EMOTIONAL WELLNESS
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL WELLNESS?
Emotional wellness is a person's ability to accept and control feelings through challenge and change. It includes emotional intelligence and emotional regulation. The way we understand emotional health is similar to the way we understand mental health in which a mental illness does not equal mental health, therefore a lack of emotions does not equal emotional health.
IMPORTANCE
Being emotionally healthy will allow you to be able to handle and overcome the challenges in daily life, and protects you from various emotional disruptions
Emotional distress increases vulnerability to physical illness, such as cardiovascular disease and immune system repression
Emotional distress is also connected to substance abuse and other dysfunctional behaviours
WHAT DOES BEING EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY LOOK LIKE?
Being emotionally healthy means allowing your emotions to be "digestible"
Self-awareness - understanding your emotions and their effects on your performance/goals
Self-acceptance - accepting your strengths, weaknesses, reality to handle adversity with transparency and directness
Self-care - having compassion and taking care of your physical body means putting importance into your emotional health as well
Emotional agility - having an open mind and a curious thought process helps to prosper through inevitable difficulties and setbacks
Strong coping skills - managing your stress will help you build a higher resilience to tolerate and minimize stressful and conflicting situations in life; being able to get calm when situations get chaotic
Treating others with kindness and integrity without expecting anything in return
Living with purpose - acknowledging emotions and allowing them to pass to get to the bigger picture: how your experience can serve others
Brightening your outlook - hold onto positive emotions longer and appreciate the good times
WAYS TO IMPROVE EMOTIONAL WELLNESS
- Participate in debates
- Learn a new language
- Play games (board games, cards, puzzles) or a musical instrument
- Taking the time to identity your feelings and understand your character
- Improve your skills in time/stress management, studying, academics, note taking, public speaking, and critical thinking
RESOURCES
"A Monster Calls Themes." LitCharts, www.litcharts.com/lit/a-monster-calls/themes.
Cinema Therapy. "Therapist Reacts to inside OUT." YouTube, 3 June 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTVQtsIfoo8&ab_channel=CinemaTherapy. Accessed 30 Jan. 2021.
"Differences Between Mental Health & Emotional Health: PFBH Assessment Center." Pyramid Healthcare, 27 Nov. 2020, www.pyramidhealthcarepa.com/what-is-the-difference-between-mental-health-emotional-health/
"Emotional Health vs Mental Health: Is There a Difference?" Red Oak Recovery, 18 Mar. 2020, www.redoakrecovery.com/addiction-blog/emotional-health-vs-mental-health/.
"Emotional Wellness Toolkit." National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 10 Dec. 2018, www.nih.gov/health-information/emotional-wellness-toolkit.
Gouriche, Sarah. "Finding Nemo: The Role of Loss in Empathy and Satisfaction." Applied Psychology OPUS, wp.nyu.edu/steinhardt-appsych_opus/finding-nemo-the-role-of-loss-in-empathy-and-satisfaction/.
Miller, Kelly. "What Is Emotional Health & 11 Activities and Assessments to Enhance It." PositivePsychology.com, 1 Sept. 2020, positivepsychology.com/emotional-health-activities/.
Psych2Go. "6 Habits That Destroy Your Emotional Wellbeing." YouTube, 18 Oct. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODy4ztZrMGg&ab_channel=Psych2Go.
Psych2Go. "7 Ways to Detox Your Emotional Well Being." YouTube, 27 Mar. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAestsXAWsw&ab_channel=Psych2Go.