7 Best Ways to Overcome Irritability

Irritability

Irritability is a temporary reaction or a permanent character trait, which is based on increased responsiveness to external and internal influences, a tendency to an intense reaction to weak negative stimuli. Another outburst of irritation can be provoked by bright light, loud sound, actions of other people, one’s own thoughts. Irritability manifests itself in anger, rage, aggression, increased heart rate and breathing, muscle tension. Diagnosis is made during a conversation, psychological testing. Treatment includes psychotherapy, taking sedatives and antidepressants.

Causes of irritability

Irritability arises by means of a combination of bodily situational factors. It can manifest itself in certain periods of life – during stress, illness, increased workload – or be a feature of a person’s character. The causes of irritability are divided into three groups: physiological features, psychological factors and various diseases.

Physiological reasons

Sudden reactions of anger and indignation often have a physiological basis – increased readiness of the nervous system, release of catecholamines and hormones, lack of compounds that ensure balanced self-regulation. This group of reasons includes:

1. Temperament. Personality qualities are built arranged the idiosyncrasies of the operational of the central anxious scheme. People with a mobile and unstable type of nervous organization – cholerics and melancholics – are prone to irritability.
2. Changes in hormonal levels. Hormonal imbalance is a deficiency of some hormones and an excess of others. This one distresses the operational of the understanding in particular the operational of the centers responsible for the indicator of emotions. Therefore, irritability is typical for women during menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause .
3. Fatigue. As fatigue accumulates the ratio of excitation & inhibition processes in the nervous system changes and the reactivity of body  increases. A person’s ability to correctly evaluate incoming information and choose an adequate response deteriorates. The causes of irritability in such cases are everyday problems, communication with other people.
4. Lack of sleep. When sleep is inadequate, the body’s level of cortisol, the stress hormone, increases. At the physiological level, the body becomes ready to fight – adrenaline is produced, glucose consumption increases, irritability and aggression increase.

1. Vitamin deficiency. Hypovitaminosis and lack of some microelements negatively affect the functioning of the nervous and endocrine systems, causing mood swings, lethargy, apathy, irritability, nervousness. Regularly these signs are triggered by a insufficiency of B vitamins, iodine, zinc and magnesium.
2. Lack or excess of physical activity. Moodiness in addition friendly tremulousness tin transpire with a sedentary lifestyle. When performing intense physical activity that ensures not correspond to the level of  a person fitness. In both cases, there is an imbalance in the processes of inhibition and excitation of the central nervous system.

Psychological reasons

Irritation is partly caused by the peculiarities of a person’s psyche, the ways in which he or she reacts to internal experiences and external events. People with unstable self esteem, anxiety and low levels of responsibility are most prone to increased irritability. The following factors can needle increased irritability:

1. Stress. Daily mental stress, negative emotional experiences, conflicts lead to the development of a stressful state. It is characterized by the mobilization of all body systems, readiness to resist adverse effects. Increased petulance certifies a quick response towards the slightest threat.
2. Frustration. When frustrated, a person experiences a strong desire to perform an action to satisfy a need, but cannot do it  he encounters an obstacle, does not have enough resources (knowledge, time, money). As a result, he experiences disappointment, dissatisfaction, irritation.
3. Neuropsychic exhaustion. A common cause of irritability is high emotional and intellectual stress, prolonged stress , which provokes a state of nervous exhaustion. In this case, a person’s ability to work fully, communicate with people and relax decreases. Instead, a feeling of hopelessness, irritability, and despondency increases.
4. Incorrect upbringing. Popular families parents regularly demonstrate outpourings of frustration. When communicating with each other and with their children. Gradually, the child adopts this way of responding to any unpleasant events. In adolescence and youth, irritability is fixed, becoming a character trait.
5. Dissatisfaction. The discrepancy between any sphere of life and the desired level is the cause of dissatisfaction, and as a consequence – irritability. Often people are not satisfied with their financial situation, conditions and content of work, relationships in the family.

