SMC Wellbeing
Dealing with emotions
Everyone has emotions, and it’s okay to let them show. However, it’s important to learn how to deal with them in order to live your life to the fullest and have a healthy mindset. Your emotions and how you deal with your emotions can vary depending on the circumstances in your life at any given time.
What’s okay and what is not okay:
Everyone feels different types of emotions at some point. Whether this is joy, anger, fear, sadness,etc. It tends to be normal to have one-off anxious, terror, depressed feelings when something very bad happens. However when you feel these emotions on a regular basis (and often for no big/significant reason) and it is affecting your day to day life, then it is time to reach out for help and support.
Things you can do to help deal with emotions:
Don’t be afraid to seek help - It’s okay to ask for help if you feel like you are struggling to deal with emotions, most teenagers talk to a counselor/professional about what they are going through at some point.
Identify the source of difficult emotions - This can help because then you can know what area of your life you can improve in or figuring out what negative things you need to cut out.
Breathing/relaxation techniques, meditation or prayer - Sometimes focusing on something you can control can help you feel centred, in control and less stressed. This may make you feel more refreshed and ready to cope with what is going on.
Physically throwing the negative thought away - It sounds silly, but try writing down all the emotions and things you are struggling with. Then scrunch it up and throw the paper away as hard as you can. Picture all those emotions on the paper thrown away too.
Talk to a friend - Sometimes it’s easier to talk to someone that doesn’t know you as well as a family member as they aren’t clouded by things that have happened to you in the past. However, just remember there is certain things that you should tell your family about and they are always there to support you.
Write down what you are feeling and why - When you are struggling to deal with your emotions, you can often start to get worked up, start to overthink things and struggle to deal with them. By writing them down, you can express and let go of those emotions in a safe and healthy way. It can also help pinpoint specific emotions you are struggling with so you know what to work on and what to change in your life.
Keep busy with things you like doing (hobbies) - It is good to focus on the things you love instead of things that make you struggle with your emotions. Hobbies can take your mind off things and they can be used as a way to release negative emotions
Seek a support system - It is crucial to have a good, secure support system whether you need or don’t need it currently, it is always good to know what people you can count on. This could be friends, family, professionals, etc.
Seek professional help - Although friends, peers, and family are great to talk to, sometimes it is best to talk to a counselor, psychiatrist, doctor, etc about how you’re feeling as they know how you are feeling from a professional level and often can help you more than a friend or family member could as they have experience. It is completely normal to go and see a counselor, doctor, psychiatrist etc because nearly all teenagers go and seek professional help/guidance at least once in their lives.
Positive vs negative emotions:
Think of your mindset on a spectrum:
It is important to have a healthy balance of positive and negative emotions. If you have too many positive emotions, it’s possible that you can become out of touch with reality and naive about the world we live in. However if you have too many negative emotions this can cause many problems such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and isolation. Both ends of the scale can cause you to not be able to live your life to the fullest and both are not a healthy mindset. It is important to have a balance of both so that you can build resilience and have a healthy mindset.
Apps that help dealing with emotions:
Apps are a great way to help your emotions, they are easily accessible and often free.
Smiling Mind is a great app that teaches students how to meditate. This app guides meditations for various lengths and offered an emotions tracker before and after meditations. It can be used on or offline.
Mitra is a great app to help students track their values and emotions. Each day, you record and rate your emotions and values, by how you feel and what is important to you. This helps you notice changes and what’s gone right and wrong.
This awesome app gives you tools to manage anxious feelings and identify the triggers so you can prevent them in the future. It can help you to have a stronger mindset and build resilience using numerous techniques.
Happify uses games and tools to help you reach your emotional and mental goals. These tools can help you conquer negative thoughts, increase optimism, managing stress, and overall help you deal with your emotions better.
Helplines:
Helplines can often be a good way to talk to someone about how you’re feeling, not knowing who your talking to can often help you open up and get to the root of your problem. They can be used no matter what you’re feeling, anytime, any place.
These help lines are specific to youths up to the age of 18:
Youthline - 0800 376 633, free text to 234
What’s up - 0800 942 8787
Kidsline 0800 54 37 54
These help lines are also great:
Lifeline - 0800 543 354
Suicide Helpline - 0508 828 865
Healthline - 0800 611 116
