Humour

“They’re men with jobs, Jerry!” 

George Costanza is one of the most memorable TV characters. We laugh at his expense but, perhaps, we are laughing at something we see in ourselves.

This ‘something’ is what psychologists like to call ‘neuroticism’. But what is this exactly? Let’s explore some neurotic characteristics with George Costanza.

Emotional Stability

Neurotic people tend to be up and down. They can be easily frustrated, annoyed, and quick to panic.

Neurotic people can also be prone to feeling deflated and depressed in the face of obstacles.

They may also be prone to losing their temper in frustration.

Excessive worry and rumination

A chief characteristic of neurotic individuals is their excessive worry often over trivial problems and situations. They might, for example, feel insecure about their sexuality.

They may relive the same scenario over and over and regret their choices, blowing everything out of proportion (i.e. catastrophic thinking).

Delayed gratification

Due to problems with managing their emotions, people with these characteristics may struggle to control their impulses, such as delaying gratification.

There could be a tendency to over-indulge and binge eat.

They may even give in to some more primal urges against their better judgement.

But, hey, we all have a bit of George in us, right?