Emotional Health

Everybody seems to focus on the importance of physical health; is emotional health important?

This is an excellent question and I am pleased you asked! Do you know why? Because there is a strong relationship between the two—if one is out of sync, the other is likely to follow suit. And the research shows us that the immune system may mediate that relationship.

Let me explain. There is indeed so much focus on the need to look after our physical health. We do need to look at our diet and exercise regimes, and we do need regular health checks and screenings—for breasts, teeth, moles, and so on....after all, life is for living, and no one wants to be sick or in pain. But what about how we feel? There seems to be less awareness of the need for stable emotional health, because people are not always aware of the corresponding ramifications on physical health. Indeed, how we process our emotions is a key aspect of coping well with life, but we know that if you have a compromised immune system, you may not fare as well. For example, I am sure you can recall a time when you were physically unwell—but think about how your mood was at that time also—perhaps it caused you to feel irritable, down, or anxious? Now think of a time when you felt overwhelmed, stressed, or mentally exhausted. How did you feel physically? Did you have aches and pains? Headaches? Sleeping difficulties? Perhaps you felt a cold or flu coming on? Our physical immune system is our body’s first line of defence against various threats to health. For instance, when we are hit by the flu, catch a stomach bug, or graze a knee, then at a very simplistic level, multiple cells may gather together at the site of injury or infection and fight to heal us or make us well. But what about if we are attacked by a verbal comment? Damaged by criticism? Or harmed by years of being put down by someone? What backs us up then? One theory which has gained credence is that of an emotional immune system—a secondary immune system as such, which deals with the emotional turmoil we experience as part of day-to-day life. The key to protection is being able to process your emotions in the best way possible—and the appropriate management and expression of emotions is a critical goal of many psychosocial intervention programmes.
 

Firstly, when we experience a negative event, we develop an emotional representation of that threat which guides our subsequent coping strategies. For example, our partner may criticize us (event), and so we experience emotions such as distress, anger or sadness. We then need to cope with this event. Coping strategies selected for optimal emotion regulation usually include behaviours to reduce the ‘threat’, such as talking it through; writing down how you feel; facing the situation assertively; seeking care and support; crying; relaxation, and other self care strategies. We then appraise or review how we have coped, and whether or not we feel better, and hopefully, we can move on relatively unscathed, or go back and rectify the situation. But, what if your partner’s comments were frequent? Or what if you tend to cope with these emotions by using emotional regulation strategies that have been shown to be less helpful—such as ‘bottling up’ your emotions, ‘swallowing down’ your pain and hurt, putting on a brave front, or avoiding your partner more frequently? These can indeed start wearing out your ability to cope over time, and they may even affect your physical health because of the underlying stress you are putting yourself through with the unresolved conflict. Furthermore, one of the biggest problems is that when people do review the consequences of their actions (which predicts future actions in the same or similar contexts), they do not often realise that these latter strategies of emotional regulation are unhelpful. They just feel that by ignoring the problem, or denying how they really feel, the emotion will dissipate over time—and it will—so they believe they are essentially ‘okay’. However, at the next ‘event’, your emotions and overall mood will actually tend to be affected more strongly. In order to cope with that you can either learn to face the trigger event early on, so it does not get worse and affect you physically, or you can resign yourself to the fact that ‘this is the way I am’ or ‘this is the way things will always be’. But that is no fun! Emotions need an outlet. They are wonderful signals telling you ‘something is up’, and it is up to you to identify that emotion correctly, why you may have it (understanding), and then learning to deal with it appropriately. Indeed, being emotionally healthy doesn’t mean never experiencing the tough stuff—everyone has felt sadness, disappointment, and other uncomfortable emotions —it’s just finding the right way to cope.

Dr. Melanie C. Schlatter, PhD, Health Psychologist

See also www.healthpsychuae.com

 

 

Meet Our Team