Why is emotional regulation important?
1
Better Mental Health
It helps prevent emotions from spiralling out of control, reducing the risk of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.
2
Improved Relationships
When you can manage your emotions, you’re less likely to say or do things that you’ll regret later, leading to healthier relationships.
3
Enhanced Decision Making
Strong emotions can cloud judgment. Regulation helps you make decisions based on reason as well as feeling.
4
Stress Management
By regulating your emotional responses to stressors, you can reduce the overall impact of stress on your life.
5
Increase Resilience
Good emotional regulation skills help you bounce back from setbacks more quickly.
6
Better Physical Health
Chronic stress from poor emotional regulation can lead to physical health problems. Managing emotions can thus benefit your physical wellbeing too.
It’s worth noting that emotional regulation doesn’t mean suppressing or ignoring emotions. In fact, trying to bottle up or ignore feelings often backfires, leading to more intense emotional reactions later on. Instead, it’s about acknowledging emotions, understanding them, and responding in a balanced way.
For many men, the idea of emotional regulation might seem a bit foreign at first. We often grow up with messages like “keep a stiff upper lip” or “man up”, which make it harder to engage with our emotions in a healthy way.
However. learning to regulate emotions doesn’t make you soft – it makes you more resilient and better equipped to handle life’s challenges.
Think of an emotional regulation like learning to drive a car. At first, it takes conscious effort and practice. But over time, it becomes more natural and automatic. You learn when to accelerate, when to brake, and how to navigate different conditions. Similarly, with practice, you can learn to navigate your emotional landscape more effectively.
Skill Stop
Exercise: “Regulate in Real-Time”
Regulation in real time helps us calm our limbic system response and engage our frontal cortex.