Neuroticism: Definition, Examples, & How to Cope

What Is Neuroticism?

Neuroticism is a personality trait describing susceptibility toward stress and negative emotions like fear, anger, and sadness.¹ High neuroticism correlates with an increased risk for anxiety disorders and depression, and many individuals struggle with poor emotional regulation.

Neuroticism comes from the word neurosis, a term describing abnormalities in the nervous system. In psychology, neurosis took on new meaning to conceptualize psychological and emotional abnormalities. While no longer a diagnosis, psychologists continue using neuroticism to describe negative emotional states and traits.²

Neurotic Behavior Vs. Mental Health Disorders

Neuroticism is a personality trait, not a mental health disorder. Someone with a neurotic personality may present various symptoms within the umbrella of specific conditions, such as schizophrenia or generalized anxiety disorder. However, their traits do not qualify as a distinct diagnosis.

How Common Is Neuroticism?

Neuroticism is a personality domain, meaning most people fall somewhere on the spectrum. One study found that people with high neuroticism are more likely to have a diagnosable mental health disorder.³

According to this study, risk factors for neuroticism include living alone, unemployment, lower rates of education, and aging.³ Being born female is also a risk factor, and many women may find their symptoms exacerbated by stress, such as managing as a single mother.

Neuroticism & the Big Five Personality Traits

The Five Factor Model measures neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness to experience.⁴ Experts associate the Big Five personality traits with the expression of personality, and each person falls somewhere on the spectrum of every characteristic.

Specific behavior, like constant rumination or perfectionism, might be associated with higher neuroticism. In contrast, individuals who are more flexible, down-to-earth, or generally more agreeable will likely exhibit lower neuroticism.

The remaining big five personality traits include:⁵

• Extroversion: Extroverted individuals are social, outgoing, and expressive.
• Agreeableness: Those high in agreeableness are empathetic, caring, and cooperative.
• Conscientiousness: Conscientiousness describes detailed, cautious, and prepared individuals.
• Openness: Highly open people are open-minded, curious, creative, and imaginative.

Neurotic Personality Traits

High neuroticism contributes to negative feelings like fear, sadness, and anger. Neurotic people often lack the skills to cope with stress, meaning individuals feel these emotions more intensely. Symptoms of neuroticism can lead them to respond destructively, impulsively, and maladaptively to challenging situations.⁶

Everyone experiences negative emotions, and people low in neuroticism can still develop neurotic anxiety, neurotic depression, or anger issues. The effects of neuroticism are more related to emotional responses rather than emotions.^{7, 8}

Traits and signs of neuroticism may include:^{1, 7}

• Constant worrying
• Irritability and low frustration tolerance
• Being easily hurt or offended
• Frequently feeling nervous or anxious
• Being uptight, tense, or rigid
• Loneliness or feeling isolated
• Frequent feelings of guilt or shame
• Being overly critical or cynical
• Ruminating on negative thoughts
• Overreacting to stress
• Anger, hostility, and resentment
• Being more insecure, self-conscious, and self-critical
• Poor emotional regulation
• Becoming easily jealous of others
• Feeling self-doubt
• Frequent mood swings

Common Neuroticism Examples

Examples of neuroticism generally show up in daily life and relationships. Some signs of neuroticism are more apparent, like being overly critical of others or using self-destructive coping mechanisms. More subtle and less noticeable cues can include focusing on negative beliefs and painful life events.

Below are common neurotic behavior examples:^2,6,8

• Unhelpful internal responses to emotions
• Fixating on negative or stressful aspects of a situation
• Discounting or “dampening” positive factors, experiences, or emotions
• Feeling upset or scared of emotions
• Recounting memories that feed into negative beliefs
• Anticipating bad outcomes and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy
• Being overly critical of self, others, and situations to find flaws, mistakes, or problems
• Taking things too personally or interpreting everything as a personal attack
• Becoming too rigid, controlling, or demanding when stressed
• Impulsive, destructive, or self-sabotaging responses when upset or stressed
• Coping with stress and difficult emotions by using avoidance strategies
• Going into a state of “collapse,” giving up, and becoming helpless

How Neuroticism Affects Behavior

Neuroticism involves specific thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns. Neuroticism is a personality trait that describes an internal sequence of events in response to a perceived stressor or problem. While individual experiences can vary, those high in neuroticism often overreact to and internalize challenging situations.

Exaggerated Negative Perception

Neurotic tendencies often include downplaying or “dampening” positive experiences or emotions. For instance, someone may overlook happiness in a situation to exaggerate or highlight the negative aspects. This behavior can lead to perceiving circumstances as more personal, stressful, or dangerous.

