Your capacity to handle stress often depends on your resources. If you are secure before a crisis, you are more likely to be able to stabilize during and after the crisis. But, even at your best going into a crisis, experiencing stress with other people highlights the most irritating behaviors in one another. Dr. Bruce Perry explains that stress shifts our regulatory capacities. We are less able to regulate our feelings and be resilient in turmoil. "There is an escalation of dysregulated behaviors,"[1] he says.
[1] Hope for Mental Health Community with Dr. Bruce Perry. Hope for Mental Health Community with Dr. Bruce Perry, April 26, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/KayWarrensPage/videos/221359749316417/?v=221359749316417&external_log_id=dfa3a8adb311f83825eb054bc95cdd83.