Emotional stress can be caused by various triggers such as relationship failures, bad working conditions, demise of loved ones, accidents, etc., forcing people to take recourse to unhealthy coping techniques like binge drinking and taking drugs. Emotional stress cannot be cured overnight, though there are ways that help in substantially reducing its impact.
Undergoing the Stress Physically
When a person undergoes emotional stress, he/she also experiences physical pain as part of that stress like having intense palpitation in the chest, an unsettling or discomforting feeling in stomach and a dreary headache. An effort to escape these feelings is a common tactic employed by most of the people undergoing emotional stress but going deeper into the experience and locating where these emotional responses are felt physically can actually help in countering the problem. Many people have noticed that their physical pain intensifies just before dissipating, but then they experience a feeling of complete relief once the pain dissipates in its entirety. This process of locating the origin of oneâs bodily pain is called âmindfulness.â
Diverting oneself from disturbing thoughts
It was believed previously that if people do not express their every emotion they would manifest themselves in other ways. To an extent, the above premise is true that there are benefits of evaluating our emotional states to learn from what our emotions are trying to tell us, instead of dislocating unattended emotions in pursing unwholesome behaviors (like drinking alcohol to mute emotional pain) that contributes to other social and psychological problems. However, it has also been found that following emotionally healthy alternatives like watching feel-good movies, indulging in joyful activities with friends, or pursuing holistic mental challenges, can divert the suffering personâs attention to constructive things and help lessen emotional pain feel better.
Thinking off your emotions
If emotional stress and ruminations are intruding into a personâs general awareness too frequently, and the art of distraction fails, they must try arranging some time maybe an hour every day, to allow themselves to think about their situation in totality and brainstorm over solutions, think up hypothetical possibilities, remember upsetting exchanges, or whatever else they feel the emotional urge to do. Journaling or maintaining diaries are a great technique to try especially if they are used for discovering both oneâs subconscious self and locating potential solutions. After fully immersing oneâs self into their respective problem, they should take recourse to trying some healthy distractions. This technique works well for two reasons namely:
1. If one is entwined in the urge to obsess, this habit allows them to satisfy their craving in a limited and regulated context.
2. They may find themselves feeling more stress free in the remaining of the day because of the awareness that there will be a time to focus on their emotional situation at a later time.
Consulting a Specialist
If it is found that a personâs degree of emotional stress is interfering too much with their daily activities or hampering their well being in other ways, they may consider the option of consulting a therapist for guidance on working through emotional issues. Whatever the cause of a personâs emotional stress, they can always work towards reducing it to manageable levels and also feel better in the process, without failing to decipher the meaning of the ‘messages’ that these emotions convey. Therefore, if a person is suffering from chronic emotional stress, it is always advisable to consult to a therapist or a psychologist.
Practicing Spirituality, Meditation and Contentment
In yesteryears, it was a common observation that people were much happier and contented with their lives than their present day counterparts. An important reason for such happiness lies in the fact that during those times people were more spiritual and connected to their roots, customs and traditions. This connection proved to be the necessary shock absorber as people always had something to fall back on during their moments of adversity. On the contrary, these daysâ people hardly have any interest in spirituality and religious teachings. But research has time and again showed that leading a spiritual life makes people more flexible in adjusting with situations and a sense of contentment always prevails. Therefore, generating some interest in spirituality and individual religions always helps in countering personal setbacks and failures.
Meditation on the other hand, is also a very useful habit in dealing with a variety of stressors, and emotional stress does fall in the category of stressors that meditation caters to. Meditation allows the human mind to take a break from ruminating by actively redirecting their thoughts, and provides practice in selecting thoughts, that substantially helps in eliminating emotional stress in the long term
