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Saatchi B, Olshansky EF, Fortier MA. Irritability: A concept analysis. Int J Ment Health Nurs 2023; 32:1193-1210. [PMID: 36929104 DOI: 10.1111/inm.13140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
Irritability is a term used to describe feelings of anger, annoyance and impatience, and is commonly experienced by individuals in daily life. However, there are diverse conceptualizations of irritability in public and clinical research, which often result in confusing irritability with anger and other overlapping concepts. This, in turn, leads to a lack of conceptual clarity. Accordingly, the purpose of this concept analysis was to explore the irritability concept, including its definitions, defining characteristics, antecedents, consequences and empirical referents. The findings showed that irritability is predominantly conceptualized as a psychophysiological concept in the literature. We demonstrated that irritability can be differentiated from overlapping concepts like anger by qualities, such as 'unpredictability and lowered emotion control', 'lowered threshold for negative emotional stimuli', 'being manifested in response to frustrative situations or physiological needs' and 'experience of disproportionate and unjustified emotional irritation'. Importantly, severe irritability prospectively predicts psychiatric disorders and greater impairments in health, financial, educational and social functioning in individuals. Taken together, our analysis showed that one should take into account the context, duration, intensity and importantly outcomes, when assessing irritability in an individual. Considering these findings and the presence of irritability in nursing practice, it is crucial for nurses to recognize and successfully identify this concept in the nursing care they provide within the diverse settings and patient populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Babak Saatchi
- Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, University of California, Irvine, USA
| | - Ellen F Olshansky
- Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, University of California, Irvine, USA
| | - Michelle A Fortier
- Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, University of California, Irvine, USA
- Center on Stress & Health, University of California Irvine, Orange, California, USA
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Bell E, Malhi GS, Mannie Z, Boyce P, Bryant R, Inder M, Porter RJ. Novel insights into irritability: the relationship between subjective experience, age and mood. BJPsych Open 2021; 7:e198. [PMID: 34709149 PMCID: PMC8570102 DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2021.1033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The relationship between irritability as a subjective experience and the behavioural indicators typically used to measure the construct are not known. Its links to mood, and contextual relationships, vary with age and are yet to be thoroughly examined. AIMS First, to interrogate the relationship between the subjective experience of irritability and mood, and that with its behavioural indicators. Second, to determine how these relationships vary with age and over time. METHOD This study examined data from a previous clinical trial of adolescents and young adults (N = 82) with bipolar disorder, who received a psychological intervention over 18 months. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, which included assessments of irritability. Analyses of covariance were conducted to examine the interaction between mood symptoms, subjective measures of irritability, behavioural measures of irritability and age over time. RESULTS Subjective irritability scores differed significantly over time when controlling for manic, but not depressive, symptom scores. Further, subjective irritability significantly differed when controlling for behavioural measures of irritability (temper outbursts and argumentativeness). There were significant interactions between scores of depressive symptoms, temper outbursts and subjective irritability with age, wherein younger participants showed no correlation between depressive symptoms and temper outbursts. In addition, younger participants showed lower correlations between subjective irritability and both depressive and temper outburst scores, than older participants. CONCLUSIONS Subjective irritability is linked to mood morbidity and behavioural outbursts, and these relationships are contingent on age. Our novel findings suggest that subjective irritability should be assessed in greater detail in patients with mood disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Bell
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; and CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Australia
| | - Gin S Malhi
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; and CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Australia
| | - Zola Mannie
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia; CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Australia; and NSW Health, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Australia
| | - Philip Boyce
- Speciality of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia
| | - Richard Bryant
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia
| | - Maree Inder
- Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand
| | - Richard J Porter
- Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand
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Malhi GS, Bell E. At what stage does staging become overly staged? Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2021; 55:1017-1018. [PMID: 34041928 DOI: 10.1177/00048674211016049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gin S Malhi
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,CADE Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, Australia
| | - Erica Bell
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,CADE Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, Australia
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Bell E, Boyce P, Porter RJ, Bryant RA, Malhi GS. Irritability in Mood Disorders: Neurobiological Underpinnings and Implications for Pharmacological Intervention. CNS Drugs 2021; 35:619-641. [PMID: 34019255 DOI: 10.1007/s40263-021-00823-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Feeling irritable is a common experience, both in health and disease. In the context of psychiatric illnesses, it is a transdiagnostic phenomenon that features across all ages, and often causes significant distress and impairment. In mood disorders, irritability is near ubiquitous and plays a central role in diagnosis and yet, despite its prevalence, it remains poorly understood. A neurobiological model of irritability posits that, in children and adolescents, it is consequent upon deficits in reward and threat processing, involving regions such as the amygdala and frontal cortices. In comparison, in adults with mood disorders, the few studies that have been conducted implicate the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortices, and hypothalamus; however, the patterns of activity in these areas are at variance with the findings in youth. These age-related differences seem to extend to the neurochemistry of irritability, with links between increased monoamine transmission and irritability evident in adults, but aberrant levels of, and responses to, dopamine in youth. Presently, there are no specific treatments that have significant efficacy in reducing irritability in mood disorders. However, treatments that hold some potential and warrant further exploration include agents that act on serotonergic and dopaminergic systems, especially as irritability may serve as a prognostic indicator for overall clinical responsiveness to specific medications. Therefore, for understanding and treatment of irritability to advance meaningfully, it is imperative that an accurate definition and means of measuring irritability are developed. To achieve this, it is necessary that the subjective experience of irritability, both in health and illness, is better understood. These insights will inform an accurate, comprehensive, and valid interrogation of the qualities of irritability in health and illness, and allow not only a clinical appreciation of the phenomenon, but also a deeper understanding of its important role within the development and manifestation of mood disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Bell
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Northern Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, 2065, Australia.
