People are sometimes unable to control their emotions and their responses can be inappropriate and disruptive given the setting or situation. Anxiety, anger, fear, or sadness are some of the emotions a person may feel, and being unable to control them can be temporary. Every now and then it can be caused by a lack of sleep or a drop in blood sugar.
However, many people suffer from a constant inability to control their emotions due to a chronic condition. It’s important to recognize the moment to seek help, because this problem may severely affect your day-to-day life.
What Are Emotional Outbursts?
Emotional outbursts, or emotional lability, are rapid changes in an emotional expression, and they occur when a person is experiencing strong or exaggerated feelings. This is often a neurological condition, and it frequently affects people who already suffer from a pre-existing condition. Emotional outbursts can also happen to people who have suffered from brain injuries or stroke, or people with mental conditions, such as borderline personality disorder. Professionals at energeticsinstitute.com.au explain that sudden irritability or angry outbursts can be a red flag for you to seek professional help, as well as feeling angry, crying, or laughing without any particular reason. The causes for these emotions can vary but many of the conditions require long-term treatments to help people control their emotions in a better way. Here is a list of conditions associated with this problem:
- ADHD
- Autism
- Alcohol use
- Antisocial personality disorder
- Bipolar disorder
- Asperger’s syndrome
- Diabetes
- Misuse of drugs
- Head injury
- Postpartum depression
- PTSD
- Psychoses
- Schizophrenia
- Low blood sugar
Seeking medical help is essential, but the good news is that you can help yourself and learn to control your emotions with some practice. This article will provide some pointers to get you started.
1. Take A Look At The Impact Of Your Emotions
Emotions make our lives unique and exciting and intense emotions aren’t all bad. An occasional emotional overwhelm is perfectly normal to experience when something wonderful or terrible happens. But if your emotions get out of hand regularly maybe you have a problem. It may create trouble at work or school, difficulty to relate to others, conflicts in relationships, or an urge to use substances to help manage your emotions.
Take your time to analyze how your uncontrolled emotions are affecting your daily life. Experts suggest writing a journal and tracking your success. Writing everything down and talking about it with your therapist will make it easier to identify problem areas.
2. Aim For Regulation, Not Repression
Finding a balance is crucial for your mental health. You don’t want to switch off your emotions entirely, but you also don’t want them to feel overwhelming all the time. Many people who suffer from emotional outbursts tend to repress their emotions in order to control them. This process usually happens on unconscious levels and often contributes to health symptoms, such as:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Sleep problems
- Muscle tension
- Substance misuse
While learning to control your emotions, make sure you aren’t just repressing them and sweeping them under the rug. Finding a balance is a key to healthy emotional expression.
3. Take A Deep Breath
Deep breathing exercises are more popular nowadays than ever and they are proven to be very powerful. You can find them online, on YouTube, or install an app on your smartphone. Slowing down your breath and paying attention to it won’t make your emotions disappear, but it will help you ground and take a step back. Studies have shown that breathing exercises can help you calm down and control the intense flashes of emotions and extreme reactions.
So, the next time you feel an emotional outburst is coming, it’s time to take control.
- Breathe slowly into your belly. Deep breaths don’t come from your chest, but the diaphragm. Visualize your breath going deep into your belly.
- Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold it for a count of 4 and exhale for 8 seconds. If this is difficult for you try beginning with 2 seconds inhale, 2 seconds hold, and 4 seconds exhale and increase it in time.
- Consider a mantra. Therapists recommend sentences like “I am relaxed” or “I am calm”.
- If you are into yoga, try practicing pranayama. It is a meditative technique that can help you relax in just a few minutes. Pranayama is a Sanskrit word that loosely translates to “control of breath”. If you are a beginner try the “Alternate nostril breathing” (Nadi Shodhana), “Ocean Breath” (Ujjayi Pranayama), or the “Three-part breath”. As you gain more experience try the famous “Breath of fire” (Kapalabhati Pranayama), a common practice in Kundalini Yoga known for its great effectiveness in controlling negative emotions.
When you spend some time talking to a therapist and practicing these useful techniques you will feel a big difference. You are not alone in this problem and there are many ways to get better. Try thinking positively and enjoy the journey. There is nothing more important than taking care of yourself! Be gentle and patient, love yourself, and be persistent. We guarantee the results will come.
