Anger and Irritability: What Happens in the Neurons — the Method’s View

Anger and irritability rarely appear «out of nowhere». In the VitaModo method, Dr. Andris Saulitis suggests seeing them not as a personality trait but as a signal that the psyche is working in an unhealthy mode. This is an educational look at the mechanism — without diagnoses and without naming medications.

Irritability as a non-specific signal

The first thing to understand: irritability and aggression by themselves do not point to one specific disorder. They can accompany depression and many other conditions. But this non-specificity does not make them harmless — on the contrary, they always indicate that something in the system is off.

«Irritability and aggression are a sign of depression or another disorder, a behavioral disturbance; they are not specific, they can occur in depression and in a host of other disorders, but such behavior is always a sign of an unhealthy psyche.»

What happens in the neurons

When a trigger acts on a person, the level of catecholamines in their nervous system rises. By the method’s logic, the neuron «doesn’t care» where this excess comes from — whether from an internal, genetically determined cause or from external stress. What matters is the excess itself: the cell works to exhaustion and wears out earlier than it should.

«This trigger produces the same level of catecholamines; the neuron doesn’t care where the surplus comes from — it simply dies sooner.»

Norm and pathology: the difference is in the «return»

The doctor compares thoughts to the work of the heart. In a healthy person, when they run, the heartbeat speeds up — but as soon as the load stops, rhythm and pressure return to normal. The same should happen with thoughts: arousal rises and then subsides.

In pathology, no such «return» occurs. A reactive process switches on, and the thoughts keep «spinning» without returning to baseline. What exactly triggers this stuck process — epigenetics, a particular irritant, or a genetic predisposition — usually does not act alone but in combination.

«What distinguishes normal people from people with pathology: their thoughts keep spinning, or have started spinning — and don’t return to normal.»

The cascade of overload

If irritation and anxiety persist for a long time, the excess of catecholamines turns into overstrain of the cortisol system. When it leaves its functional state, the burden falls on immunity. At first the immune system is «at its peak» and fights back, but it too is not eternal: under prolonged strain the body becomes exhausted. So anger and irritability turn out to be not an isolated symptom but part of a general chain of wear.

Practice

A self-observation checklist — strictly within the doctor’s logic (this is not diagnosis, but a way to notice signals):

1. Identify the trigger. What exactly raises the irritation — an external event or an internal state?
2. Track the «return». Once the trigger is gone, does the tension subside — or do the thoughts keep «spinning»?
3. Compare with the body. Just as the heart calms after running — does your mind calm in the same way?
4. Notice the duration. Does the tension last for hours and days, leaving room for nothing else to engage you?
5. Seek a second opinion. An outside specialist’s view helps you see what is invisible from within.

«A second opinion from the outside — that’s great.»