How to Stop Struggling With Anxiety and Intense Emotions 5/30 How to Process Emotions | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Many people inadvertently make their emotions worse by struggling against them, judging them, and avoiding them, leading to a perpetuation of negative feelings and potential long-term consequences.

Key Insights

• 🦈 People often make their anxiety and other emotions worse by trying to avoid or suppress them, leading to a vicious cycle of heightened emotions.
• 🖌️ Skill Share offers a variety of classes, including a course on designing the life you want, providing tools for self-reflection and personal growth.
• 🌪️ Anxiety attacks can be triggered by stress, and struggling against these emotions can exacerbate the symptoms.
• 🛑 Emotional suppression is not an effective long-term strategy, as emotions need to be processed and resolved.
• 💪 Avoidance tactics, such as distraction or numbing, only temporarily mask emotions and can lead to more severe problems in the future.
• 💔 Judging emotions as "good" or "bad" hinders the process of working through them and can contribute to depression and anxiety.
• ♀️ Negotiating with emotions or catastrophizing can lead to despair and hopelessness, rather than productive action.
• 🔄 Constantly checking symptoms or distracting oneself from emotions can reinforce their importance and make them louder.
• 📲 It is important to drop the struggle with emotions and try alternative approaches, such as emotion processing and willingness.

Transcript

Imagine this for a moment, I have you hooked up to  monitors that measure your anxiety, they can tell   when your anxiety increases with perfect precision.   You also happen to be strapped to a chair, sitting   on a trapdoor, over a shark tank, filled with very  hungry sharks. You're perfectly safe in the moment,  but then I come in and I tell you... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: Why do people often make their emotions worse by struggling against them?

People often make their emotions worse by struggling against them because they have been taught that emotions are negative or need to be avoided. This judgment and avoidance only serve to perpetuate the intensity of the emotions.

Q: What are some common ways in which people avoid or suppress their emotions?

Some common ways in which people avoid or suppress their emotions include distracting themselves, numbing their emotions, clenching their muscles to prevent tears or physical sensations, and engaging in addictive behaviors such as drugs, alcohol, or excessive shopping.

Q: How can processing emotions help in resolving intense feelings?

Processing emotions involves acknowledging, validating, and exploring one's emotions without judgment or avoidance. This process allows individuals to understand the underlying causes of their emotions and work through them effectively, leading to resolution and a reduction in intensity.

Q: What is willingness, and how does it contribute to better emotional well-being?

Willingness is the willingness to feel and experience all emotions without trying to escape or suppress them. By practicing willingness, individuals can learn to allow their emotions to be present without judgment or resistance, leading to a healthier relationship with their emotions and overall better emotional well-being.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• When we fight and struggle against our thoughts and emotions, we tend to make them worse.

• Avoidance, judgment, and suppression are common ways in which people inadvertently make their emotions more intense.

• By learning skills such as processing emotions and practicing willingness, individuals can break the cycle of struggling with their emotions and find peace and happiness in their lives.