Internalization

People with high neuroticism can be self-conscious. They frequently internalize negative stress or situations by attaching personal meaning or significance. They may blame or criticize themselves, fixate on their weaknesses, or engage in negative self-evaluation, leading to feelings of shame, guilt, or helplessness.

Rumination

Neurotic people ruminate on negative thoughts and feelings. Excessive fixations on negative, worried, angry, or upsetting thoughts leave them feeling these emotions more intensely and frequently.

Ineffective Response

Many neurotic individuals make choices that bring short-term relief when experiencing stress. However, these decisions can lead to negative consequences in the long term. They may avoid or withdraw instead of confronting a problem. Some may externalize negativity by starting conflict or blaming someone. Others turn toward destructive outlets like drugs or alcohol for emotional relief.

How Neuroticism Affects Relationships

Neuroticism can make forming close, trusting, healthy relationships with others challenging. A negative bias can extend to how they perceive their partner and relationship. They may perceive or exaggerate minor problems in ways that provoke conflicts.

Appearing Easily Annoyed

People high in neuroticism typically have issues with emotion regulation. They tend to be more sensitive to negative stimuli and more easily irritated than others. They might have a smaller tolerance for minor difficulties.

Being Unreliable

Neurotic individuals may struggle to show up for others. While they may not intend to be unreliable, depending on an emotionally unstable person can be difficult. For example, someone high in neuroticism might cancel plans at the last minute, ditch events early, or fail to complete projects on time.

Feelings of Guilt

People with high levels of neuroticism often feel guilt or shame when their behaviors cause harm. Sometimes, these feelings present without a direct cause, as in the case of depressive episodes or anxiety disorders. When something in their environment triggers guilt, neurotic individuals feel their emotions more intensely.

Poor Parenting Skills

Neuroticism is associated with uninvolved or controlling parenting.^9,10 Parents prone to neuroticism are more emotionally volatile and less able to handle stressful situations. Because children require a lot of patience and coaching, caregivers struggling with neurotic tendencies may use avoidance or dominance to cope.

Increased Conflicts

People with high levels of neuroticism sometimes experience instability in their relationships. One study found that such individuals often experienced poor self-esteem when encountering relationship conflict.¹¹ Less emotional stability means individuals may internalize fights.

Complications of High Neuroticism

Ineffective responses to emotions generate problems and consequences. Without the tools to regulate emotions, neurotic people often cycle back into negative feelings and thought processes.

Unfortunately, these internalized beliefs and behaviors can contribute to long-term consequences. Highly neurotic individuals are at a higher risk of mood disorders, substance misuse, and poor life satisfaction.

Possible consequences of high neuroticism include:^4,7,8

• Low relationship satisfaction
• Heart problems, asthma, eczema, lowered immunity, or IBS
• Poorer response to health conditions and increased risk of mortality
• Anxiety disorders
• Mood disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Substance use disorder
• Eating disorders
• Schizophrenia
• Certain personality disorders
• Poor work performance
• Lower life satisfaction
• Lowered rates of marital and relationship satisfaction

Can Neuroticism Be a Good Personality Trait?

People often avoid emotions like fear, anger, and sadness, but these feelings are not necessarily bad. Specific neurotic characteristics can provide information about what one wants, needs, and cares about. A neurotic person can hone their emotions to become more self-aware, allowing them to make decisions that protect their priorities.

While high neuroticism can damage well-being, healthy levels offer opportunities for introspection. Pause to consider what matters instead of ruminating on negative or self-critical thoughts.

What Causes Neuroticism?

Experts have yet to identify a specific cause for neuroticism. A combination of genetic, social, and environmental factors often influence personality, and research on neuroticism has identified certain genes that are closely related to this trait.^2,7

The role of genetics in personality development is strongest in childhood, but environmental factors continue to influence personality into adulthood.¹² Evidence does not necessarily show decreased neuroticism with age, but positive traits like agreeableness and openness may help counteract neurotic tendencies.¹³

Possible causes of neuroticism include:

• Trauma: People who experience trauma, stress, and adversity are more likely to develop neurotic personality traits and behaviors, particularly when these events happen early in life.^2,7
• Genetic factors: Heritability for neuroticism is between 50-60% through adolescence and early adulthood.⁴
  As someone ages, genetic influence decreases.
• Poor parental involvement: Research suggests a link between low parental involvement and higher rates of neuroticism.¹⁴
• Brain function: Highly neurotic individuals show lower betweenness centrality (BET) scores in certain brain regions, meaning the interaction between these regions may influence neuroticism.¹⁵
• Climate: Some evidence shows hotter climates may contribute to more experiences of mental health issues, including mood disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety, and neurotic disorders.¹⁶
• Survival instincts: One study found neurotic individuals experienced higher levels of stress due to larger perceptions of threat.¹⁷

Neuroticism Treatment Options

Neuroticism responds to treatment and can improve with therapy, medication, or a combination. Professionals may prescribe medication to treat co-occurring depression or anxiety disorders. Therapy can help individuals learn to cope with challenging emotions and reduce neurotic tendencies.

