Mechacortism or short fuse syndrome

Furious, angry, angry, intemperate, explosive, aggressive and violent are part of the fauna of mechacortism or short fuse syndrome. These people are the ones who have some prototypical phrases like: They always take it out on me! Who does this stupid guy think he is? This is intolerable! How can they treat me like that! How dare you talk to me like that! Life always throws me obstacles! Is there nothing that is easy for me? among other expressions that fuel anger and escalate, often leading to violence.

mechacortism

One of the six basic and universal emotions that Charles Darwin discriminated along with sadness, disgust, fear, surprise and joy is anger. This It is a complex and primitive emotion, like all those that accompany us throughout life. It arises mainly in problematic situations, for example, in the face of injustice or in response to aggression, in the face of difficulties. Although the heat does not need too many reasons to escalate into anger and rage.

The discharge of anger can be directed towards the environment, through behavioral explosions towards others, verbal attacks or physical violence, or towards himself, to the body itself, which promotes multiple diseases.

Yes, anger is an emotion that produces different physiological effects, such as an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, which activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and increases the secretion of adrenaline and norepinephrine. The control that the prefrontal area of ​​the brain must do, which is responsible for managing impulses, the moral guideline and the rule of how one should proceed, also fails.

The explosiveness of anger is characterized by a physiological activation in which the body reacts to defend or attack. Therefore, the person transforms into a barbarian about to go into battle against the Roman army: the muscles tense, the nostrils open in search of more oxygen, the heart rate increases in frequency as does breathing, the flow Blood surges and even the teeth are shown, highlighting the canines and clenching the jaws.

Additionally, in anger, the body releases cholesterol and catecholamines that accelerate the development of fat deposits in the heart and arteries.

Anger hurts because the explosive person attacks in the face of the other’s supposed aggression towards him. That is, the answer depends on the way you interpret the situation. Behind every hottie there is a kind of paranoid person who thinks that they are conspiring against him, that they are disqualifying or devaluing him. Interpretations always hover around that interpretation.

So, In front of that image of a madman, there is an “ugly duckling” that needs recognition. For these reasons, the mechacorta do not only need interlocutors who counterpoint them so that they begin the climb towards the explosion. They alone can give themselves the reasons to escalate their anger.

Someone who tries to fix an appliance and loses the screw that is just the right size for the finishing touch, or who used a knife as a screwdriver and cut or hammered his finger in a distraction, and explodes in anger over it may be several minutes thinking and feeling that the world has turned against him.

Of course, there are many opportunities in which the angry person ends up kicking, crushing or throwing the device, only to regret their act some time later.

However, Anger does not necessarily end in an attack of violence. This is just one of many ways an escalation of anger can end. There are actually three basic forms of mechacortism:

A group is characterized by exploitingthat is, releasing the angry attack outwards; The second group is characterized by to implode, that is, to vent anger towards oneself generating different organic conditions from psychosomatic disorders such as dermatitis, ulcers, hemorrhoids and various gastrointestinal disorders, etc. to processes of greater gravity. A third group has enough energy to develop the double game of exploding and imploding: This group not only throws the grenade outside, but also swallows it. This is an extremely serious group because it not only maintains hostile relationships with the environment, but also causes self-infection.

Prototypical features of people with mechacortism

Those who suffer from mechacortism (the mechacortas) are those who usually make jokes to others, but when they receive or are the target of others’ jokes towards them they quickly become angry. They do not tolerate and they show it so that the pressure is lifted quickly.

Since they have a reputation for being annoying and escalating easily, people who know them fear their reactions and become hyper-careful and measured in attitudes so as not to trigger catastrophic outbreaks.

Short-fuses are also characterized by never assuming blame or responsibility for events, They always deposit it in the environment.

Furthermore, they are characterized by being impatient. When things do not happen quickly, waiting gives them time to procreate self-deprecating ideas, such as feeling postponed, not respected, and they may come to think that waiting is an attack on them; which in turn leads them, inexorably, to build the escalation towards the explosion. This situation becomes lethal when we add intolerance.

Intolerance is the inability to tolerate different opinions. Therefore, it is synonymous with stubbornness, intransigence and obstinacy towards people who may have different ideas, for example, in politics, religion, sexuality, race, etc.

People get angry, angry, intolerant, impatient: this process, if it occurs sporadically, is part of the attitudinal choreography of all people, The problem is when it becomes an absolutely systematized behavior. This condition determines such a level of stress due to explosiveness that it damages the person psychologically, emotionally and organically.

One emotion that arises after the explosion is regret. During the warm-ups, the mechacortistas feel that they cannot control themselves and shout some insults towards their surroundings, but after the climatic moment occurs they feel guilty.

Then, he will develop behaviors such as explicitly apologizing or having an attitude or gesture that pleases the recipient of his anger. Guilt, shame and consequent regret are part of closing outbursts of those who suffer from mechacortism.

6 Tips to Resolve Short Fuse Syndrome

It is not easy to break the automatism of mechacortism, but the following recommendations can be very useful:

Wonder “Why am I angry? What makes me horny?” This already implies a brake factor on escalation. And don’t cheat by placing the blame on the other! It is a self-reflective exercise that helps you assume your own responsibility.Think: ““The other does not devalue me because he thinks differently than me.”. That is to say, the fact that the other person thinks differently does not mean that they are insulting my intelligence or treating me as stupid because I think differently.Go around the block or leave the box. It is important when escalation is detected, to leave the minefield and take a walk around the block to get some air and refresh your ideas. Another way is to change rooms or take a shower. The point is to stop the escalation and for this it is important to get out of the communication mess by changing the environment.Put yourself in the other’s place. Increasing empathy means understanding others and giving a minimum of credit to their thoughts. You have to repeat to yourself “the other person may think differently than me.”Do sport It is also a way to healthily channel all that energy that is discharged in anger. Sport is a healthy activity that, apart from providing the traditional cardiorespiratory and muscular benefits, activates endorphins and improves mood.

As we have seen, anger is not a personality trait but rather an emotional state that can be systematized in a person’s life, but it is important to work on it in therapy to rectify it. When done well, as an adaptive emotion, anger allows you to set limitsthat is, gaining momentum in setting limits.

Managing mechacortism is not about pretending to be a Zen master, nor about always being serotonergic, nor about constantly performing self-relaxing breathing exercises, Rabi Shankar style; but of learn to correct what can lead to explosiveness and damage of the environment and oneself.

You might be interested…