Neurotic people: the 8 characteristics that distinguish them

This personality trait defines people with a rather changeable mood.

Neurotic people are a constant in our society. Despite the fact that we call ourselves "rational animals", emotional instability is widespread among the human species.

The meaning of the term "neuroticism" basically alludes to this: the relative instability of emotional and sentimental states, specifically, a bias towards negative and anxiety-generating ideas and emotions. negative and anxiety-generating ideas and emotions. This makes that in a matter of minutes a slight stimulus, unimportant for the majority, causes a lot of discomfort in the neurotic person. Now, in practice... what exactly does it mean to be a neurotic person? Let's see it.

This is what neurotic people are like

The word "neuroticism" was used by psychologist Hans Eynseck to refer to a personality trait that indicates a tendency to dwell on negative and stressful thoughts, which can erupt at almost any time. Here's how this translates into day-to-day life.

1. Constant search for referents

Neurotic people need to feel anchored to reality through the example they see in other people, charismatic people in whom they reflect themselves and whom they want to resemble.. In this way, they try to give consistency to their life goals by borrowing the attitudes and values of someone they usually idealize.

Of course, this works in some cases, but in others it causes even more problems. Why? Because the very fact of not resembling that reference figure gives further grounds for frustration. On the other hand, the fact that they idealize their idols also contributes to the fact that the actions of neurotic people may follow an unreasonable behavioral pattern.

2. They can be very direct

In their personal relationships, neurotic people are capable of being significantly invasive and even inappropriate with others, even when they are not angry. The reason for this is that although they know the theory of what is considered "polite behavior", in practice they often find it difficult to take it into account, because they let themselves be carried away by the emotions of the present regardless of whether this leads them to be very invasive with others.

3. They often contradict themselves

Another characteristic of neurotic people is that there is relatively little consistency in their actions and speech. The reason for this is that the emotional state of the moment is very influential, and that makes them the reasoning that could structure the thinking disappears or loses importance during the time when the emotional during the time in which the emotional wins the game.

4. They fall often in the anticipatory anxiety

They fall easily in the stress Faced with setbacks, stress manifests itself intensely in neurotic people. Normally it is given in limited quantities, but it can cause crises in which they lose control.

5. They make forecasts in terms of black and white.

The nuances and details are often overlooked when there is something that captures all our attention. This is exactly what happens to neurotic people when they make predictions; there are possibilities so frightening that everything is analyzed in terms of whether certain actions bring us closer to that possible scenario or if it takes us away from it.

6. They do not tolerate frustration well

We have seen that neurotic people are prone to making very pessimistic forecasts of the futureHowever, paradoxically, when something goes wrong, this also affects them more than the rest, often producing an explosion of emotions. This is so because to the problem of perceiving a failure is added the difficulty of knowing how to act from that moment to recompose the present and make it something more tolerable.

7. They are sensitive to criticism

It is very common for neurotic people to have an unstable self-esteem, usually relatively low because of the episodes of constant uncertainty they usually go through. That is why criticism can easily hit the target and hurt their feelings; not only because they believe that there are many reasons to criticize them, but also because, as we have seen, they adopt a catastrophic interpretation of things. a catastrophic interpretation of things.

On the other hand, criticism can also be taken as an indication that a veiled message is being sent, something that indicates that the person knows a secret about us and is expressing it indirectly. This possibility, based on almost paranoid thinkingThis possibility, based on almost paranoid thinking, is frightening for neurotic people.

8. They are more sensitive in general

What defines neurotic people is not so much going from one end of the arc of emotions to its opposite, but the ease with which they fall into negative emotions (i.e., unpleasant for the one who experiences them). That's why, it is easy for them to feel bad about all kinds of situationsfrom a sad movie to something that may be mildly offensive.