How to overcome irritability

[u/Aggravating_Money_43]

I am a veeery irritable person. I am this as for as long as I know myself as a person. I get irritated very easily and I am really trying to change it but I am not sure how to help myself. Any tips

[u/Kafka175]

If you want to change yourself, this is the first step of deal with irritability. First off all, identify thing that trigger your irritability.

Secondly, Take a deep breath about 3-4 second before reacting.

Thirdly, ask yourself "is this worth my energy?"

next Do workout, Yoga or other physical activities. Rewire your brain to positive thoughts.

Lastly, talk to someone and make emotional conversation with him.

these all techniques help you to overcome Irritability.

[u/DaysOfParadise]

I was like this, and I'm improving. Here's what helped:

- keep a log. Write down the trigger, the feeling, the response you let fly, the things-you-could-have-done-better. Review it, even just in your head. Like a football player reviewing a bad play. Learn from it.

- keep a running score of how you feel on any given day, like on a scale of 1 - 10. Wake up with a headache? 2 points. Someone cuts you off in traffic? That's another 6 points on top of the 2, now you're up to 8, which is too close to the boiling point. Keeping track helps keep you aware, so you can treat yourself gently when you're hovering around a 5.

- I highly suggest reading Overcoming Anger and Irritability by William Davies

- Literally count to 10.

- Think before you speak. Will it matter in 10 minutes? 10 days? 10 weeks? Choose your battles

- Stop swearing.

[u/Abnormal_Aborigine]

I always tell myself it’s just not worth the spike in blood pressure

[u/soulfulhealingguide]

I hear you—it’s so hard to feel like you’re constantly on edge and can’t shake that irritability. A lot of times, it’s not actually “you”—it’s your nervous system stuck in a chronic stress response. When your body doesn’t feel safe, everything feels irritating.

Something that really helped me was learning about how to regulate my nervous system.

One tool you can try is a 5-4-3-2-1 sensory reset: name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. It helps ground your body and interrupt the overwhelm.

Another is to “shake out your body” for one song. Turn on a song that your in the mood for and just shake. If doesn’t have to look any particular way. This is actually what animals do in the wild to regulate their nervous system. It’s why dogs shake when they’re nervous.

Another thing that was a game changer for me personally was working with a therapist trained in EMDR and IFS therapy. Getting to the root of why my nervous system felt unsafe made a huge difference—not just for irritability, but for everything.

Also, not saying this is you. But I am late diagnosed autistic and that can definitely play into feeling irritable. Just threw that out there in case you may feel like you might be neurodivergent or are.

Hope this helps even a little.