I’m Impatient and Easily Irritated. Am I Depressed?

I am irritable all the time. Simple questions bug me, I'm constantly nitpicking, and I have little patience with what I consider stupidity all around me. I wasn't always this way ... there was a time when I was much more accepting, not on edge, and friendly. Needless to say, I don't have a big social circle. Am I depressed? Is there something else going on that I need to get help for? I don't want to be this unlikable person that I've become. —Irritated
Dear Irritated,

When I first read your letter, I wondered if you had visited your personal physician for a checkup recently. I am not a physician, but I am aware that your irritation can be a symptom of many things, among them a nutritional disorder, neurological damage, or medication interactions. So I would advise you first to seek the advice of a medical doctor.

You write that you did not always feel angry, edgy, and unfriendly, and I wonder if you can trace back to the time when your feelings and your behavior changed. Tracking this down might give some clues about what it is that has gone wrong.

You may not have a big social circle, but are there a few friends or relatives to whom you could turn for help? They might have ideas about when, and even why, you changed.

You ask if you are depressed. It sounds like you are, and anger, as you might know, goes hand-in-hand with depression. Anger is even an underlying factor in the development of depression.

You say you are nitpicking and edgy. Who are the people most affected by these qualities? Do they have something in common?

Funny, one of the first things you wrote was that simple questions bug you, so I guess I’m bugging you as you read my reply, because I’ve asked you a lot. So rather than ask anything else, I’ll suggest that after you visit your physician you make an appointment with a therapist, who will ask you to talk about yourself, probably ask questions that annoy you, and who will request that when you’re annoyed you say so. The therapist will also ask you to report when you think the conversation has gone stupid, and you won’t have to worry about being offensive, because the therapist won’t take it personally, and that will help you, eventually, learn how to be the more likable person you say you used to be.

I hope you find your old self soon, and that when found it’s even better than you remember.

Best wishes,
Lynn

Lynn Somerstein, PhD, NCPsyA, C-IAYT is a Manhattan-based, licensed psychotherapist with more than 30 years in private practice. She is also a yoga teacher and student of Ayuveda—the Indian science of wellness. Her main interest is in helping people find healthy ways of living, loving, and working in the particular combination that works best for them, connecting to their deepest energic source so their full range of abilities can be expressed. Lynn's specialty is understanding and alleviating anxiety and depression.
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  • Leslie

    June 28th, 2013 at 11:19 AM

    I am like the therapist here. I thought oh no here is someone else self diagnosing like most of us do at some point in time.

    But I think that I would agree that if this is all new for you and not how you have always felt (because let’s face it, there are just some people who go through all of their lives angry and irritated for no good reason!) then I would tend to think that there are some deeper things going on with you that you may just not be fully aware of.

    I think that it’s great that you have enough slef awareness to recognize that something is definitely amiss and I think that asking your question here is a great first step in the right direction!

    Reply

  • Elijah

    November 22nd, 2016 at 1:37 PM

    I started suffering from depression when I was 13 and now I get angry when people say stuff horrible and nasty stuff about me and my brother

    Please help me

    Reply

  • Samm

    March 11th, 2017 at 6:34 AM

    Me too 😔

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