or anger: These feelings may be unconsciously felt, and therapy can help uncover and treat the effects of these emotions, thus reducing or relieving irritability.
In the case of an underlying mental health condition such as bipolar or depression, medication along with therapy might also help to relieve irritability as well as other symptoms.
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