Breathe
By Laura Carrera
At some point in our daily lives we experience anxiety, worry, anguish, sadness and stress. Generally, we are able to manage these emotions; however, our environment, our circumstances and the demands of modern life can lead us to live in a state of uncontrolled emotions and under constant stress.
This is emotional chaos, i.e., a state of inner turbulence and emotional disorder where we experience uncontrolled, frequently changing emotions of great intensity. We feel overwhelmed by feelings and have difficulty managing emotions appropriately and sometimes react disproportionately.
Today, many of us live with some level of emotional chaos due to the events in our lives; however, we often don't realize it because we take most of our experiences for granted.
For example, we have normalized the chaos we experience on public transportation or in everyday traffic and the dozens of memes or violent stories that flood social networks, or the violence on the news. We sit for hours watching violent movies and series. And, in addition, at this moment we experience a normalization of violence in electoral processes.
In the personal sphere, we all put pressure on ourselves to perform better and to achieve academic, professional, economic and personal success.
Over time, this pressure can lead to chronic stress, anxiety and feelings of inadequacy or failure. Persistent stress, which seems to have no clear cause, overwhelms us, but we do not know how to identify it or think we can handle it.
In some cases, environmental and social stressors act as catalysts or amplifiers of pre-existing emotional difficulties and, in others, may be the direct cause of new emotional or mental health problems.
What are the factors that can lead to emotional chaos?
First, an overload of information and stimuli. Constant exposure to social networks and news sources absorbs us to such a degree that we do not realize that we overload our processing capacity, and this causes mental and emotional fatigue.
On the other hand, we live in an environment of economic uncertainty, rapid technological changes and global crises, pandemics and national and international conflicts that generate a constant state of alert and anxiety that aggravates stress and greatly affects our emotional stability.
We have difficulty establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life, especially with the increase in telecommuting, and this also leads to burnout and stress.
We are experiencing a decline in community spaces, and some families are experiencing the weakening of family and social ties. Unfortunately, this leaves many people without essential support networks for managing stress and emotions.
Another source of anxiety and concern is the growing awareness of environmental problems and their potential future impacts, especially among younger generations.
And despite being more "connected" than ever through technology, we experience a sense of isolation and loneliness, a risk factor that generates mental health problems.
In the long run, emotional chaos generates misunderstandings and conflicts in interactions with friends, family and colleagues at work. Not to mention the impact it has on physical health, including sleep disturbances, headaches, digestive problems, and so on.
In response, we may engage in avoidance behavior, so as not to trigger negative emotions, or confrontational behavior, as a way of releasing all this pent-up tension. And then we are overwhelmed by feelings of loneliness and isolation because when we live in emotional chaos we feel that no one understands us.
Emotional dysregulation can manifest itself in a number of ways, including excessive or inappropriate emotional reactions, difficulty calming negative emotions, inability to inhibit emotional impulses, or the inability to access appropriate coping strategies in times of stress.
What can we do? The important thing is to become aware of the situations that contribute to this emotional chaos and that we need strategies and techniques to have mental clarity, manage emotions and face daily challenges with peace and tranquility.
We need to regulate ourselves emotionally. I am referring to the ability to experience and manage our emotions and how we express them in order to respond to experiences in a healthy and socially acceptable way.
So, to cope with these challenges and minimize their impact on emotional well-being, it is critical to develop healthy coping strategies, such as learning to manage our time and handle stress, setting healthy boundaries with work and technology, and seeking meaningful connections and support in the community.
For those who feel overwhelmed, a fundamental step is to seek support from emotional health professionals, attend workshops, exercise, meditation courses and other strategies that we find useful to manage our emotions.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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