Some of us are just highly sensitive. It doesn’t really matter the situation or circumstances, we are about to run full steam ahead on an emotional roller coaster. Learning to accept this in your own world is the first step in reorganizing emotional boundaries and limitations.
It doesn’t mean you are giving yourself permission to act without thought or intention when dealing with times of high sensitivity. It merely means you know this about yourself, and only then can you begin to work it.
Identify Your Triggers
“Triggers” is the buzzword of all buzzwords when dealing with circumstances related to mental health. And being overly emotional certainly fits into that category. If you don’t know what has the potential to sent you flying off into an emotional tizzy, how in the world can you expect to manage it?
It’s pretty much impossible. Get familiar with the ideas, concepts, circumstances, situations and people who may trigger an overly sensitive response. Write them down if you have to, but remember them so that when the time comes, you’ll be ready to arm yourself with effective tools for diminishing the upcoming downward spiral.
Baby Steps
You aren’t going to effectively manage every single emotionally charged episode right off the bat. Give yourself time to adjust to this new way of thinking and reacting. Take one set of triggers at a time and try to apply new approaches for dealing with them, one by one.
If you bite off more than you can chew, you’re more likely to become anxious about failure (overly sensitive), which really is the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish here.
Feel Your Feelings
Controlling overreactions isn’t about numbing feelings. It’s perfectly healthy to feel your feelings. Emotions are normal and natural. It’s what we do with them that really matters. When you feel you are being overly sensitive, don’t try to block the feeling.
Instead, sit still with your emotion and process it. Don’t make rash decisions or allow for irrational responses. Sometimes when you give yourself time to analyze the reason for increased sensitivity, we are able to work through it without much effort.
Explore Other Outlets
If processing alone doesn’t curb an overly sensitive reaction, explore other outlets. Journaling is a great way to get things out in the open, in black and white, and purge the emotional overcharge.
Oftentimes when we look back at the journal entry, the issue seems so small we wonder why we were upset in the first place. There are all sorts of outlets for emotional overload situations.
Physical activity, like working it out at the gym or doing meditation works for a lot of people and for others doing something crafty or time with a hobby gets better results.
Again, there is no blanket answer for everyone and it’s best to attempt this process by taking is slowly and rationally. Being overly sensitive isn’t going to disappear immediately but you can definitely diminish the consequences by altering behaviors.
This isn’t about changing you. This is about learning to love you and being the best version of you possible!