An Odd Phenomenon

Can I tell you about an odd phenomenon that occurs in medical school? People are under such a tremendous load of stress that emotions are heightened and EVERYDAY is like a PMS day. Things that are not big deals turn into big deals. It drives me nuts, and quite frankly, it's frightening.

There's no better way to illustrate this than with examples that have either happened to me, or others have complained to me about.

A: So...T is mad at me because she thought I was "ignoring" her because my phone sent her a repeated text.
B: Uh...what? How can someone be mad about that?
A: I don't know. I was actually in lab at the time.
B: I get repeat texts from you all the time. I'm always like, 'Okay, reception is terrible. Whatever.'
A: Yeah. I don't know, I guess she just feels left out.

C: I'm pissed. It's not fine.
D: Wait what? What's not fine?
C: This. Like, you don't even care.
D: What?
C: Yeah, it just really bothers me that you said that I have no friends.
D: Is this a joke...When did I say that?
C: I wrote it down when we were talking. It's verbatim. I just wanted to let you know that I actually do have friends other than you thank you very much.
D: I never said you didn't, geez.
[the conversation goes on for another hour, and continues the next day]

E: She got mad at me for not asking about her day. Seriously? I'm not her boyfriend.
F: HAHA! You totally are!
E: Ugh. Why would you say that?
F: Because she's needy and seeks affirmation from you, and you're good at giving it.
E: Well, I need to wean her off because I certainly don't want to be in a relationship with her.

Just a few horror stories of immaturity and displaced angst. We're in med school, people! I told you before that med school is like high school, but I feel like M2 year has exposed the insecure, needy middle schooler in everyone.

In my previous relationship, I would get angry if I didn't hear back via text or phone call after a threshold time period (arbitrarily set depending on my mood, the circumstances, etc.) Then he would be angry that I was angry, and the cycle only resolved itself with an exhausting, drawn-out fight. The main point is, I can now understand clearly the need for personal space, for detachment from communication, and sometimes just feeling like you want to move to a remote cabin in the woods.

The funny thing is, since one year ago, I've become extraordinarily meh about people not texting me back (sometimes for days at a time), or not texting other people back within the hour. It's just not a big deal. People have better things to do than sending a text message. I have exactly no emotional energy left to care about the reasons, only that they are probably good ones.