Emotional Dysfunction Disorder
Often, the process of understanding oneself is a confusing and frustrating experience that can cause a myriad of different obstacles. Emotional reactivity, regulation, and affiliation are all critical for daily living and maintaining mental and physical health.
Emotional regulation involves maintaining thoughts, behaviors and expressions within a socially acceptable range.
A person with emotional dysregulation disorder reacts in an emotionally exaggerated manner to these environmental and interpersonal challenges by overreacting: bursts of anger, crying, accusing, passive-aggressive behaviors, or creation of chaos or conflict may ensue.
Emotional dysregulation triggers out as follows:
Thinking about something sad or encountering someone who is angry provokes an emotion or feeling.
Then a thought followed by an increase in heart rate or hormonal secretion for example.
Followed by avoidance, physical action or expression.
Emotional dysregulation doesn’t just mean that you experience your emotions as out of control.
It can also manifest as confusion, judgment or embarrassment about your emotions. Your changing moods may interfere with your ability to follow through on things. Or it may be hard to figure out ways to soothe yourself when something is bothering you.
Although emotional dysregulation is a feature of many different psychological conditions there are key dimensions of emotional dysregulation:
Emotion Sensitivity
Negative Affect
Inadequate Emotion Regulation Strategies
Maladaptive Regulation Strategies
A mental illness can make you miserable and can cause problems in your daily life, such as at school or work or in relationships. In most cases, symptoms can be managed with a combination of medications and talk therapy (psychotherapy). Mental illness is a leading cause of disability. Untreated mental illness can cause severe emotional, behavioral and physical health problems.
Do you have a tendency to overlook your feelings? Is what you are feeling not a big concern? Do you have difficulties recognizing your emotions when you are upset? Do you not take time to consider your true feelings? Do you consider your feelings unimportant and unreasonable? Are you having difficulties making sense of how you are feeling? Do your emotions confuse you? When upset, are your emotions so overwhelming that you feel it is difficult to control your behaviors? Do you have difficulties concentrating, completing work, or thinking about other things? Do you feel guilty of your feelings? Do you become ashamed, embarrassed, or angry at yourself for the way you feel? Do you believe your feeling will persist over a long period of time? Does it take a long time to feel better? Is it difficult to think of anything that you can do to make yourself feel better? Does wallowing in your feelings seem like the only thing you can do? If you answered yes to the majority of the questions you may be experiencing difficulties regulating your emotions.
