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Emotional regulation is the ability to manage and control your emotions in a healthy way, even during challenging or stressful situations. It's an important skill to have because it allows you to respond to situations in a calm, confident, and effective way, rather than reacting impulsively or in a way that could be harmful to yourself or others.Please explain emotional (self) regulation to me like I'm someone who totally lacks this skill because I didn't learn it due to childhood trauma.
Can you explain this by giving me two examples? One where a person feels sad due to a trigger and one where a person feels angry due to a trigger.Normally, your brain's prefrontal cortex, which controls decision-making and impulse control, helps you manage and regulate that emotion, so you can respond appropriately.
Sure, here are two examples of how triggers can cause emotional reactions and how emotional regulation can help manage those reactions:Can you explain this by giving me two examples? One where a person feels sad due to a trigger and one where a person feels angry due to a trigger.
Emotional regulation is different from ignoring or repressing emotions because it emphasizes acknowledging, accepting, and dealing with emotions in a healthy way, whereas ignoring and repressing emotions could lead to negative consequences.How is this different to ignoring or repressing your emotions?
It's worth noting that there is nothing inherently wrong with crying when feeling sad. Crying is a natural response to emotions that has been shown to help relieve stress and provide emotional release. However, when it comes to managing emotions, it's important to choose a reaction that is helpful and sustainable.In the example you gave above about sadness, why is talking to a friend a more appropriate reaction than crying?
It sounds like you have had difficult experiences as a child that have impacted the way you learned to manage your emotions. Repressing and ignoring emotions can become an ingrained behavior, and as a consequence, it can be difficult for people to adopt new approaches towards emotional regulation that involve acknowledging and expressing emotions in a healthy way.So, during childhood trauma, I was taught to repress and ignore my emotions. I feel like crying when I'm sad is important to me, because more "appropriate" responses like talking to a friend is too much like doing the supress and ignore technique that I was taught as a child.
Processing or dealing with an emotion like sadness or anger often involves acknowledging the emotion and understanding the reasons behind it. Processing an emotion may include talking to someone about it, writing about it, or engaging in an activity that helps to express or manage the emotion. For example, if someone is feeling sad, they may process that emotion by talking to a therapist or a friend, or they may find comfort in a creative outlet like painting or listening to music.What does it feel like to "process" or to "deal with" an emotion like sadness or anger? To people feel genuinely better afterwards?