How Much Stress Can You Handle?

I think I can handle less stress than the average person, because of having bipolar. I wonder if that is a given for all folks with bipolar or not.

I'm not sure how to really describe how I handle stress. I can handle a great deal of stress, but it seems my coping skills in the face of stress are much different from that of other people.
I may pace, talk (aloud) myself through the problem, shake, speak rapidly to the point of stuttering, get overly excited, etc., but I still make it through the stressful time sucessfully.

I did not always used to be this way though. I have had to learn these skills. I would cave under the pressure and nearly have a panic attack. I also found that stress that pushes over my coping ability tends to trigger migraines.

I am bipolar but I think I tend to handle stress better than the average person. Possibly from several years in the field as a medic and nearly two decades as a critical care nurse. One of my RN coworkers once told me she liked when I was working her shift because no matter what **** hit the fan I was always calm and focused.

It depends on the source of the stress. I can handle almost any medical emergency, take on a political cause and face down opponents, and speak in front of a group without even breaking a sweat.

What sends me running for the Ativan are stupid things like large crowds of people and talking to bill collectors......I become literally drenched in cold sweat, get nauseated, and shake like a leaf! I also run away if I get the chance. Now how grown-up is THAT??

I think I can handle more stress than an average person because my stupid brain moods give me more stress and I'm perfectly fine with appearing to the outside world like a functioning member of society. Sure, I drastically limit my outside time when I'm in my ducked up brain mood hell but, I deal.

This is kind of complicated. More impact, but... it really depends on how I'm doing and of what type the stress is. Some types invariably unhinge me. Sometimes, the load will be ridiculously big, but won't unhinge me. Other times, I think it hasn't unhinged, when in fact it has. (It might just take awhile till I catch up with reality!) When it exceeds my ability to cope, I get really really agitated. Or, apparently, dissociate. Agitation seems to be the far more typical response to the immediate and pressing. Then there's... Floating around on my own planet which can look oddly like serenity. Is it that the stress isn't there? Not really. More like it gets all mixed up in the fog(!) Fog, overload and denial can sometimes be hard to distinguish from one another. Am I "handling it" or have I hit overload and simply shut down? A plaguing question. So, even with greater effect, it's not always obvious.

The most frustrating are the stupid stressors. Mundane things can stress me way out --using the phone, stepping off an escalator, filling out a simple form, yada yada ad nauseum. Walking out the door can be a biggie (spells of yes, spells of no). That kind of crap can really get in one's way and have an inordinate impact! (Let's not even go into stress over "imaginary" things, thanks OCD!) But it makes no sense! For instance... I'd hop in a car and drive 3,000 miles. Travel alone. Dentist? No biggie. Wield a giant torch? Woot! Could probably even manage public speaking if I had to(!) Just can't manage the stress of everyday stupid crap like simply reading an employment ad without very nearly passing out from stress. We're not even talking about responding...

stress affects me a lot, lot more.

and this is given me a great idea for another pole type thread.. so thanks

I think I handle stress about average I guess. I know I don't fold under stress; in fact, I go into a state of heightened ability to deal with it, particularly when the stress is coming from an issue concerning someone I love such as my husband, children, etc. Now once the crisis is over, I generally pay for it then, but in the midst of a crisis, I'm generally quite calm.

I dont fold during stress, outwardly, I handle it swimmingly, but once its resolved I crumble, and that's why I voted it effects me more...

Not much and not well. It creates too much acidity for the system.

I bring out the lemon thing once stress begins.

not bp, but major depressive thought id add my opinion, i cant handle any stress at all i simply fall to pieces, hope it helps

Cool! Good for you. I will use you as an example.

One of the manager reviews at the first company I. Worked for mentioned my being calm and effective under stressful conditions, so I suppose this is an endorsement, but I do react to stress with anxiety sometimes, and in particular I stop eating and sometimes even drinking fluids.

I am not voting because I do not know about the average person having not been in her shoes.

I should have had another choice in the poll for "handles stress better than the average person" as there are quite a few who posted here who do.

But the poll numbers show most do not. I just started a second part time job on Wednesday and the stress piled up on me to the point of affecting my work on the primary full time job. Robbing Peter to pay Paul so to speak. I hope it is a passing amount of stress. My ears were ringing more than usual and I could tell I was beyond a healthy amount of stress, possibly inducing a slightly mixed mood which is unusual for my usually stable (well usually tending a bit depressed) self.

...I can handle heaps of stress..

...just can't handle that I got to!

I can handle stress reletivly ok now, but not at all times. I'd say I have had an extremly stressful life, distressful. I use to handle stress pretty poorly, completely crumble. Then I began to get through the stressful event and keep it together untill it was over and then crumble. Like when I fled from my ex with our children. The police were involved, lawyers, courts, no home or belongings.. and extreme fear of my ex. That was monumental stress, I kept it together very well to do what I had to do. But after it was over I really fell apart.

Now I am really working on getting through it and not falling apart after. I am using a lot of meditation and mindfulness and philosophy to get there. But I still have to work on it. I think I am much much better and can catch myself and turn it around before I fall apart. My goal tho is to eventually not have to catch myself.

I have always been super sensitive to stress and external factors. I probably always will be, just learning how to work with it. I used to try to just toughen up, that never worked for me.

Do you think, being Bipolar, that managing yourself (courtesy, rational response, calmness) is more pronounced than it is for an average individual? There is an extra element of sensitivity. I know (and have worked with) people such as yourself and in my own family who have been conditioned (by a condition) to have this sort of specialization in emotional stability responding to adrenaline under pressure. Unfortunately, this usually means families learned to live with ADHD or BiPolar Disorder or Dysthymic Depression for decades; the downside being alcoholism or other chemical dependencies.
We can celebrate recovery together that trying to 'beat' or 'discipline' brains such as these into to what we think they should be is impossible.
This is God's Master Appiance we're talking about here, People

This is a good question. I have Chronic pain usually a 7 or above, add bipolar to it, Yes I feel like I handle stress better than the average person. But there is no way to really know what someones "stress" is really like .. Everyone is unique.