The Mantrum

As someone who has always been fascinated by psychology and has spent a large portion of her life watching athletic competitors, I feel it is my sociological duty to share my observations with the world. I will begin by highlighting your awareness of one startling human behavior that occasionally wreaks havoc on the cycling community because I strongly suspect that it occurs in many other realms as well.

While not explicitly identified as an area of clinical concern, many communities are acutely aware of this behavior. It has been referred to as a hissy fit, an outburst, being an asshole, having a temper tantrum, whining, and (my personal favorite) getting your panties in a bunch. These are all fairly descriptive titles, but I believe it is best identified as a mantrum.

As it is a developmentally stunted expression of personal emotions, the mantrum can take many different forms. The overarching personality traits of the person experiencing it (henceforth known as the thrower) ultimately dictate final exhibition of a mantrum. Despite wide variability, all mantrums do have a number of commonalities. The typical mantrum can be characterized by a combination of:

Two or more of the following

• Extreme emotionality
• Irrational arguing
• Hypersensitivity resulting in anger

and
Three or more of the following

• Stomping
• Red face
• Throwing objects (i.e. bike, chair, helmet, etc)
• Screaming/Yelling
• Name Calling
• Excessive use of profanity
• Aggressive or physically violent outbursts

Though anecdotally this behavior appears to occur most frequently in adult, adrenaline gorged, males, it is not particular to men. It is important to note the greater variability in mantrum throwing across genders. Those observing similar behaviors in feminine throwers should first rule out a missy fit before applying a mantrum classification.