Emotion is defined as a complex reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioral and physiological elements. This is according to the American Psychological Association (APA). Free-floating emotions, on the other hand, is a diffuse, generalized emotional state that does not appear to be associated with any specific cause. This is why we need to handle our emotions properly and accordingly.
Being able to regulate our emotions without suppressing or controlling them can greatly benefit us, our relationships, our moods, and our decision-making. While emotions can have a helpful role in your daily life, they can take a toll on your emotional health and interpersonal relationships when they start to feel out of control.
Tips on how to handle emotions
Healthline, outline some of the tips that will help us handle our emotions well.
Take a look at the impact of your emotions
It’s perfectly normal to experience some emotional overwhelm on occasion— when something wonderful happens when something terrible happens when you feel like you’ve missed out. So, what do you do when this happens? When emotions are not being handled properly it may lead to relationship or friendship conflict, trouble at work or home or even at school, the urge to use substances and other negative effects.
Aim for regulation, not repression
When learning to exercise control over emotions, make sure you aren’t just sweeping them under the rug. Healthy emotional expression involves finding some balance between overwhelming emotions and no emotions at all.
Identify what you’re feeling
Taking a moment to check in with yourself about your mood can help you begin gaining back control.
Accept your emotions — all of them
Accepting emotions as they come helps you get more comfortable with them. Increasing your comfort around intense emotions allows you to fully feel them without reacting in extreme, unhelpful ways.
Keep a mood journal
Journaling provides the most benefit when you do it daily. Keep your journal with you and jot down intense emotions or feelings as they happen. Try to note the triggers and your reaction. If your reaction didn’t help, use your journal to explore more helpful possibilities for the future.
Take a deep breath
Still, deep breathing exercises can help you ground yourself and take a step back from the first intense flash of emotion and any extreme reaction you want to avoid.
Know when to express yourself
Being mindful of your surroundings and the situation can help you learn when it’s OK to let feelings out and when you might want to sit with them for the moment.
Give yourself some space
This distance might be physical, like leaving an upsetting situation, for example. But you can also create some mental distance by distracting yourself.
Try meditation
Meditation can help you increase your awareness of all feelings and experiences. When you meditate, you’re teaching yourself to sit with those feelings, to notice them without judging yourself or attempting to change them or make them go away.
Stay on top of stress
Reducing stress, or finding more helpful ways to manage it, can help your emotions become more manageable.
Talk to a therapist
If your emotions continue to feel overwhelming, it may be time to seek professional support.
Acknowledge when you’re not feeling great. Emotional awareness is the process of recognizing and acknowledging your feelings. Having emotional awareness can equip you to properly manage and handle your emotions.
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