- Department of Psychiatry, CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Level 3, Main Hospital Building, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, 2065, Australia.
| | - Phil Boyce
- Department of Psychiatry, Westmead Hospital and the Westmead Clinical School, Wentworthville, NSW, 2145, Australia
- Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Richard J Porter
- Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Richard A Bryant
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Gin S Malhi
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Northern Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, 2065, Australia
- Department of Psychiatry, CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Level 3, Main Hospital Building, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, 2065, Australia
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Malhi GS, Bell E. Questions in psychiatry (QuiP): Is paediatric bipolar disorder a valid diagnosis? Bipolar Disord 2021; 23:297-300. [PMID: 33915004 DOI: 10.1111/bdi.13089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gin S Malhi
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Erica Bell
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Malhi GS, Bell E, Bassett D, Boyce P, Bryant R, Hazell P, Hopwood M, Lyndon B, Mulder R, Porter R, Singh AB, Murray G. The 2020 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2021; 55:7-117. [PMID: 33353391 DOI: 10.1177/0004867420979353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 246] [Impact Index Per Article: 82.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To provide advice and guidance regarding the management of mood disorders, derived from scientific evidence and supplemented by expert clinical consensus to formulate s that maximise clinical utility. METHODS Articles and information sourced from search engines including PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Google Scholar were supplemented by literature known to the mood disorders committee (e.g. books, book chapters and government reports) and from published depression and bipolar disorder guidelines. Relevant information was appraised and discussed in detail by members of the mood disorders committee, with a view to formulating and developing consensus-based recommendations and clinical guidance. The guidelines were subjected to rigorous consultation and external review involving: expert and clinical advisors, key stakeholders, professional bodies and specialist groups with interest in mood disorders. RESULTS The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists mood disorders clinical practice guidelines 2020 (MDcpg2020) provide up-to-date guidance regarding the management of mood disorders that is informed by evidence and clinical experience. The guideline is intended for clinical use by psychiatrists, psychologists, primary care physicians and others with an interest in mental health care. CONCLUSION The MDcpg2020 builds on the previous 2015 guidelines and maintains its joint focus on both depressive and bipolar disorders. It provides up-to-date recommendations and guidance within an evidence-based framework, supplemented by expert clinical consensus. MOOD DISORDERS COMMITTEE Gin S Malhi (Chair), Erica Bell, Darryl Bassett, Philip Boyce, Richard Bryant, Philip Hazell, Malcolm Hopwood, Bill Lyndon, Roger Mulder, Richard Porter, Ajeet B Singh and Greg Murray.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gin S Malhi
- The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Northern Clinical School, Department of Psychiatry, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, Australia.,CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, Australia
| | - Erica Bell
- The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Northern Clinical School, Department of Psychiatry, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, Australia.,CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Philip Boyce
- Department of Psychiatry, Westmead Hospital and the Westmead Clinical School, Wentworthville, NSW, Australia.,Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Richard Bryant
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Philip Hazell
- Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Malcolm Hopwood
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and Professorial Psychiatry Unit, Albert Road Clinic, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Bill Lyndon
- The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Northern Clinical School, Department of Psychiatry, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Roger Mulder
- Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Richard Porter
- Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Ajeet B Singh
- The Geelong Clinic Healthscope, IMPACT - Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
| | - Greg Murray
- Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia
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