Inside Out | Navigating Emotional Dysregulation.
by Hayley Ratcliffe & Marinela Trickett
Although a fictional story and not accurate to everyone’s experiences, Inside Out and Inside Out 2 sequel, are good conceptualization of what happens when emotions become out of control. We may not have a Bing-bong saving our Joy, but we do have emotions, memories, and parts of our personality that all interact with one another.
In the first film, there are depictions of the emotional centres of various characters. Yes, it is typical for all of us to experience primary and secondary emotions. They are two emotional reactions occurring within fractions of a second of one another. Primary emotions are the informational system we have for our needs, meeting those needs and is how we survive and thrive; secondary emotions are learned responses based on the environmental input. The film depicts probably the most common secondary emotion, anger.
Another emotional regulation issue people can struggle with is intellectualizing emotions. This is another reason why it is beneficial to understand the root of your emotions and the need that they are communicating to us to meet. Intellectualization becomes a problem when someone does not allow time and space to process their emotions and quickly shifts predominantly to cognitive explanations and conceptualization of the world. This can cause emotional disconnect or emotions that boil over.
Why do these concepts matter? you may ask. Well, because emotions are an important part of who we are as a specie, and by not allowing ourselves to feel and process our emotions they become harder to deal with when they do arise, or we may become so disconnected from them we are unable to process what we are feeling at all. While working with clients we often bring the metaphor of emotions being like muscles, we need to “work them” to have them work. Sometimes at first glance it may sound beneficial not dealing with emotions. What is common when people avoid experiencing their emotions is that it can lead to larger issues like an anxiety disorder, depression, etc.
By working on experiencing your primary emotions can help prevent larger issues down the line and prevent you from becoming overwhelmed. Emotions are essential in living a fulfilling life. By learning balance and using mindfulness in everyday life we can prevent many issues from arising and be more present with ourselves and those around us.
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