How To Handle Other People That Are Feeling Stressed

Everyone has been in a situation where things are going great for you, but a friend, loved one, or coworker is unable to cope. Depending on how these people in your life deal with stress, it can place a lot of stress on you and other people around them. When people get extremely stressed, there are a few behavior patterns that people tend to assume, depending on their personality type and the problems at hand. The two stress-induced personality types that are probably the most well known can be called the extreme-anger and sky-is-falling types.

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 whey they are unable to cope and what the real issue is can help you both solve it and move on.

Another pattern many people fall into when they are unable to cope 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.

Remember that how we treat people when we're feeling stressed out is just as important as learning to cope with the behavior patterns of others when they begin to affect us. Even better, finding small ways to deal with our patterns and changing them so that everyone's overall tension level is reduced is always the best option.