Irritable mood in Italian patients with medical disease.

Irritability may be a mood state independent of other moods and anxiety disorders, even though it may be symptomatic of several psychiatric disorders, such as major depression. The aims of this exploratory study were to verify the presence of irritable mood in a group of medical outpatients with a variety of clinical conditions (functional gastrointestinal disorders, cardiovascular disorders, endocrine diseases and cancer) and to examine its relationship with major depression. A total of 609 consecutive outpatients recruited from different medical settings were assessed according to DSM-IV and Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research using semistructured research interviews.