How to Deal with Emotional Distress

Emotional distress is such a broad term and is a mental setback that can affect anyone at any age. This form of distress can result from several things, and it may be that you recently lost someone close to you, you are feeling overwhelmed at work, you’re going through a significant breakup and more. There is not one single thing that can pinpoint why a person will suffer this distress, every patient is unique, and their cause can be entirely different for the next patient.

Emotional distress psychotherapy is one of the ways of handling the distress, getting to the root cause, discussing what you go through daily and learning different methods and techniques to use to help you manage your emotions and eliminate the unwelcome symptoms associated with this particular mental disorder.

Most people suffering from emotional distress will feel anxious; they may feel over-stressed. This can be at home or at work. They tend to suffer from sleep disturbances, either sleeping too much and unable to wake up in the morning to being unable to stay asleep, lying awake throughout the night worried that they have to go to work in a short while.

As previously mentioned, every single person is unique, and their symptoms are different from the symptoms experienced by the next patients. While some patients who suffer from this distress find that they struggle to keep weight on and have unexplained weight loss, others may find that they pile the pressure on. Weight fluctuations are a common side effect seen by emotional distress psychotherapists daily.

Some patients find that they experience unexplained chronic pain. Pain in the neck, back, and shoulders can all be caused by emotional distress. Tensing up and bunching up the muscles due to tension can leave patients in agonizing pain and unable to relieve it. Another reason that these patients tend to stay in bed become moody, and unable to control their emotions.

You are Running Away from your Emotional Distress if you…

Avoid conflict
Refuse to examine your motives and feelings Hold people at a distance
Have difficulty trusting
Have push/pull relationships – be close don’t be close Allow resentment to build up towards others
Isolate yourself
Have trouble asking for help
Verbally attack people
Have sensitivity to feedback about your behavior Think more highly of yourself than others (arrogance) Build yourself up while putting others down
Exaggerate your accomplishments

Several ways: How to Deal with Emotional Distress

There are several things you could do to deal with the emotional distress

Move Away from Negativity

You know that rumination, negative thoughts and criticism don’t help with anxiety. Try to move away from those reactions and shift attention to things that do help. Stay close to those who care about you, do something kind for yourself, set a small goal, and complete it. No matter how little it seems, you’ll feel you’re doing something to help and your self-esteem will have a boost.

Practice Different Perspectives

When we’re distressed, pain from the past may get reactivated, Eddins said. Then we may “create several stories around what is happening, which can be harmful to us and also inaccurate.”

Instead, pause. Consider what you’d say to someone in the same situation. To a friend? To a Child? Are there any other perspectives on the situation? Find at least three alternate possibilities.

Live in The Present

Keep practicing present-moment living, not only by being able to accept the suffering part of life but also by being able to respond to the fun and learning experiences in life; whether they’re fun experiences with nature, events, people, animals or life experiences in general. You only live once (YOLO) is a very profound maxim, especially when you’re clear about what is essential in life.

Think Clearly

Use Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) with its emphasis on clear thinking, balanced feelings, and taking action. In response to intrusive thoughts or feelings, the first action step is to create pause or space to enable you to sense what is happening. Ask yourself, ‘Am I more irritable?’ Do I not want to see people?’ Am I not eating or sleeping sensibly?’ Giving up on my curiosity about trying things — exercise, hobbies, new experiences?’, ‘Am I not opening mail, using the telephone or checking emails?’ These may be your relapse signatures or fingerprints. These feelings will pass, sit with the anxiety, and it will gradually fade. It will give more quickly as you increase your tolerance for stress.

Be Open

Be open to your experiences — negative and positive — and don’t shut them down. It’s the continual connection with unresolved issues that brings both the unhelpful thoughts and feelings that destabilize you. Over time, you might notice shifts in your response — more awareness, ability to shift attention away, etc. This is the path to inner peace. You focus on what is important to you (what you value), stay in touch with the things that engage your attention (interests), absorb you (‘in the flow’) and help you regain your stability.

When you next feel yourself trying to avoid an uncomfortable emotion, try stopping what you are doing and inwardly (or outwardly if no-one is about) talking to the feeling, as if it is a real person. But be friendly. Be curious. Ask what it is all about. You may get some inner answers.

When we suppress our feelings, our emotions, we disconnect that link to our deeper selves. We are more than physical beings. We are energetic beings. And we need that energetic (or spiritual) nourishment to remain sane.

Some strong emotions can be challenging to deal with, while we are trying to juggle the chaos that makes up our daily lives. In these cases, instead of reaching for medication that numb all feelings, turn to homeopathic treatment. The effect is very different. Instead of numbing us, we find that external triggers no longer have the same impact on us; it’s as if the wire behind the button has been disconnected. We quickly, without effort, avoid the situations that cause us emotional distress.