Personality matters

There are two extremes in the way people deal with stress. While it's true most people fall in the middle, are you self aware enough to judge where you fall on this spectrum?

On one side is the hero from 'The Martian' Mark Watney. The tougher and deadlier his situation, the cooler, calmer and more jovial he becomes.

At the other extreme, people under stress start to act out. Yelling, making crazy demands they expect everyone to follow, starting fights over little things and crazy road rage incidents. We have seen this behavior creep into everyday life throughout the pandemic, with it becoming worse as things continue.

Most people want to think they are the hero of their story, but odds are you won't handle stress as well as Mark Watney.


Because of my brain chemistry I know I have trouble controlling my emotions in stressful situations. While not a great realization, it does give me something to watch for and work on.

I am sure every parent knows the irrational anger you feel when the kids are unrelentingly messing with you and each other. You just want to scream 'Shut up!' but like all of us, you push it down and try to talk reasonably to them. It (usually) goes away fairly quickly.

Is this the way you'll handle things when you're locked in the house with them after 3 days, 3 weeks or 3 months?

If you know it's an issue, start working on ways detect these emotions 'in the moment', and figure out ways to deal with them.

Suggestions: Breathing exercises, Meditation