74. Frustration

Frustration is an emotional response to circumstances where one is obstructed from arriving at a personal goal. The more important the goal, the greater the frustration. It is comparable to anger and disappointment. Sources of frustration may be internal or external. Internal sources of frustration involve personal deficiencies such as a lack of confidence or fear of social situations that prevent one from reaching a goal. Conflict can also be an internal source of frustration when one has competing goals that interfere with one another. External causes of frustration involve conditions outside the person such as a blocked road; or conditions linked to the person's actions but not directly such as lack of money, or lack of sexual activity. In psychology, passive-aggressive behavior is a method of dealing with frustration. According to N.E. Miller "frustration produces instigation to a number of different types of response, one of which is instigation to some form of aggression."

Psychological Meaning: If you dream of missing a train, being unable to read an important message, searching in vain for something or failing to convince someone of the truth of an argument, then your dream is expressing deep-set frustrations. You may be concerned that your life is not going in the direction you want or may feel a repressed anger at the stubbornness of the people in your life. It is important that you discover why you feel so frustrated so that you can deal more effectively with its causes.

Mystical Meaning: Dream superstition takes frustrations to mean the opposite- all your plans will succeed. An inability to carry out a contract or perform a term of the contract due to supervening circumstances beyond the parties’ control, such as an event of force majeure. Frustration can be considered problem-response behaviour, and can have a number of effects, depending on the mental health of the individual. In positive cases, this frustration will build until a level that is too great for the individual to contend with, and thus produce action directed at solving the inherent problem. In negative cases, however, the individual may perceive the source of frustration to be outside of their control, and thus the frustration will continue to build, leading eventually to further problematic behaviour (e.g. violent reaction).

The worker who is refused time off to go fishing may "cuss out" his supervisor to his face or behind his back. If he is sufficiently aroused, he may strike out at him with his fists or with the nearest weapon. If the supervisor is not present or the worker's fear of the consequences of direct attack is stronger than his desire to attack, he may transfer his aggression to someone or something else. Taking his frustration out on his family or on some object like his car or his equipment are typical ways of transferring aggression. Another "solution" to frustration is regressive behavior — becoming childish or reverting to earlier and more primitive ways of coping with the goal barrier. Throwing a temper tantrum, bursting into tears, or sulking are examples of regression. Wearing a long face and a worried look are other signs of this method of dealing with frustration.