Mental Health Basics: What Is Emotional Control and Dysregulation?

Understanding what emotional control means and how emotional dysregulation can both impact our mental health

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***Disclaimer: I am not a mental health professional. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only

Have you ever felt like your emotional reactions were out of control?

How about difficulty getting yourself to calm down when feeling overwhelmed or frustrated?

In our fast-paced society, feeling off balance and overwhelmed by strong emotions is common. If this is a regular occurrence for you, then learning more about emotional dysregulation could be helpful to understanding yourself better.

Let's explore what it means to have emotional control and dysregulation, starting with how we can recognize symptoms in ourselves.

What is Emotional Control?

Having control over our emotions is essential to our overall well-being. Emotional control is about regulating our emotions and our emotional reactions.

To have emotional control, we must first acknowledge and accept our emotions without feeling ashamed or judged. It may help to find a safe space and establish healthy boundaries so that we can express ourselves without fear of criticism or judgment.

Understanding yourself is aided greatly by the ability to control your emotions.Every emotion is triggered by a reason, and comprehending that can facilitate self-understanding.

Thinking about where our emotions stem from can help us understand why we feel what we are feeling. Feelings of overwhelming sadness or anger can be hard to manage. Suppressing or expressing our emotions recklessly can result in negative lasting consequences.

Stepping back and observing your emotions can help you see them from a different point of view. We do not always have control over our feelings, but we can control our reactions to what we are feeling. In fact, identifying and regulating our emotional responses allows flexibility and control over spontaneous reactions.

In the long term, emotional control is dealing with your emotions versus ignoring them. Your emotions are important, and what you feel is essential, but you should not allow your emotions to dictate your life.

What is Emotional Dysregulation?

Emotional dysregulation is the inability to control one's emotions, which is the opposite of emotional control. When emotions are dysregulated, they are feelings beyond one's control. Mood swings, an unstable mood, or severe fluctuations in mood are considered emotional dysregulation.

Emotional dysregulation in daily life can cause someone to be impolite to a restaurant server if they receive the wrong order or to struggle with insomnia due to distress caused by past events. While others who experience emotional dysregulation can experience it severely, such as using drugs and alcohol to cope with emotions or engaging in reckless behavior.

Understanding the causes of emotional dysregulation and how to manage it is essential. While emotional dysregulation can be caused by various factors, such as trauma, medical conditions, genetics, or even life stressors, there are ways to help regulate emotions.

Emotional dysregulation means having trouble managing or reacting to emotions suitably.

Emotional dysregulation can be a common sign of many mental health disorders. But emotional dysregulation is not the only indicator of a mental health disorder.

Whatever the case, emotional dysregulation can impact your personal life, relationships, self-care, and even your work.When you have an unstable mood, it can create an unstable environment that leads to a chain of problems in your life. If you are suffering from emotional dysregulation, seeking professional help from a doctor or licensed mental health therapist may be a good option.

Takeaways

In conclusion, emotional control and regulation are essential to achieving our goals and living a fulfilled life.

Creating awareness of being emotionally in control can help us identify moments when our emotions take charge. This can make practicing techniques that will help us regulate those emotions easier.

Lastly, emotional dysregulation can be addressed with professional help if necessary. With the proper guidance and counseling, we can all achieve balance by taking ownership of our feelings and ensuring they don’t take the driver’s seat. Learning how to emotionally regulate isn’t always easy. Still, it can be done if we practice patience and commitment with ourselves.

Here’s wishing all of you success in mastering your abilities to better your emotional health!

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Suggested Readings:

Gaining Resilience Through Support: How to Build Emotional Strength

Unplug To Recharge: How Physical Activity Can Impact Your Mental Health

Does Social Media Improve Mental Health? - The Pros & Cons

Mastering Stress: How Understanding Stress Levels Can Help Mental Health

As originally posted on ThatPsychNerd.com