Aggressive Behaviors: The Result of Low Frustration Tolerance 06-10-2020
By: César A. Fernández Geara, M.A.
Clinical Psychologist
Aggressive or violent behaviors are the external and visible manifestation of an entire internal psychological dynamic in which variables such as personality characteristics, current emotional states and various behavioral patterns converge.
In many cases, aggressive behaviors are part of the symptomatic manifestation of other more complex problems such as the following:
- A personality disorder that leads the individual to relate to others in a conflicting manner, to manifest sudden mood swings, and to express anger disproportionately.
- A mood disorder that generates high levels of impulsivity, hyperactivity and irritability in the person.
- Abuse of alcohol and/or other drugs that alter the behavior of the individual.
- Any brain injury that affects the patient's ability to control their impulses, anger, and aggression.
- Many other medical, psychiatric, psychological and socio-cultural situations.
What we can affirm, regardless of the explanation behind a person's violent behavior, is that the individual with impulsive and aggressive behaviors presents a lower-than-average threshold of tolerance to frustrations in everyday situations; that is, in colloquial terms: "he has the short wick"; "he explodes" almost immediately.
We all face daily situations that frustrate us to various aspects The problem with the aggressive, violent, or impulsive individual is that they act as if the “regulatory chip” of frustrations was damaged. Their only concern at the time is to unleash their anger, either with the person who has provoked them or with some other person or object nearby.
In our country, there are many examples that show that this behavior is often exposed, and in many cases, with tragic and regrettable results. Remember the famous case of the driver who killed a window cleaner in 2013?
In both cases there were situations that could lead to individuals feeling frustrated, either by helplessness, by annoyance, by feeling disrespected, by accumulated hopelessness, by a feeling of injustice and by not being able to deal in a better way with the uncomfortable emotions generated. Given the low tolerance for frustrations, both acted impulsively: one voicing abuse and throwing dirty water at another's vehicle; and the other, unfortunately, using a firearm.
This sad case, and so many others, must serve as an experience to reflect on our behavior, and how it puts our environment at risk. How quickly do we lose patience, say things that we later regret, hurt our loved ones, crash an object in the house, or angrily step on the accelerator of the vehicle? How easy do we give our son a beating, we scream desperately of helplessness when our relatives seem not to listen to us? You don't need to commit a misfortune to consider that we have a problem with impulsiveness, aggression, and violence.
We encourage you to take some time to ask yourself these questions, and if you find you need help, we're here to support you. You deserve wellbeing! CLICK HERE TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT
