Irritability - Balanced Hormones Center

What is irritability?

Irritability is defined as an emotional state characterized by being easily annoyed, impatient, and prone to anger by insignificant provocations. Some key things to know about irritability:

• Irritability is a common symptom or feature present in many psychiatric conditions like depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and more. It can manifest differently across disorders.
• It refers to a low frustration tolerance and shortened fuse when dealing with day-to-day stressors. Minor annoyances, delays, or obstacles can readily infuriate someone experiencing irritability.
• Irritability often co-occurs with other symptoms like emotional dysregulation, anger outbursts, agitation, restlessness, and impulsive behaviors. It reflects poor self-control over emotions.
• Both children and adults can struggle with frequent irritable moods. It can negatively impact relationships, school/job performance, and emotional well-being.
• While irritability often arises in psychiatric illnesses, many physical illnesses like chronic pain, menstrual cycles, poor sleep, and dietary deficiencies can increase irritability too. Likewise, alcohol and drug withdrawal can make someone more irritable.

If you or a loved one struggles with frequent irritability, reaching out to a mental health professional or physician can help identify any underlying causes. Lifestyle changes like getting enough sleep, adding structure/routine, avoiding mood-altering substances, utilizing stress management tools like yoga, meditation, or therapy can also help stabilize irritable moods. Practicing emotional intelligence by improving distress tolerance, calming strategies, communication tactics, and coping ahead for frustrations can reduce irritability flare-ups.

At Balanced Hormones Center Therapy Clinic, we help patients struggling with emotional dysregulation, irritability, and anger issues through customized hormone balancing plans overseen by licensed medical providers. Hormone imbalances contributing to irritability often involve cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid, or growth hormones. We thoroughly assess patients’ hormone levels and symptoms of irritability. Then we develop integrated treatment plans utilizing bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, supplements, diet, and other modalities tailored to the person’s irritability triggers and clinical needs. Balancing key hormones while also building emotional regulation skills significantly lessens irritable mood flare-ups for most people.