Are you neurotic, or does someone you know have characteristics of being afflicted by neurosis? Shockingly, this term has been used since the early 1700s to describe a person that tends to be a bit irrational or mental. The crux of this issue is that the individual is trying to manage an underlying anxiety disorder that is raging out of control.
Neurotic folks are the ones that tend to worry too much, overthink everything, and they don’t have the ability to let things go. They are always concerned about their health, getting fired from their job, or what their friends and family members think of them. No one is perfect, and everyone on the planet has little quirks that they need to overcome.
Nevertheless, a neurotic person lets their anxieties interfere with relationships, job, and overall well-being. Calling someone neurotic is often a derogatory term, but it’s a real mental health concern that can be managed effectively with behavioral therapy. Someone who manifested such behaviors in the past was diagnosed with neuroticism, but this is no longer a mental health diagnosis.
Rather, someone with these behaviors might have these descriptors added to their official diagnosis. Therefore, it’s almost always the sign of another or multiple underlying mental health issues. It’s the anxious temperament that’s driving this condition, which means it could indicate a general anxiety disorder.
The sad thing is that this person is critical of their actions, but they are also critical of those around them, making their relationships with others suffer greatly.
Fifteen Examples of Neurotic Behavior
1. Excessively Aware of Their Psychological Difficulties
Oddly, folks may be fully aware that they’re having symptoms of irrational behaviors but make no effort to change. When they become preoccupied with their mental health, it can drive their anxiety to a dangerous level.
Analyzing everything you say or do will wear on you. Having a preoccupation with your mental health can drive you up a wall.
2. Ruminating About Problems
Compulsive ruminating about your problems is not only unhealthy, but it can also cause you to be depressed. When you frequently ponder your mistakes and issues in your life, then you open the gate for other types of phobic actions to follow.
3. Troubles Getting Along with Others
An individual with neurosis typically has trouble getting along with others. These folks tend to be needy, whiny, helpless, or confrontational. These behaviors take a toll on business relationships and keep them from reaching their true career potential.
4. Resentful Conduct
Individuals who display neuroticism usually have problems with jealousy. It’s hard to be happy for anyone else because you feel that the material possessions they have should be yours.
These folks often engage in damaging behaviors, and they won’t have a problem begging others to give them what they want. Sadly, some of them will even resort to stealing to get what they feel they’re entitled to.
5. Exhibiting Emotional Unpredictability
Since this person is easily thrown off-kilter by even the smallest of things, they’re unstable. You may feel like everything is sunshine and roses one minute, but the next, you’re so sad you’re sobbing with grief.
The problem is that any relationships you have may suffer because people have learned that they can’t count on you. Your emotions dictate your life, and it pushes others away.
6. Perfectionism
It’s okay to want to be the best in all you do. However, those with neurosis often feel that everything must be perfect or else their world falls apart. Perfectionists typically spend a great deal more time on their tasks because their results must be flawless.
7. Trouble Taking Care of Essential Needs
Neurosis can prevent you from caring for your basic needs. Completing routine personal care chores, such as taking a bath, may be difficult. Forget committing to eating healthy or getting enough rest at night. Your anxiety is so high that you are stressed and overwhelmed most of the time.
8. Acting Like A “Drama Queen”
The derogatory phrase “drama queen” is very prevalent these days. A drama queen is someone who lives for controversy, and they like to make a big production from the smallest of things. This person can be male or female, and they make themselves miserable and those around them.
9. Road Rage
Have you ever thought that folks who have constant road rage are displaying neurotic behaviors? There is no perfect driver, and you will probably have at least one accident in your lifetime.
However, after an incident occurs, you shake yourself a bit and get back behind the wheel. The neurotic person blows a gasket at the smallest of mistakes on the roadways, and they are eager to honk their horn at others and yell obscenities too.
10. Freaking Out Over Non-Threatening Circumstances
When you’re faced with a threatening situation, it’s normal to freak out a bit. Your body kicks your adrenaline and cortisol into overdrive during the fight-or-flight response. Nevertheless, someone who suffers from neurosis may go into overdrive even when it’s unnecessary. The smallest of events sends their anxiety to the point of a total meltdown.
11. Guilty Conduct
Folks who are susceptible to neurosis often display signs of excessive guilt, and this can be regarding things that are out of their control. They may also act guilty when they do something so small that it slipped under the radar. They tend to apologize profusely, and their guilt makes eye-contact difficult.
12. Unnecessary Sadness Over Small Incidents
When you experience a significant loss, it’s normal to be sad. However, life is full of small setbacks that you can’t let get you down. To the person suffering from neurosis, they go into hysterics with the smallest of incidents.
For instance, if they lost their favorite pen and were about to sign some papers, they may feel sad, hopeless, and cry over such a trivial loss. The situation may qualify for a moment of sadness, but it’s certainly nothing that should ruin your day. The person with these irrational behaviors often allows things to impair their functioning or temperament.
13. General Irritability
The legendary crabby neighbor is exhibiting irrational conduct when they regularly complain about trivial issues. These are the folks that are continuously bothering you to be quiet, avoid their property, and to keep your kid’s toys off their lawn.
14. Dependence
When you become co-dependant on someone for your basic needs, it can cause many irrational behaviors. Rather than taking the trash out yourself, you whine and complain about it until someone else takes care of it.
There are many things that this person can and should be doing for themselves in life, but they would rather be clingy and irresponsible, wanting others to wait on them hand and foot.
15. Nervousness About Your Child’s Welfare
Parental fixations over the ordinary risks that kids encounter are often displayed as “helicopter parenting.” Sure, every parent wants their kids to be safe, but this parent doesn’t allow their kids to have a normal childhood. Being obsessed with safety causes children and parents to be unhappy, fearful, and self-conscious.
How to Calm Neuroticism?
Here are some ways that you can stop the irrational behaviors, calm your anxiety, and go about everyday life:
•Work on tasks that help you to build your self-esteem.
•Try doing things for yourself rather than waiting on others.
•Give yourself daily responsibilities that you can handle. Remember that you need to take baby steps.
•You must learn to count your blessings and to be thankful for all you have.
•You should practice good self-care, even when you don’t feel up to it.
•Learn to let the small stuff go and never get in a big uproar about trivial things.
•You may be unable to change your “drama queen” ways by yourself, so you may need to get a counselor to help you with coping mechanisms. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one of the most successful types for dealing with this common mental health concern.
Final Thoughts on Identifying When Someone Displays Neurotic Behaviors
If you went through this list in its entirety, you might notice some character flaws you possess. Remember, the basis of this mental health issue is anxiety, and anxiety can cause you to act or behave in many odd ways. Since this is not an official diagnosis anymore, it’s almost always indicative of an underlying mental issue.
Thankfully, you can learn to control your life by learning coping skills to help you with these actions. Everyone has a few neurotic behaviors, but it’s when it takes over and interrupts daily life that you can truly suffer.
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