Low tolerance is a psychological term that describes a reduced capacity to manage emotional or physical discomfort. Low tolerance, meaning the difficulty in managing stress, frustration, or tough situations, can make daily life more challenging.
While everyone may face stress at times, people with low stress tolerance may react more negatively and find it harder to handle tasks and relationships.
What Is Frustration Tolerance?
In general, frustration tolerance is the ability to cope with setbacks or delays without becoming overly upset. It reflects emotional resilience, the capacity to handle discomfort or unmet expectations while maintaining self-control.
Low Frustration Tolerance: What Does It Look Like?
Here are some common signs of how low frustration tolerance can show up:
- Excessive Irritability and Impatience: Becoming easily annoyed or frustrated by minor inconveniences, such as waiting in line or experiencing delays.
Similar traits may be typical for a neurodivergent. To understand if your brain works differently, click here and take a free neurodivergent quiz.
- Impulsivity: A tendency to act without thinking when facing difficulties, such as quitting a task abruptly or responding with anger.
- Avoidance Behaviour: Avoiding difficult or uncomfortable situations instead of dealing with them
Causes of Low Frustration Tolerance
Several factors can contribute to low tolerance for frustration:
Childhood Experiences
- Overprotective parenting: When parents shield their children from every hardship or discomfort, they may not develop coping skills to deal with frustration or challenges. Without experiencing failures, children may not learn resilience, leading them to feel overwhelmed when faced with difficulties later in life.
- Too much freedom: Conversely, children with too much autonomy without guidance or boundaries may struggle with decision-making and self-regulation.
- Strict or harsh environments: Children raised in overly strict or punitive households may learn to suppress their emotions or may become afraid of making mistakes. As a result, they may either lash out when frustrated or become paralyzed by indecision or anxiety when faced with challenges.
Unrealistic Expectations
Believing life should always be fair or easy can make handling challenges more difficult, leading to low frustration tolerance [1].
Chronic Stress
Ongoing stress or anxiety can weaken coping skills, making everyday frustrations harder to deal with.
Cognitive Distortions
Thoughts like “I can’t handle this” or “This shouldn’t happen” make frustration worse by making problems seem bigger. Common cognitive distortions include:
- Viewing situations in black and white: All-or-nothing thinking with no middle ground.
- Overgeneralization: Making broad conclusions based on one experience.
- Catastrophizing: Expecting the worst possible outcome.
Moreover, low tolerance for frustration is often rooted in catastrophizing about frustration and demanding that it not happen [2]. This mindset is based on beliefs such as:
- “The world owes me happiness.”
- “Things should always go the way I want, and I can’t tolerate it when they don’t.”
- “Frustration is unbearable, so I must avoid it at all costs.”
- “Other people should never do things that frustrate me.”
What Is Low Stress Tolerance?
Stress tolerance is the ability to stay calm and focused in tough or stressful situations. People with low stress tolerance may struggle with responsibilities, deadlines, or unexpected changes, often feeling overwhelmed or emotionally drained.
Causes of Low Frustration Tolerance
As a rule, low tolerance for stress can be caused by:
- Unresolved emotional trauma: People with a history of trauma may find it harder to cope with stress in healthy ways, which can lead to lower stress tolerance [3].
- Chronic stress: Ongoing pressure that wears down resilience.
- Negative thinking: Pessimistic or catastrophic thoughts about stressors.
- Lack of coping strategies: Not having healthy ways to manage stress.
- Unrealistic expectations: Expecting life to be easy or under control.
- Physical or mental health issues: Conditions like anxiety or depression that reduce resilience.
- Unhealthy lifestyle: Poor nutrition and not getting enough exercise, rest, or sleep makes it harder to handle stress.
Low Stress Tolerance: Signs and Symptoms
Typically, low tolerance for stress can present in various ways:
- Physical symptoms: Frequent headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, or stomach issues triggered by stress.
- Poor concentration: Struggling to focus or make decisions under pressure.
- Avoidance: Avoiding stress can lead to procrastination or ignoring important tasks.
- Emotional reactivity: Losing control of emotions, leading to anger, sadness, or anxiety.
How to Handle Low Stress Tolerance?
The good news is that stress and frustration tolerance are not fixed traits. You can develop and strengthen them by following these strategies to improve stress tolerance.
Challenge negative thoughts
When frustrated, reframe your thinking. Instead of “I can’t stand this,” try “This is tough, but I can manage it.”
Break down tasks
Large tasks can feel overwhelming. Break them into smaller steps to reduce stress and build confidence.
Practice relaxation
Use deep breathing, mindfulness, or muscle relaxation to calm your mind and body. Regular practice helps improve stress tolerance.
Improve problem-solving
Identify solutions, weigh options, and take action. This builds resilience and reduces helplessness.
Get professional support
Therapists or coaches can help you develop coping skills and build resilience.
