twelve symptoms #5

5. Irritation

I'm not aware that I exhibit the symptom of irritation but I am aware that I exhibit agitation as I have sat on the bus into work completely agitated as the anxiety and depression overwhelm me.  
Irritation & Agitation are common when in either the manic or depressive episodes of the mood cycle, the thing is that those with bipolar are irritated by common all garden things that they would not normally be agitated with.
The mood instabilities of the condition are said to be present during both manic and depressive episodes and sufferers can quickly switch from one extreme to another.
Euphoric and Despondent baselines are said to be very different from one sufferer to another.
Treatment, as does mine, primarily focuses on stabilising the mood ( Im on Quetiapine to this end ), preventing hopefully the sudden and longer cycle shifts between happiness and sadness, between euphoria and depression.
The mood swings hold over the sufferer is used by clinicians to understand how ill someone is currently.