You can start your journey by finding the right therapist. Support is essential when exploring and identifying problematic thought and behavioral patterns, allowing you to make meaningful changes. You can browse an online therapist directory or ask family, friends, or a primary care provider for referrals. Neuroticism does not control your life–help is available.

Therapies for reducing neurotic tendencies include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT focuses on helping you change unhelpful thought patterns that feed into difficult emotions to change maladaptive reactions.
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): ACT encourages you to accept and experience difficult emotions without feeling overwhelmed. ACT also teaches you to avoid emotion-driven responses by choosing reactions that align with your values.
• Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy can help people with anxiety disorders face feared situations they previously avoided, resulting in a desensitized response. This approach can benefit those who rely heavily on avoidance techniques.
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): DBT coaches people to find more moderate ways of thinking and responding to thoughts and feelings with mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness (communication skills), distress tolerance (coping skills), and emotion regulation.

How to Deal With Neuroticism

Developing coping mechanisms for difficult emotions can help interrupt internal processes that feed them, helping you feel more regulated. Dealing with neuroticism can sound daunting, but changing your approach to thoughts and relationships can greatly improve your well-being.

Below are nine tips for coping with neuroticism:

1. Challenge Your Thinking

Challenge yourself to think differently about your life and circumstances. Negative appraisals emphasize things that generate feelings of sadness, anger, anxiety, or stress. Positive appraisals can counteract these emotions.⁶ For example, identify positive aspects you may have overlooked when struggling with stress.

Consider less personal explanations for problems instead of assuming the worst. Doing so can help reduce ruminative thoughts, allowing you to combat negative emotions as they arise.

2. Pay Attention to the Present Moment

Mindfulness involves unhooking from unhelpful thoughts and bringing your full attention to the present moment. Mindfulness can help reduce stress, improve coping, and counteract neuroticism.⁸

You can start a mindfulness routine by focusing on your bodily sensations, like your breath or five senses. Pay attention to your surroundings, highlighting things you can see, touch, or smell. These exercises help you notice and observe negative emotions without becoming fixated on them.

3. Do the Opposite of What You Feel

Opposite actions help you understand you are always in control of your emotions, even when intense and overwhelming. For instance, consider pushing yourself to get out of bed when feeling depressed or sad. Follow through with your plans for the day.

4. Focus on the Problem, Not the Emotion

Problem-solving approaches refocus attention on the source of a problem rather than focusing on emotions.⁷ Brainstorming solutions is more productive than ruminating on the issue.

Identify the cause of your stress when neuroticism takes over your mind. Consider which actions and responses address the root problem to determine the next action steps. If you cannot directly influence the outcome, focus on choosing an effective response that prevents the problem from worsening.

5. Connect With Others

People with neurotic tendencies tend to have trouble forming and maintaining close relationships. Living a happy, fulfilled, and emotionally balanced life is impossible without healthy social connections.

Focus on what you want to say rather than how you want the other person to respond. Fine-tune your listening skills by paying attention to the feelings and needs of loved ones. Avoid making assumptions about their intentions when you feel defensive.

6. Start a Gratitude Journal

Gratitude journals help attune you to the present moment, allowing you to direct thoughts toward more realistic and positive patterns. Practicing gratitude can be as simple as listing positive things in your life or as complex as a guided daily prompt. Start a routine by choosing a specific time each day to practice. You might see positive changes to your neurotic thought patterns once you establish a routine.

7. Remember, Change Is Possible

Struggling with neurotic thought patterns can make your emotions feel intense and unmanageable. You can become easily overwhelmed by the present when emotions take up this much space. Reminding yourself that negative moments are temporary and change is possible may help you shift your perspective in a positive direction.

8. Identify Your Triggers & Practice Stress Management

Knowing what people, places, and situations trigger your neurotic thoughts and behaviors can help you identify better ways to cope. For example, avoiding or minimizing specific things may improve your well-being. Practicing good stress management is about using effective and healthy ways to cope when you cannot avoid these situations.

9. Learn to Regulate Your Emotions

Emotional regulation is sometimes challenging for people with high levels of neuroticism. Beneficial strategies can include breathing techniques, grounding exercises, or distraction skills. A good rule of thumb is to have various flexible techniques. For example, while a fifteen-minute breathing exercise might work at home, a fidget toy may be best for navigating stressful work meetings.