Low Frustration Tolerance

Low Frustration Tolerance is when a person believes that pain, difficulty, discomfort, or frustration is unbearable, and must be avoided at all cost. A person with Low Frustration Tolerance has a mindset that his situation is too difficult, too much, and he "can't stand it." A Low Frustration Tolerance is brought about by an exaggerated or distorted view of reality where one believes that a situation is much worse than it is, and a grossly underestimated belief of one's own ability to put up with a situation. This mindset may prove to be self-defeating in the long run.

For example, a person with Low Frustration Tolerance may see a bunch of cars stopped at a red light and immediately concludes that "traffic is horrible and I'll never make it to work on time if I take this route. I'd better go find another route that has less traffic," and goes the long way around. In truth, he simply cannot tolerate having to stand still for a few minutes, and so would rather take the long way around than having to line up at the traffic light. The end result could be that by deciding to take an alternate route, he most likely took a longer time getting to the office, than if he had just waited for the green light.