35 Things You’d Never Think To Be Offended By Until Someone Else Was

"Our mood or emotional state definitely has an impact on our perception," Dr. John A. Johnson, professor emeritus of psychology at Penn State University, told Bored Panda.

"Some people are more-or-less continuously high-strung, so they react negatively to many situations, including those that most of us would regard as trivial. But even people who are normally pretty levelheaded can become over-reactive if they haven't had enough good sleep lately, haven't been eating well, or have been under a lot of stress."

According to Kandi Wiens, who is a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and the author of the book Burnout Immunity, not only is the sheer number of people experiencing burnout higher than ever, but recent evidence shows that burnout is affecting workers at younger ages—and its effects are more debilitating.

Indeed, the 2023 Stress in America survey revealed that 67% of adults ages 18 to 34 say stress makes it difficult for them to focus, 58% describe their daily stress as "completely overwhelming," and nearly half report that most days their stress is so bad they’re unable to function. No wonder so many of us are overreacting during casual interactions.

"Also, people might be harboring anger over some past issue, and the 'dumb reasons' are not the real reason the person blows up," Dr. Johnson explained to us.

"If someone overreacts, I might want to ask them if there are other things going on in their lives that are stressing them out, or if there's something I've done recently that upset them that they would like to talk about."

Dr. Johnson acknowledges that remaining thoughtful in these situations is often easier said than done "because when we feel that we've been judged unfairly, we might not feel like dealing with the person at all."

But it's important to at least try. "If the person is important to us and is someone we spend a lot of time with, we have to get over our resentment at their apparently irrational judgment and try to have a calming conversation with them."

However, if you're going through this list and can't help but think of the times you yourself have acted irrationally towards others, there are things you can do to keep cool.

"If you find yourself overreacting to a situation, you might keep in mind the acronym HALT [and ask yourself] am I hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired? And then take care of the issue so that you do not keep overreacting," Dr. Johnson added.