DOI: 10.1192/bjp.2026.10781 ISSN: 0007-1250

Irritability: what, who, how and why?

Erica Bell, Kinga Szymaniak, Gurubhaskar Shivakumar, Gin S. Malhi

Summary

Irritability is a ubiquitous clinical phenomenon, and yet its definition and specific role within psychiatric disorders have long eluded the field. By understanding what irritability is, in whom it should be studied and how it should be modelled, new insights into the disorders within which it manifests may be gained.