irritability, Irritability,excitability and aggressiveness are the common terms for special reactions of the body and mind. Particularly in relation to social interactions and environmental stimuli, irritability or excitability play a central role.
What is irritability and excitability?
Causes of irritability can be stress and social stimuli.If one looks at irritability or excitability in general, it can be determined that people react to environmental or social stimuli from other people. For example, people react quickly to irritation when they are constantly exposed to too much noise or noise (e.g. from construction workers, aircraft or children).
The sensory organs pick up the stimuli and pass them on via the nerve fibers to the brain for further processing. Only here are the social or environmental stimuli evaluated. Since these processes run unconsciously and very quickly, humans do not notice this directly. Only when too many stimuli overload the above-described processing in the brain does irritability, irritability, excitability or even aggressiveness arise.
causes
The causes of unnatural irritability or excitability are mostly caused by overloading the nerves. If the sensory organs are overloaded with external and internal stimuli, this is often reflected in increased irritability.
The causes are mostly stress, negative environmental stimuli (such as noise and bright light) and social stimuli (such as relationship problems, problems and fears).
Various diseases and symptoms, such as depression, rabies and polio, can also lead to increased irritability. Even in the course of menopause, irritability can arise, as hormonal changes bring the entire organism out of balance and strong physical changes take place.
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➔ Medicines to calm down and strengthen nervesDiseases with this symptom
- Anxiety disorder
- Burnout syndrome
- Premenstrual syndrome
- ADHD
- rabies
- Dissocial Personality Disorder
- poliomyelitis
- Borderline syndrome
- Menopause
Complications
Irritability often leads to complications when dealing with other people. The negative reactions can encourage arguments, cause misunderstandings or make cooperation difficult. Close friends and family members in particular may react irritated to the sudden change in personality. If irritability persists for long periods of time, the social impact is often greater.
Relatives find it difficult to perceive the psychological symptom as a sign of illness and not as a personal fault of the person concerned. In some cases, irritability encourages aggressive behavior. Depending on the character and situation in life, this can lead to critical situations, some of which also lead to violence.
In addition to social conflicts in private life, everyday professional life is also often impaired. The irritability may lead to arguments with superiors, colleagues, business partners and customers. Indirectly, work performance can suffer as a result of the irritability. In addition, negative or negative reactions increase the likelihood of complications that affect mood.
If the irritability is due to a neurological disorder, other complications are possible. Memory problems, difficulty concentrating and disorientation can manifest themselves in this context. Such complications are particularly likely if the source of irritability is in the central nervous system.
Inflammation of the meninges and meninges, brain tumors or strokes can be fatal in the worst case. In addition, depending on the clinical picture, permanent consequential damage is possible, each of which includes its own complications.
When should you go to the doctor?
Irritability can be a sign of ongoing stress or overwork. It can indicate impending burnout or a physical illness. Often times, people feel increased irritability before a cold breaks out. Even a few days before the menstrual cycle, women can suffer from irritability. This symptom should be understood as a warning sign. Those affected should take a close look at their living conditions. You should get more rest and seek medical help if necessary.
Irritability can also be a symptom of mental health problems. Unprocessed trauma or constant stress can lead to irritability. In this case, it is advisable to see a psychologist. Constant irritability in a person can mark depression or conflict resolution problems. The overstimulation can have nervous causes. It can trigger impatience or aggression. If you can't get your irritability under control on your own, you should see your family doctor. This decides whether treatment with a psychotherapist makes sense.
Alternatively, increased irritability as an accompanying symptom can indicate inflammatory processes or pain syndromes. Therefore, attention should be paid to accompanying symptoms. It could be a hormonal or thyroid problem that requires medical attention. Low serotonin levels can also be a cause of irritation. In order to rule out an underactive thyroid or iodine deficiency due to irritation, visits to the doctor are indicated.
Doctors & therapists in your area
Treatment & Therapy
Irritability or aggressiveness should be treated depending on the cause. To do this, a doctor should be consulted who will make detailed examinations as part of his diagnosis. If the cause of the irritability is to be found in a disease, it should be treated.
If the causes are more environmental or social stimuli, the person affected should try to end or remedy these causes. If he cannot do it on his own, a psychologist or psychotherapist can take useful treatment measures. This mainly includes autogenic training or progressive muscle relaxation and long conversations.
The treatment of aggressiveness or irritability can be supported by a lot of sport and exercise in the fresh air as well as a balanced and healthy diet. Alcohol and nicotine should definitely be avoided. Herbal sedatives like valerian are very helpful.
Outlook & forecast
Irritability of the body can occur both mentally and physically and in these cases leads to different symptoms and prognoses. In the case of physical irritability, nerves, organs and extremities are particularly affected. This can lead to pain or unpleasant feelings, which arise from touch and stress. As a rule, irritability of the body can be treated relatively well with medication or ointments. It occurs mainly when certain areas of the body are overloaded.
Mental irritability often occurs as a result of stress and can lead to aggressive or generally disturbed behavior. This leads to depression, behavioral disorders, and other social problems. Due to this problem, normal everyday life and going to work are hardly possible for the person concerned.
Mental irritability is mainly treated through discussions with psychologists or with the help of medication; there is no surgical intervention. How well the treatment works depends very much on the level of irritability and can therefore not be universally predicted. However, irritability is often associated with stress and can be avoided and limited by reducing stress.
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➔ Medicines to calm down and strengthen nervesprevention
As already noted in the treatment of irritability and excitability, the best prevention, provided no other diseases play a role, is learning autogenic training or progressive muscle relaxation.
Sport and exercise in nature as well as a healthy diet rich in vitamins and minerals have a very good preventive effect. Herbal substances made from valerian also have a preventive effect.
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If irritability occurs on the psychological level, herbal medications should be taken to calm down. Valerian is recommended here. This can be taken in the form of tablets or teas. Stressful situations and heated discussions should be avoided in any case, as these lead to irritability. Conversations with close friends or with family often also help.
Should stressful situations arise, relaxation techniques should be used. The person concerned has to notice for himself that an uncomfortable situation arises and try to control himself. Especially after the situation, just a few minutes of relaxation help to minimize irritability.
Should an irritated state arise in stressful situations, the patient must take a deep breath and concentrate on the situation. Often unpleasant situations can be avoided here through self-control. This self-control can also be practiced with friends. Especially after the occurrence of such situations, it is advisable to carry out relaxation exercises. In women, the high level of irritability can result from an incompatible birth control pill. This should be changed.
If irritability leads to a serious problem in the family or with friends, it is advisable to talk to a psychologist.