Idiom: Hit a nerve

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by howard555

Meaning: If something hits a nerve, it upsets someone or causes them pain, often when it is something they are trying to hide.
I see other definitions but that ones seems to fit.

What might be going on psychologically with a person who has multiple nerves that get hit by different people and various topics? Thanks.

Why do you ask? Thanks in advance for your expanding on why this question is of such importance to you.

[Bootsamillion]

Originally Posted by howard555

Meaning: If something hits a nerve, it upsets someone or causes them pain, often when it is something they are trying to hide.
I see other definitions but that ones seems to fit.

What might be going on psychologically with a person who has multiple nerves that get hit by different people and various topics? Thanks.

I saw where a poster just got a nerve hit on a different forum topic. He got frustrated and of course it was related to politics.

[Ralph_Kirk]

Originally Posted by howard555

Meaning: If something hits a nerve, it upsets someone or causes them pain, often when it is something they are trying to hide.
I see other definitions but that ones seems to fit. .

The phrase stems from dentistry. A person can stand drilling the enamel of the tooth with relatively little discomfort until the drill hits the nerve deep in the tooth. When that happens, the pain is sudden and intense, despite the fact that the same act of drilling hadn't caused such discomfort earlier.

In other words, it refers to absorbing a certain level of mistreatment with little response, and then suddenly the same mistreatment provokes an intense response.

[Lodestar]

I think online we have to be careful, also, to read in an objective way. It's very easy to be self-referential when a topic is being discussed.

This is both a positive and a negative. We can discuss problem-solving examples from our own experience. But we can also personalize things people are saying and assume they are aimed at us. This creates a defensive stance that is a red flag for observers and an absolute target for people who like to troll.

There is a psychological term - detachment - that can help a lot with this. It's about simply observing what people are doing or saying and avoiding emotional attachment to what is being said. Observing with as little judgement as is possible. When in doubt choose to decide it's not all about me.

I've seen people decide it's all about them and then, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, when they respond subjectively turn it into all about them! It's not a good place to be online.