Why am I feeling irritated by small things?

Relax and release irritation

Do you feel irritated by people not washing up their cups in the communal kitchen at work? Flatmates or family not pulling their weight around the house? Low level noise from neighbours? The sound of someone eating? Don't worry, there is rational explanation for this and a way to help reduce these feelings.

Feeling irritated by small things can be a clue to understanding more about what is going on with your brain. Whenever our stress levels rise- and this can be gradually over a long period of time or quickly in response to a traumatic event. Our primitive brain alerts us to the fact that we may be in danger. In fact, that is its job, it is there to protect us.

When our brain perceives that we may in danger – rightly or wrongly- then it always steps into help in order to try and protect us. This is often talked about as our fight, flight or freeze response. This response also makes us more vigilant. That means it is constantly on the lookout for danger and looking in different places for it. What happens is you may start to notice things that didn’t irritate you before start to annoy you but it is in fact your brain looking out for danger.

What is more, your brain may start to get obsessed with those things that irritate you. You can’t stop thinking about the noise of your neighbour doing the mowing or slamming a door. You may start to find yourself tuning in to the sound of someone eating and can’t seem to tune out. You know that these things are not a threat to you but you find yourself getting more and more annoyed. The primitive brain is obsessive and that’s because if it thinks that there is danger is around then it won’t let you forget it!

Of course, this sort of irritation is not helpful and can be very exhausting, interfering with your enjoyment of life so what can you do? The first step is to find a way to relax and reduce stress or tension. Solution Focused hypnotherapy is ideal for this kind of problem. In Solution Focused Hypnotherapy sessions, we talk about what kind of things might help you to reduce stress and feel more relaxed. We also use hypnosis to reduce stress that you may be carrying and if necessary, I can help you with past trauma- if that is the cause of your stress.

The best way to find out if this is for you is to have a free 15-minute consultation session to find out more. Get in touch to find out more www.sandboxhypnotherapy.co.uk/contact . I'm looking forward to speaking with you and hearing more about the things that irritate you.