Following a physical injury, a period of rehabilitation is not unexpected. Emotional injury is just the same. When you have experienced a traumatic event, such as a loss or break up of a relationship, you need to have a period of emotional rehabilitation. It’s normal to have a strong reaction to a distressing event and it can take a while to get over the pain.
It’s important that emotional pain is taken seriously as it can start to impact your physical and mental well-being. Sadness can lead to depression, anger to anxiety, and guilt to physical pain and discomfort.
A Considered Response
Anyone can experience emotional distress, the causes vary widely and they usually include a combination of factors. It can feel overwhelming and start to affect your daily functioning, especially when you feel unable to change the situation.
So try to lessen the emotional stress you feel by working on your emotional response to the problem. This involves, in part, managing the emotions that arise when a problem occurs and being aware of the effect our reactions to our problems have on ourselves and others. Our ability to regulate our emotions in problem situations, greatly influences how effectively we are able to solve the problems we face.
Generally, the more important something is to us, the more intense our emotional response will be. Deliberately reflecting on processing and figuring out what to do about something is one thing, but getting into a mental rut then stewing over bruised feelings is another. If you find yourself stuck ruminating in the past, try to take control of your thinking patterns to restore your well-being, peace of mind, and happiness.
Cultivating Emotional Intelligence
While it’s important to examine our emotional states, it can also, at times, be helpful to distract ourselves from emotional pain. Try being kind to others, because this can help you to stop worrying about yourself. Or just try releasing the pleasure chemicals in the brain with some fun activities. Alternatively, some other healthy options to consider to help manage your emotional distress can include talking therapy with either friends or professionals, physical activity, mindfulness, and meditation.
We all encounter emotional problems routinely, however, some of them may be caused by our own mistakes. Try analyzing what you may have done to make the other person react the way they did. If you focus on what you could have done better you will feel more empowered.
For example, if you are trying to rekindle a relationship and the fault for the emotional stress lies with you, then don’t just throw a check at the problem, offer a genuine apology. It’s essential you own up to your actions especially if this person is important to you. Let them know that you are making efforts to change, then hopefully they will see and appreciate your hard work.
Journaling can be an incredible tool for improving your emotional health. It’s a simple yet powerful way to manage your thoughts and feelings and gain clarity. This technique can also help with developing self-awareness, which can help you to manage yourself more effectively through difficult times.
Managing emotional reactions means choosing how and when to express the emotions we feel. Learning to react well means we are able to respond to situations in a productive way. Learning to develop the skills that make up emotional intelligence takes time and practice, but eventually, they will help give us the ability to get past difficult emotions faster.