Emotional Stress

SUMMARY

Humans are emotional beings and not robots. You respond to things emotionally. You make decisions on emotion. Navigating your relationships with others can often be very emotional and stressful.

Your emotions are present in every waking moment of your day, so while some people subscribe to the myth that talking about emotions is just warm and fuzzy, or labeling them ‘soft skills’, is ridiculous. Emotional stress can be particularly painful, challenging to deal with, and can take more of a toll that many other forms of stress. So, learning to be aware of your emotions, and have healthy strategies to manage your behaviour, is paramount in the quest to reduce and manage your stress.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

The inability to understand and manage your emotions is a major issue in today’s fast-paced, superficially connected world.

Hi, this Grant Herbert and I want to continue our conversation around stress this week by taking a look at one of the crucial areas you need to get on top of if you are to reduce and manage your stress, and that’s how you navigate your emotions.

Let’s be really clear. Humans are emotional beings and not robots.

You respond to things emotionally. You make decisions on emotion.

Navigating your relationships with others can often be very emotional and stressful. Your emotions are present in every waking moment of your day, so while some people subscribe to the myth that talking about emotions is just warm and fuzzy, or labeling them ‘soft skills’, is ridiculous.

Some people even believe that they can check their emotions in at the door when they get to work and only work on logic. That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. It is literally impossible to do that. You are an emotional being.

When we are out of whack emotionally, our thoughts can lead us to react and behave erratically. This can cause you to feel more anxious, fearful, anguish and worried. This adds to your stress levels and can become quite disruptive and debilitating in daily life. Emotional stress can be particularly painful, challenging to deal with, and can take more of a toll that many other forms of stress.

So, learning to be aware of your emotions, and have healthy strategies to manage your behaviour, is paramount in the quest to reduce and manage your stress. Perhaps one of the more challenging aspects of coping with emotional stress is the feeling of being unable to change the situation. If you can't change your stress levels by eliminating the stressful situation, you can certainly work on your emotional response to it.

Here are some exercises you can use to help you reduce your emotional stress:

• Practice Mindfulness. When you feel emotional stress, go deeper into the experience and use mindfulness to really notice where these emotional responses are felt physically.
• Distract Yourself. Distracting yourself from emotional pain with emotionally healthy alternatives — such as a feel-good movie or fun activities with friends, can lessen emotional pain.
• Take Some Time Out. Try scheduling some time — an hour a day, perhaps — where you allow yourself to think about your situation fully and brainstorm possible solutions.
• Practice Meditation. Meditation is very helpful for dealing with a variety of stressors. It allows you to take a break from rumination by actively redirecting your thoughts.
• Talk to a Professional. If you find your level of emotional stress interfering with your daily activities, you may consider seeing a therapist for help.

Whatever the cause of your emotional stress, you can work toward reducing and managing it and feeling better in the process, without losing the supportive 'messages' that your emotions are bringing you.

That’s it from me this week. Join me again next week when we keep the conversation going around the benefits of self-care. See you next week!