Have you ever been told that you often overreact?
Has anyone avoided telling you something because they thought you’d get “too upset?”
Anger, sadness, frustration, and irritability are all normal, expected responses to stress. They are also part of the human experience, in the same way that joy, excitement, and contentment are.
However, when we have a poor ability to manage these expected emotional responses or keep them within an acceptable range of typical responses, we are experiencing emotion dysregulation.
Many factors in our lives can contribute to emotion dysregulation such as: our biology and genetics, mental health diagnoses (Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety, Autism Spectrum Disorder), behaviors learned from people around us, and traumatic experiences.
Do you have anxiety?
- Our own biology and autonomic nervous system, as well as techniques to self-regulate.
- How thoughts, emotions and behaviors are all connected, and how adjusting one changes the others.
- How to recognize and cope with triggers.
- Experiential, guided trauma therapies such as somatic experiencing or EMDR.
- Referrals to trusted colleagues and providers such as massage therapists, nutritionists, acupuncturists, dance/movement, or art therapists.
There is rarely just one solution to something so complex as human emotion!
Emotion dysregulation feels confusing and awful for the person experiencing it. It can be equally confusing and frightening for the people around them. Starting therapy and taking responsibility for your emotions and behaviors is a courageous, smart, first step.
With therapy you will gain new knowledge and put that knowledge into practice, which in turn will improve your relationship others. And you will feel better about yourself.
