With the Mental Health Awareness month next month, we’re sharing some really useful content from our friends at the UK Mental Health Foundation.

We are supporting this fantastic charity and the work they do by trying to raise awareness of the mental health challenges people face in the workplace, and to reassure our customers that we take mental health struggles seriously.  We aim to create a supportive and flexible environment for training to take place in, regardless of your own battles.

Why is it important to understand and manage your emotions?

Managing our emotions is a skill, just like riding a bike. Some people learn to manage their emotions in childhood by watching how their parents or caregivers manage their own difficult emotions. But what happens if our caregivers didn’t have healthy strategies to manage their feelings, or if we didn’t have a consistent person to teach us?

If we aren’t taught healthy ways to manage our emotions at home, it can be difficult to know what this looks like or even means.

We all feel intense emotions at times – this is normal. However, if we don’t have healthy ways to manage these emotions, they can start to harm our behaviour and relationships.

In the short term, not managing our emotions can increase our risk of anxiety and withdrawal, and lead to difficulties controlling our behaviour. In the long term, we may experience more conflict and relationship breakdowns, and we could be more at risk of depression and other mental health conditions.

So, it’s important to understand and manage our emotions, so we can feel good in our relationships and within ourselves.

2. Name your feelings

Naming your feelings may sound similar to noticing them, but the act of naming them can help in two main ways:

1. When you speak your feelings out loud, your brain automatically begins to reevaluate the situation that triggered those feelings. This process, known as cognitive reappraisal, can make the situation feel less upsetting.

2. Voicing your feelings acknowledges them, which brings acceptance. It also acts as a reminder that emotions aren’t permanent and can be noticed and let go of.

Naming your feelings could be as simple as saying, “I’m feeling tired and grumpy today, but a little excited for this evening.” You could set yourself the goal of naming your feelings to your spouse, friends or family members once a day. Alternatively, if sharing your emotions with others feels too much right now, you can practice telling yourself in the mirror.

4. Give yourself compassion

Showing yourself compassion can help you understand and regulate your emotions, improve your life satisfaction, and make you feel more connected with the people around you. Self-compassion may also offer you some protection against mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

You can give yourself compassion in three ways:  

• Self-kindness: Treating yourself like you would a friend, and taking care of your body with exercise, healthy foods, or rest.
• Move through pain: We all make mistakes, experience pain, and face obstacles. These are a natural part of being human. Recognising this can help you feel less alone and ashamed of your struggles.
• Mindfulness: Practicing mindfulness can help you understand, accept and let go of your difficult emotions when you feel in distress.

6. Accept your emotions (rather than fighting them)

If you didn’t feel safe showing emotions like anger or sadness when you were a child, these emotions may be quickly followed by negative thoughts like: 

“I need to toughen up.”

“I’m weak for feeling like this.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“I just have to stay busy.”

When trying to understand and respond to your emotions, it’s important to do so without criticism or judgement, or by avoiding or dismissing them. When you accept and acknowledge your emotions, the emotions may become less distressing, which can make them easier to manage. 

You can practice accepting your emotions by imagining that they are leaves on a stream. You can’t stop the leaves from falling, but you can watch them flow downstream, further and further away, until eventually you can’t see them at all. They are temporary, just like your difficult emotions.

You can also learn to accept your emotions using positive affirmations. 

• 8. Give mindfulness a try

  Mindfulness can help us understand our emotions and handle them in healthier ways. It can also make distress feel less overwhelming, help us bounce back from difficult emotions quicker, and prevent us from getting stuck in negative thought cycles.

  In terms of our overall mental health, mindfulness may also reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Check out some of the useful organisations and resources we recommend below.  

If, after following these tips, you’re still struggling to understand and manage your emotions, it’s okay. Seeking professional support can be helpful during this process. 

You can seek support from your local GP or get guidance from specialist mental health services, such as from a therapist or counsellor. 

You can also seek support from mental health organisations, such as:

• Samaritans: Offers free, 24/7 confidential support for anyone in distress.
• NHS Every Mind Matters:  Provides self-help tools to help you understand and manage your emotions.
• Mind Infoline: Gives advice, information, and support to those struggling with their mental health.
• Rethink Advice and Information Service: Practical guidance for people living with mental health conditions.
• MindEd:  Online platform that offers free, research-backed resources.
• StepChange: Free debt advice to help people regain financial security.
• The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM): Helpline and web chat service for people in crisis.

If you would like to know more about mental health conditions and how to support those around you deal with mental health struggles, then check out our Mental Health First Aid course.