I can relate to both, especially the intrusive thoughts of implied malice. For me, it usually manifested at work. Any interaction that wasn't completely positive or baseline neutral was proof positive that I'm about to be disciplined, written up and/or fired. For what? Who knows? They'll think of something. Of course, for me, it didn't help that I've been blindsided more than once by coworkers who had an bone to pick with me and spun a convincing enough yarn to get management on their side to punish me for my misdeeds. Obviously past situations don't predict future scenarios, but it's hard not to be hypersensitive to the signals people give.

The thing that worked best for me in that situation was adopting a "Let them fire the first shot." mentality. I'm never able to completely shake that disordered thinking when it's there, but I don't want to express that thinking in most situations as it just turns people against you, reinforcing the original intrusive thoughts.

If I'm not being paranoid and someone's really out to get me, letting them lay it all out there gives me something tangible to answer rather than throwing out wild speculation.

As far as irritability goes, I work in a specialized forward facing customer service job. I've got my fair share of irritability. The way I combat it is through a large amount of compartmentalization. What is this irritation? Why is it irritating? Is it situational? If it's something that need to be addressed, can it wait for the end of the day?

Basically, I have loads of mental sorting baskets to ensure I don't get too irritated or flustered.