Understanding Emotional Regulation: A Key To Mental Well-Being
Understanding Emotional Regulation: A Key to Mental Well-Being
Emotional regulation is a vital skill that allows us to manage our emotional responses. The key to emotional regulation is to recognize, understand, and regulate our feelings in a way that is adaptive and constructive. The following will explore what emotional regulation is, why it matters, and how you can improve your mental health through different techniques.
What Is Emotional Regulation?
Simply put, emotional regulation involves our ability to cope with the emotions we experience. The first step to emotional regulation is awareness. Awareness is the ability to recognize your emotions when they arise. Second is understanding. Understanding where our emotions are coming from (aka, our triggers). Lastly, management. Management is how we respond or manage our emotions, whether it is appropriate and healthy or inappropriate and unhealthy.
Another way to think about it: emotional regulation is not about suppressing or denying emotions; rather, it’s about processing them and responding thoughtfully. Suppressing or denying our emotions would fall under the category of emotional dysregulation.
Why Does Emotional Regulation Matter?
Emotional regulation is important for a variety of reasons, including that it can enhance our relationship with others and it significantly contributes to our mental health and overall well-being. Regulating our emotions helps us communicate better and respond respectfully to others, leading to healthier relationships. In addition, emotional regulation can improve our mental health. According to the National Library of Medicine (2022), poor emotional regulation can be symptomatic of other mental health disorders, such as anxiety, depression, substance use, eating patterns, etc. When we are able to develop adaptive emotional regulation techniques, we are able to more effectively handle life’s challenges. Overall, improving our emotional regulation promotes our well-being by being able to experience greater life satisfaction and happiness. This is a result of knowing how to enjoy positive experiences and what to do when we have negative experiences.
How to Improve Emotional Regulation for Better Mental Health
One of the biggest aspects we can do for ourselves when it comes to emotional regulation is acknowledge our triggers, thus, increasing awareness of ourselves and how we respond to various situations. Once we have an idea of what our triggers are, we can take the time to set realistic goals for ourselves and how we would like to respond in those situations. Some of the techniques we can try when we are starting to feel dysregulated include: mindfulness, healthy self talk, engaging in self care, developing healthy coping skills, and seeking professional support.
Examples of mindfulness include deep breathing and meditation, while coping skills may include physical activity, talking to someone or even doing something creative. Helpful self talk allows you to acknowledge what you are thinking or feeling and then countering that with something that is helpful to hear. For example, “even though this is really hard, I will do the best I can.” Engaging in self care simply means caring for yourself: showering, getting physical exercise, brushing your teeth, etc. Sometimes practicing things does not feel like it’s enough. If this is the case for you, it may be time to reach out to receive professional help. Receiving professional support can help you identify what may be getting in the way of these skills being effective for you, as well as working together with your therapist to find other coping strategies that are effective for you!
Conclusion
Emotional regulation is a vital skill that can significantly impact your mental health and overall quality of life. The benefits to healthy emotional regulation include improved relationships, improving mental health and having an improved standard of our overall well-being. If you find that you are struggling to find healthy ways to express your emotions, please reach out to schedule an intake call or initial intake assessment by clicking the link below. Exodus Counseling Center is here to help!
https://exoduscounselingcenter.janeapp.com/
References:
Menefee, D. S., Ledoux, T., & Johnston, C. A. (2022). The Importance of Emotional Regulation in Mental Health. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 16(1), 28–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276211049771
