Type A personalities also seem to share another unwanted trait – impatience, which is related to anger (and anxiety). Generally people are unaware of the latent hostility which drives impatience and the damage it does to their mental and probably physical health. Unfortunately, it was once one of my main characteristics. I always rushed whenever I was doing a task and normally had to redo it several times before I got it right. That was all very well until I became a Principal, responsible for a big school, when my impatience sometimes landed me in trouble because of my mistakes. My writing was illegible because of my haste. When, as a young man, I worked in an oil company, I could code twice as many sales dockets as my colleagues. But, I made twice as many mistakes. When I learned to type I became a very fast and inaccurate typist because I rushed when learning.
Impatience, which drives us to achieve a goal, is actually self-defeating because patient practice and behaviour enables us to be more efficient, to think things out and find the best solution to a problem. This exasperating trait also keeps anxiety levels consistently high and feeds a low level of anger on the treadmill of constant pressure. If you are impatient you probably have set very high standards and unrealistic expectations. Impatient people can be like spoiled children, needing instant gratification and suffering frustration if thwarted. One of the biggest issues with impatience is that it interferes with good listening and understanding of others, because impatient individuals are constantly distracted thinking about what is next on their to-do list. On the other hand impatient people can also be sensitive about themselves and find it difficult to process feedback.
There are other theories about impatience. One is that it is based on fear, such as fear of missing out or a fear based craving to get something done. Professors Chen-Bo Zhong and Sanford DeVoe of Toronto University came up with novel research, claiming that fast food promotes impatience. Their research proposes that even thinking about fast food increases our desire for time-saving products and their actual consumption allows people to fill their stomach quickly and move on to other things.
Extract from Understanding and Healing the Hurts of Childhood. Publication 2018
THERAPISTS IN TIPPERARY
PSYCHOTHERAPISTS IN TIPPERARY
COUNSELLING TIPPERARY
DEATH OF A CHILD
ABUSE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
FEAR
ANGER
JEALOUSY
CHILDHOOD DISTRESS
