Bored Panda reached out to the creator behind the Mildly Infuriating Images Twitter page who said that they started it after seeing a video that covered the Mildly Infuriating Images subreddit. “The idea behind this page is to get others to see these types of photos and cringe at them with me,” the author added.
When asked how they would explain the term “mildly infuriating,” the author said that it refers to a moment when you’re quietly very angry at something. It can be something so simple, like a photo shared on this page. “I feel like my audience are people with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) or people who hate specific photos,” the person behind this Twitter account explained.
According to the author, what makes mildly infuriating images so blood-boiling is “something so simple to do being messed up so badly in an uneven way ticks some people a certain way.” “They think ‘how did they even manage to do this?’ And they get frustrated,” the author said.
“If I were to add something, it would be to always try and get out of your comfort zone, whether it’s talking to new people, looking at mildly infuriating images, or just picking up a new hobby, I’d say go out and do it,” the author concluded and added that it's important to remember that “you only live once!”
Day by day, hour by hour we get annoyed by little things. It can be a sock left in the middle of the house by your roommate, a car that won’t start like a stubborn baby, or an unexpected email that sends your brain cells into rage mode. Do you wonder if our reaction to the world around us, the good and the bad of it, is something we can control? And if so, do we always succumb to the same frustrations?
According to Andrea Bonior, a therapist and mental health columnist, the term "frustrating" refers to one of the most common emotional labels we all use. Most often people use it to describe difficult times in life, from everyday annoyances to larger ruts that feel impossible to get out of. Bonior argues that interestingly, frustration is likely to be the top layer of a feeling. “It speaks to a sense of stagnation or helplessness, an inability to make things happen in the way that someone wants.”
Moreover, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the state of frustration in part as "feeling discouragement, anger, and annoyance because of unresolved problems or unfulfilled goals, desires, or needs."
“While this picture of frustration—the angry, sulking person who's annoyed at the futility of their efforts—is a common one, with a little emotional exploration, we can see that an additional array of possible emotions can underlie frustration,” Bonior explained. According to her, the first step in getting through the experience in a healthy way is to figure out exactly what those deeper emotions are.
Among a wide array of deeper and underlying emotions, anger, anxiety or fear can be to blame. “A classic partner to frustration, anger is often what's going on when you feel that something is thwarting you—and your ire is directed at that person or thing,” Bonior argues.
“You want to tear out your non-working dishwasher and set it aflame, or throw your frozen computer out the window? You want to scream at your teenager to get into the car already because you've told him four times to get his shoes on, and yet it still isn't happening.”
In other cases, frustration may feel like a safer option to admit to than saying that we are anxious about or even in fear of something. But Bonior argues that “in these cases, what is really frustrating you is the fact that you want answers to something that's scary: You're looking for reassurance or certainty, and yet it's not coming.”
At the moment of frustration, it may feel hard to control your emotions, but it would very helpful if you try. Taking a moment to pause and breathe can work wonders to ease the unnerving feeling. Focusing on your breath and breathing deeply from your diaphragm can help reduce negative feelings and ease any tension you may have in your body, according to a 2017 study.
