GMA’s Temper Tantrums and Self-Care

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA)’s legendary temper tantrums or katarayan is in the news again because of staff inefficiency which was probably due to miscommunication of a TV taping.

Jove Francisco wrote about “The Prompter” incident including the above footage.

A video of the news shows a more compact view

Jove adds that

I’ve seen her so called ““mataray ways”.

(One recent incident happened during her US working visit last July. She was having lunch with the members of the media delegation, and during the chitchat, she expressed her ““tampo” sa media, because she believes the media never grew tired of painting her as ““mataray”. One feisty —sassy and yes, friendly, lady broadcast journalist then gave this one liner: ““but being mataray isn’t always and shouldn’t be a bad thing.” (or something to that effect) PGMA just stared at her. Lahat kami agree sa sinabi ni feisty reporter. Bakit mamasamain ang isang bagay na pwedeng strong quality di ba? One co-reporter whispered, ““sus, eh as if naman ang katarayan ang solong dahilan kung bakit siya disliked and not trusted based on surveys?”. O, o, don’t shoot the messenger please! Na-alala ko lang mga nadinig ko.)

I agree that being “mataray” is not a bad trait if used to get things done in a timely manner. But, if you listen to the video, you can hear objects falling here and there. You will hear her admonish PDI’s photograher, Lyn Rillon, “don’t take my photo”. You will hear her high-pitched voice, screaming in the corridor. Scary! The panic that ensued can be seen clearly by her aides and the RTVM staff running in and out of the room as if typhoon Glo just suddenly struck from nowhere.

The video clearly showed she was unable to control her emotions. Stress seems to have finally taken a toll on her. Jove adds that it may have been due to…all the stress and pressure in the past few weeks regarding the MOA-AD, CHACHA, the Mindanao situation, the bum stomach, the deluge of foreign visitors, the declarations of El Shadai and the CBCP over the weekend, her supposed check-up for stress tests before her appearance at the Ninoy event

Who doesn’t feel stress anyway? I am sure all of us do. More so with our president who carries the burden of the nation. But she needs to make a solid plan like we do when stress hits us. Sometimes, stress is outside or around us. Even if we feel balanced, our circumstances are stressful. Sometimes, the stress is within and we feel out of balance. Now when the stress is internal and external, we experience the most difficult times.

We don’t know what is causing all this outburst in our president.

Affirming that the events taking place are a temporarily uncomfortable , a solid plan can help. We can assure ourselves that we will get through. We wont be destroyed. We won’t crumple or go under.

What helps?

1. Focus on detachment.

2. Be open to healthy options for taking care of yourself if normal support is not available.

3. Take one day at a time to deal with feelings.

My unsolicited advice to GMA is take care of herself first. One is better able to cope with the most irregular circumstances and able to be there for others if one is caring for themselves. Maybe she knows has a solid plan in place but may need to be gently reminded every now and then. So here it is.

She can ask herself:

1. What do I need to do to take care of myself?

2. What might help me feel better or comfortable?

Self-care may not come as easily during times of stress. GMA has a busy schedule too. Self-neglect may seem more comfortable an option.

But taking care of ourselves always work.

How do you take care of yourself in times of stress?