Irritability

Irritability is an excessive response to stimuli. Irritability takes many forms, from the contraction of a unicellular organism when touched, to complex reactions involving all the senses of higher animals. In plants, response is usually different from that seen in animals, but is nonetheless present. The term irritability is used for both the physiological reaction to stimuli and for the pathological, abnormal or excessive sensitivity to stimuli.

Irritability may manifest in behavioral responses to both physiological as well as behavioral stimuli, including environmental, situational, sociological, and emotional stimuli.

Causes

Irritability when not of the usual physiological response is a symptom in a variety of conditions, including:

• anxiety
• alcoholism
• anemia
• Asperger's syndrome
• Autism
• attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
• bipolar disorder
• caesium toxicity
• combat stress reaction
• constipation
• depression
• diabetes
• drug use
• dysmenorrhea
• fatigue
• fever
• generalized anxiety disorder
• headache
• hunger
• hyperthermia
• hyperthyroidism
• hypothyroidism
• hypoglycemia
• insomnia
• lead poisoning
• mastoiditis
• meningitis
• obsessive compulsive disorder
• pain
• premenstrual syndrome
• posttraumatic stress disorder
• schizophrenia
• sleep apnea
• stress
• rabies
• thyroid disease
• menstrual cycle
• Parkinson's disease
• Wilson's syndrome

See also

• Annoyance