stress

Each of us has our own way of dealing with stress, but sometimes we have to deal with friends, coworkers, or family members that are under a great deal of pressure. There are two personality types that are common and that tend to have easily recognizable patterns of behavior. Learning about these patterns can help you better deal with people who are stressed out and affecting you by increasing your own tension levels.

The extreme anger pattern of behavior is a tough one to deal with. These types of personalities will lash out at others, have shouting matches, or get upset over things that wouldn’t generally bother them. People who deal with stress in extreme anger patterns are usually just subconsciously needing ways to vent and take the pressure off. Rather than focusing on whatever the issue is that’s upsetting the person in the moment, try to get to the root of the problem. Above all, don’t play into the person’s behavior by becoming defensive or retaliating, as the angry situation will only escalate and create more problems for each of you. Sometimes, just getting the individual to open up about what the real issue is can help you both solve it and move on.

Another pattern many people fall into when they are stressed is the sky-is-falling mentality. This is in many ways the opposite of the extreme anger type. The sky-is-falling person knows what is bothering them and is usually willing to share the laundry list of current stress factors in their life. Instead of lashing out at people around them, they feel sorry for themselves, and loath the infinite number of things that are keeping them from enjoying life. Other than solving their problems, there is usually not much you can do for the sky-is-falling type. Trying to console them can be somewhat effective, depending on just how bleak they feel their situation is, but most likely their mood will not improve considerably until they have made decent progress on solving or eliminating their stress factors.

Keep in mind that we all exhibit tendencies of both stress-induced personality types at different times. Overall, the best thing you can do is realize when you are getting stressed and how you react. Whether you are more of an extreme-anger or sky-is-falling person, please remember that the only thing that is permanent is change, and we should be careful how we treat people close to us when we are stressed.