Mental and somatic diseases

Irritability can be a symptom of mental disorders and somatic diseases. In mental disorders, the cause of irritability is the altered mental state of the patient: emotional instability , decreased self-control, inability , isolation to adequately assess current events are observed. In somatic diseases, there are two mechanisms that provoke irritability: primary – damage to the central nervous system or changes in the functioning of the endocrine organs; secondary – a long or severe course of the disease, worsening the quality of life. The most public causes are:

1. Neurotic disorders . In neuroses, irritability is considered one of the leading symptoms, potentiated by insomnia and nervous exhaustion. Combined with anxiety, decreased performance, depressed mood. Most characteristic of neurasthenia , depression , obsessive-compulsive disorder.
2. Personality disorders. Psychopathy is a pathologically formed character with exacerbated features that interfere with social interaction. Patients with unstable, epileptoid and excitable types of disorder react to most situations too emotionally and impulsively: they conflict, get angry, get irritated.
3. Schizophrenia . In schizophrenia, irritability often manifests itself in the prodromal period and during remissions. It is stimulated by a decrease in the ability to clearly perceive what is happening, suspicion of others, and loss of a sense of self-identification (Who am I? What am I?).
4. Epilepsy . Patients by epilepsy experience changes in the functioning of the brain . Which regularly affects their character & behavior. A typical symptom of the disease is dysphoria – an emotional disorder that is a combination of melancholy, anger, anxiety and extreme irritability.
5. Organic CNS lesions. Demyelinating pathologies , neurodegenerative and vascular diseases, brain tumors , craniocerebral trauma , intoxications make up a group of organic neurological pathologies. In all cases, dystrophic changes in the nervous tissue occur, and the work of neurons is disrupted. Often, pathological processes affect the areas of the brain responsible for emotions and behavior, as a result, a person becomes irritable, impulsive, and tearful.
6. Endocrine pathologies. Hormonal diseases are accompanied by a violation of humoral regulation of emotions. Depending on the nature of the hormonal imbalance, the mood and behavior of the patient change. Common causes of irritability are hyperthyroidism , diabetes mellitus, Itsenko-Cushing’s disease .
7. Alcoholism and drug addiction . In alcohol and drug addiction, irritability is caused, on the one hand, by intoxication – organic damage to the brain, on the other – by withdrawal syndrome, frustration of the need for another dose of alcohol or drugs. Other symptoms are anxiety, alertness, unmotivated hatred of people.
8. Long-term serious illnesses. A long-term illness that limits a person’s activity, accompanied by pain syndrome, becomes a provoking factor for emotional disorders. Patients experience depression, despondency, melancholy, alternating with periods of irritability and anger.

Diagnostics

Psychiatrists , psychotherapists, and psychologists diagnose irritability . As a rule, identifying this problem is not difficult – patients or their relatives report changes in behavior, communication difficulties, and increased conflict. The following methods are used to collect complete information about the emotional state:

• Interview. During the interview, the doctor specifies when the irritability began, what situations cause it, how it affects the patient’s life, whether the irritability has causes not related to psychological characteristics (somatic diseases). More often patients stand critical of changes in their emotions and are ready to talk about problems.
• Opinion. During the conversation, the specialist notes external signs of irritability: change in voice timbre, acceleration of speech, restlessness, fussiness, abruptness of movements. This condition can be caused by waiting for an appointment, questions from the doctor, the surrounding environment.
• Psychodiagnostic questionnaires. Tests aimed at studying emotional and personal qualities are used. The level of irritability is assessed using the Bass-Darkey questionnaire, the Cattell personality questionnaire, MMPI and other methods.
• Projective tests . If irritability is denied, the patient is asked to perform projective tasks that allow one to identify hidden or unconscious personality traits. The Wagner hand test, Rosenzweig foiling test and drawing of a non existent animal are used to diagnose irritability.

Treatment

Group behavioral psychotherapy

The main objective of group trainings is to change the patient’s behavior, eliminate the feeling of dissatisfaction, teach constructive ways of expressing grievances, complaints, and comments. During the classes, participants recreate conflict situations, try to use emotion switching techniques, and take the position of the interlocutor. After the main training, a collective discussion of experiences, including irritation, is held.

Individual consultations with a psychotherapist

In addition to behavioral methods, sessions are held aimed at mastering relaxation and distraction skills . The psychotherapist discusses with the patient possible causes of irritability – stress, nervous exhaustion, problems in family life and at work. Of the practical skills that help relieve stress, breathing techniques and autogenic training are the most effective.

Drug treatment

In case of severe irritability against the background of somatic or mental illnesses, drug therapy is prescribed . The doctor selects drugs individually, focusing on the complex of symptoms. Irritability, the causes of which are depression and low mood, is eliminated with the help of antidepressants. Sleeping pills are used to normalize sleep, tranquilizers reduce anxiety and increase concentration.