Ways To Stop Getting Overwhelmed By Your Own Emotions
Some people have more difficulty managing their emotions than others. Whether it’s due to mental health issues like PTSD, anxiety disorders, depression or otherwise, you might feel like your emotions are starting to have more control over you than vice versa. However, there are ways to get in control or to diminish the feeling of being overwhelmed by your emotions. Here, we’re going to look at some of the strategies worth a closer look.
Managing the Stressors in Your Life
First of all, you should look at what external realities are influencing your emotional state. It’s not always easy to simply get rid of the things that might be stressing or worrying you. In fact, getting rid of stressors entirely may be impossible for the majority of us. However, when it comes to things like financial stress, then you can look at ways to relieve it and get in better control of your money. Even if you don’t eliminate the source of stress, taking steps to manage it can help it become much less of a scary unknown, allowing you to manage your reactions to it better.
Name and Identify your Emotions
One of the issues with overwhelming emotions is that it when they emerge, it can feel like such a visceral physical change that we don’t know how to identify it or cope with it. Managing something you can’t define can be very difficult. As such, it’s worth taking the time to journal about the emotions that you experience. As you reflect on how they affected you, it can become easier to identify them, which can make it easier to manage them.
Learn Some Skills to Manage Your Emotions
There are certain skill sets that have been developed in the world of psychology and psychotherapy that can be taught to people with the explicit aim of helping them maintain better control over their emotions. Mindfulness, for instance, can teach us to become more aware of the triggers leading to emotional changes and, through that, to prepare and regulate the surge of emotions as they happen. It may be worth looking into services such as DBT group skills training if you want to start implementing these techniques into your own life. Many people find that practicing them with groups can be more effective than trying to learn them alone.
Space and Distraction Can Help
When something is overwhelming you, then sometimes the best solution can be to take a few steps away from it. This might mean taking a break from work and getting some alone time, especially if you haven’t had it in a while. When it comes to space from your own thoughts, keeping busy also can be helpful. There are plenty of stress-relieving hobbies that have been found to be beneficial for that reason. A distraction isn’t going to solve the problem, but it can help you get some space to work out your next moves.
Finding Root Causes
Often, when it comes to mood disorders, such as anxiety disorders or PTSD, the experience of overwhelming emotions is not the totality of the experience. In many cases, there can be issues at the root of it, such as conflict, trauma and abuse. These can be sensitive topics to handle, well beyond the scope of any tips you will read online. If you have been having trouble in the long-term with your emotions, then finding a therapist near you may well be the best step to take. Therapy isn’t a silver bullet and doesn’t work equally for everyone. Many people find therapy to be extremely beneficial for helping to keep an even keel emotionally and to deal with the difficult issues that can often be at the root of our turmoil.
Being overwhelmed by your emotions is not a sign of weakness or a lack of fortitude on your part. Mood disorders and emotional well-being are much more complex than that. However, the tips above can help you turn the tide in your favor. It is always important to seek help if you’re having trouble coping alone. You do not have to do this alone. Help is available.
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Related: Mental Health Is Not Something You Should Dismiss
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Related: Tips to Relieve Financial Stress
This article originally appeared on Marialeonardolsen.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org
