February 8, 2023

How to avoid emotional overload?

Mexico City, February 8, 2023 .— A young patient recently came to see me because she had been feeling unwell for several months: “I’m tired, but even when I sleep, I don’t feel any better. Everything makes me angry, and I feel overwhelmed; when I look at my to-do list, it seems endless, and I’m worried I won’t be able to meet my obligations.”

After evaluating her and ruling out any psychiatric issues, my initial impression was that this was a very common situation these days: a person living at a fast pace and exposed to various factors in her environment that caused her to lose her composure and, due to a lack of time or effective strategies, fail to manage her emotions properly on a day-to-day basis.

Given that we have a limited capacity for emotional processing, it is quite likely that a sort of “bottleneck” frequently occurs in our minds, where unmanaged emotions build up and lead to a need to express them; sometimes in the form of physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and muscle tension, and at other times in more erratic ways, such as outbursts of anger, crying spells, or anxiety attacks, which can even pose a threat to our mental stability.

Understanding the Mind

In simple terms and for illustrative purposes, we could compare mental life to what happens inside a volcano. Inside its chamber, high-temperature magma is contained, building up pressure and revealing its presence only occasionally through minor explosions or fumaroles that release some of the pressure accumulated within. This valve-like effect prevents a volcano, even when active, from experiencing major explosions or potentially destructive eruptions.

Just as we cannot contain an erupting volcano, it is impossible to deny the presence and dominance of emotions in our daily lives. It is important to understand, with compassion and self-respect, that we are sentient human beings and that it is common for emotions to permeate our experiences.

Sometimes we have pleasant experiences that fill us with joy, gratitude, or peace. However, we also recognize that, more often than we would like, we experience emotions such as anger, sadness, or fear. There are no good or bad emotions. They are all expressions of our emotional life: one of the ways the mind reacts to the experience of being alive, with all that it entails.

How to avoid emotional overload?

Strategies for Emotional Release

There are different ways to avoid emotional overload, and different strategies may work for different people. All of them are simple and accessible. You might find it helpful to engage in calm activities such as reading, listening to music, or going for a walk. Some people turn to artistic activities as a means of emotional expression. Others seek out physical activities, such as going to the gym, walking, or lifting weights. There are those who find emotional release through their spiritual life, through a connection with the transcendent, and through prayer or meditation.

Perhaps that is why the best and most effective way to manage our emotions is to express them as consciously and deliberately as possible. There doesn’t necessarily have to be an interlocutor, since expression can occur even in solitary activities, such as writing down what we think or feel. However, it is through connection with others that this circuit of emotional communication is completed: when someone in front of us conveys that they are present and reacts with empathy to our feelings.

Often, when we feel overwhelmed, we turn to that special someone , and even though we don’t necessarily expect an answer or an explanation for what we’re going through, simply having someone listen to us without judgment and be there for us can be an incredibly comforting experience.

The fast pace of modern life can make it harder for us to take the time to talk with the people we care about and who care about us—and, even more so, to delve into intimate aspects of our lives, such as our emotional well-being. It takes an active and intentional effort to carve out that time in our schedules so we can better balance our lives and our relationships.

A valuable and safe way to avoid emotional overload is to seek help from mental health professionals. Within the safe and confidential setting of the therapeutic relationship, they are trained to help us identify what we are feeling, pinpoint the conflicts and irrational beliefs underlying certain emotions, and suggest strategies to better manage our emotions.

Finally, we must remember that sometimes our emotional life can cause such distress and suffering that simply talking about it isn’t enough to bring us relief. We may be dealing with a mood or anxiety disorder and need more specific treatment.

If necessary, let’s seek help right away. It’s not a good idea to wait until the situation gets worse. Taking care of our mental health is an act of healthy self-care and will allow us to greatly improve our quality of life and that of those around us.