Vent. Reflect. Resolve. Writing Is Good for Your Emotional Health.

How do you express yourself when your emotions are hot? Do you yell, cuss, stamp your feet or slam doors?

Throwing a fit may feel like a release in the moment, but it can leave you feeling worse, or doing damage control on relationships.

On the other hand, bottling up strong emotions is no good either. Emotions are energy, and energy cannot be destroyed, only converted. Strong feelings unexpressed will soak into your energy system and cause more problems later. It’s like spilling red wine on the couch. You better get it up quick or it may never come out!

Vent, Reflect, Think Positive, & Resolve for Your Emotional Health

Getting cut off in traffic. Receiving that raging email. None of us like to have things like that happen. But when they do, how do you handle it? Do you smile and hope it all just goes away? While it might blow over sometimes, other times that’s just not enough.

When you are in a highly charged emotional state, you have to express your feelings. Otherwise they will soak into your energy system, causing more problems later and making it tougher to get them out. It’s kind of like spilling red wine on the couch. You better get it up right away or it is most likely never coming out!

Release Repressed Emotions to Feel Better Fast

Have you stopped to think how much your emotions influence your health and well-being? I discovered this myself in very dramatic fashion about 15 years ago.

Like many women, I was exhausted, frazzled, and over-committed while caring for my family — but I wasn’t caring for myself. I kept pushing hard, and pushing down my emotions. Depression and apathy had a grip on me that I couldn’t shake. I did not realize how much I was suppressing my feelings until it hit me like a lightning bolt one day.

Being the one people always turn to is a blessing, but take steps to protect yourself

Do sad movies make you really sad? Do you pick up on the emotions of people around you? Do you often take things to heart, and seem to feel things more deeply than others? If you answer yes, chances are you are an empath.

Empaths are those who easily absorb the emotions of people and situations around them. They tend to get caught up in these feelings and may even have trouble distinguishing their emotions from those of others.

Being an empath can be exhausting because you are always picking up on what others feel, whether it is positive or negative emotions. Because you are probably a “great listener” and empathize well, people feel free to tell you about their troubles and feelings. This may trigger strong feelings of your own, or put you in the uncomfortable position of being caught between friends in disagreements when they both come to you.

Phillip walked into my office with his wife, his head down.

“Hi,” he said in a muffled voice.

“He’s shy,” his wife said apologetically.

“That’s okay,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you both. Have a seat.”

Phillip continued his reclusive demeanor, hunching down in the chair, his arm and legs crossed. He darted a glance in my direction and then hugged himself a little tighter. He was nervous and ashamed of being there. Another therapist. Please, not another one.

His wife patted him on the leg. “This is hard for him. He doesn’t like to talk about what happened. But it affects him every day. It’s affecting us. He’s not the same since he’s been back.”

I sat for a moment and just smiled at Phillip while his wife opened her purse and pulled out a Ziplock bag of medication. “This is everything they have him on. I don’t think any of it really helps.” I could hear the desperation in her voice.

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks for letting me know.”

This only made Phillip sink deeper into his chair.