For some reason irritability is part of being manic just mainly because in that state of mind you don't feel like puttin' up with anyone's crap.
If you are in a manic phase you can also become grandiose, where your thoughts and opinions are suddenly superior to others
I'm not manic right now, but often irritable because of my anxiety. Anxiety can be another battle that many BPs face, and it also turns into irritability.
Hope this helped a little.....
adri

Hi SKingit-Haven't heard from you in awhile! I think my irritability builds and builds til I finally snap...I get this way when I'm anxious and tired. Love, Jess

When I am manic I have a crystal clear image in my head of everything that needs to be done and how it should be done. When I am incessantly in that focused state I tend to have very thin boundaries. Simply put I cannot be put upon by peoples idiocy. In my mind it is the most logical assumption. Also when you are manic you get that lovely fight or flight response. It is simple as that. Whether verbal, physical, etc... The adrenaline gets pumpin and it is either flee or throw down. It is common and hard to deal with. About all I can do is redirect it. Luckily for me when I do explode I tend to be good for awhile. If you need to rant just start a thread. NEED TO VENT, PISSED OFF, etc....
I am sure you could find a few people to give you a verbal go around if not tell you to piss off.
Good luck.

as soon as i was able to tame my mixed state, my irritability is almost completely gone.... i had no idea really how irritated i really was until now that i feel so much better. for me it took a couple of plays on my meds .... i hope that you get to feeling better...

Thanks everyone for your responses. Your explainations have helped me understand this part of BD.

I dont know love but I live in anger land most of the time my meds have helped. hang in there some times we have to just alow ourselves to be the bitch for a day or week
love lillian

P.S we love yopu anyway

When I was hypomanic I would experience a lot of unexplained anger and irritability. Now that I'm on Abilify I don't have it anymore. NOw I usually only have it if my husband does something to get on my nerves.

I know quite often when I am getting manic, I am frustrated when things don't move quickly enough or in the best way possible. The more it goes, the more I feel like jumping out of my skin, and the more ridiculously irritable/enraged I get. After years, I now stop myself when I realize I am getting so angry and try to see if there's a reason for it. Sometimes just knowing there's no reason is enough to take a deep breath and release some of it. Or then I know I need to go blow it off somewhere else at least.

I've been like that since Friday. It wasn't until I heard the "voices" at 4am that I realized I was manic. Irritable? My $800.00 vacuum cleaner died on me yesterday. With great joy I FLUNG it into the garbage pile outside. With more joy, I flung the wand, the attachments and the bags. When I get manic, I get angry. No bursts of energy, no happy feeling, just pure anger. It's starting to go away a little today.