What Is Emotional Wellness?

What is emotional wellness and why we lose sight of it? Somewhere along the path to securing success and living our best life, we get caught up in our hectic schedules and busy lives. Somewhere along the way, we sacrifice ourselves, ignoring those things that impact our physical, mental and emotional wellness.

It becomes a delicate balance of staying in engaged with our jobs while taking care of our families.

What Is Emotional Wellness?

Emotional wellness plays a significant role in our lives. It provides us with a sense of self-empathy, and it allows us to have an awareness of feelings. This awareness of feelings extends not only to others in our lives, but it starts with self-appreciation. It can serve as a boost to our self-esteem and enables us to be resilient.(Source)

Some people wrongly think that emotional wellness mean being happy all the time.

Why is emotional wellness important?

When you feel optimistic and ripe with encouragement it creates an aura or feeling, triggering the release of endorphins and positivity. Emotional wellness allows us to feel in sync with life’s purpose, family, social life, and work.

Other benefits of emotional wellness include:

• An ability to manage stress
• Self-care skills
• Comfortable in seeking support for others

Emotionally well individuals recognize that to remain in good, emotional health they must confront even the most difficult of situations. There must always be a sense of control or self-care and self-management. (Source)

Each of these perceptions feeds into our overall quality of life. When we have emotional wellness, we are capable of controlling our feelings. We can participate in decision-making activities without the confusion of other influences that may be internal to who we are or from the environment surrounding us.

What Happens When We Are Not Emotionally Well?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), well-being is a vital component of mental health. Emotional wellness motivates us to feel happy, take an interest in life, and gives us an extraordinary sense of satisfaction (NIH, 2015 Source). We are productive, and we are positive beings. Unfortunately, emotional wellness is not always our top priority.

Without it, we will have a difficult time coping with the normal stresses of life or being a productive member of society. The ability to regulate our emotions is a critical ingredient for mental wellness. This skill allows us to manage our stress and reduce the risk for psychological conditions such as depression.

Symptoms Of Emotional UnWellness

Emotional distress is the opposite of emotional wellness. This condition may manifest itself in a variety of somatic or psychosomatic symptoms triggering a vast array of issues that mimic health problems.

At one point or another, we all experience somatic symptoms such as a racing heart, stomach butterflies when we are nervous, or body aches when we are angry or stressed.

Recognizing these symptoms may help you to determine if they are genuine problems that signal an actual health problem or if you are in emotional distress.

Here are other symptoms that may emerge in the face of emotional distress.

Insomnia

Many people who experience emotional distress find themselves tussling with insomnia. A lack of sleep can contribute to emotional distress, impacting your day to day interactions with other people.

Feelings of exhaustion and fatigue can have a detrimental impact on your capacity to focus or engage with others around you. Sleep is an absolute must for emotional wellness.

Aches and Pains

Unfortunately, emotional distress can burrow itself within our bodies in the form of aches and pains. Headaches, back pain, muscle aches, and other sources of pain can wreak havoc on your quality of life and further complicate your state of emotional well-being.

Emotional Distress and Lack Of Concentration

One of the most significant problems you may encounter is the inability to concentrate for long periods accompanied by memory loss. In addition to feeling

• exhausted,
• frustrated,
• worried and
• stressed,

you then have to deal with memory problems and concentration issued. Combined this can lead to more stress and even depression. (Source)

No Self-Esteem

When we are in emotional distress, our self-esteem suffers, leaving us vulnerable to scars from the field of the battlefield of life.

Depression, Anxiety and Impulse Disorders

Emotional distress can increase the risk for mental illness symptoms and conditions such as feelings that accompany anxiety and depression. Experts associate impulse disorders with an increased probability of risk behaviors such as tobacco, alcohol, and drug use. Each of these things can place our emotional wellness at significant risk (Source).

Poor Eating Habits

When we are emotionally distressed, we have a terrible habit of turning to unhealthy foods to help us cope with the situation at hand. Appetites may increase or decrease during difficult times which can coincide with depression.

Sudden Weight Gain or Weight Loss

If you find the scale moving up dramatically or down, it is possible that your body may be responding to factors impacting your emotional health.

Feeling Temperamental or Obsessive

Sometimes our emotions get the best of us in a difficult situation, but we are especially sensitive to emotional conditions. If big things and small things alike trigger your temper, it is possible that you may be in the throes of emotional distress. We often spew anger when under attack or the weight of stress.

When we are without emotional wellness, we become insecure or sometimes look for other ways to establish control. Some people may find that they exhibit compulsive behaviors such as “neat freak” behaviors that exceed the norm or excessive hand washing.

A significant change in your behavior or in the way you treat others can be telling sign of emotional distress.(Source)

Difficulty Making Decisions

Emotional distress can cause us to waffle a bit in our decision-making process or even lead us to make bad decisions that are built on emotion rather than intellect.

6 Signs Of Emotional Wellness

The University of New Hampshire identifies the following as signs of emotional wellness:

• Being able to relax
• Feeling good about who you are
• A state of being content
• Saying “no” when you need to say “no” without feelings of guilt
• The ability to speak with others about your emotional concerns
• The capacity to share your feelings with others.

Continue to “25 Ways To Develop Emotional Wellness Skills” now!