Irritability

A 'short fuse' — the reaction that comes before the thought, the slammed door, the sharp word — is in folk speech a matter of temperament and tiredness. The tradition answered it by slowing down: a bitter or aromatic infusion that has to be brewed and cooled, a walk, work for the hands.

The catalogue lists eight species here: valerian, small-leaved lime, lemon balm, peppermint, rosemary, hyssop and two caffeine-free South African teas, rooibos and honeybush. It is exactly the same set as under social overload — it arose as the intersection of the anxiety and stress topics. The tradition did not distinguish between 'irritable' and 'overloaded', and the catalogue does not yet distinguish them by its links either.

Of the documented influences, irritability is most sensitive to sleep, hunger, pain and alcohol — four things that can be changed without any herb. Impulsivity as a lasting trait is another matter and is studied in psychology, not herbalism.

Valerian has conflicting data in insomnia, lemon balm small studies on subjective calming; for the other species in the set it is tradition and pleasant taste. None of it changes the reaction that comes before the thought — training, therapy and sleep can.

Irritability that appeared over weeks together with insomnia, racing thoughts and spending can be the start of a manic phase; together with tiredness, loss of pleasure and withdrawal from people, a symptom of depression — in men more often than sadness. Both belong with a doctor.

Outbursts that wreck relationships or work, aggression a person is afraid of in themselves, and impulsive acts with consequences belong with a psychologist or psychiatrist; it is treatable. A sudden change of character in older people belongs with a neurologist. And on psychiatric medication, no herb is added without asking.