What is agitation and aggressive behavior?

Agitation can be rapid changes in mood, irritability, and outbursts. 

It can be excessive motor activity like pacing, rocking, gesturing, restlessness, and performing repetitious mannerisms.

It can also be verbal aggression such as yelling, speaking in an excessively loud voice, using profanity, screaming, and shouting.

Or it can be physical aggression like grabbing, shoving, pushing, resisting, hitting others, kicking objects or people, scratching, biting, throwing objects, hitting oneself, and destroying property.

The behavior has been persistent or frequent for a minimum of two weeks and represents a change from your loved one’s usual behavior (and is not related to some other medical condition such as delirium, pain, effects of a medication, or infection such as a urinary tract infection.).