Master Your Emotions
How to Handle Negative Emotions
A Step-by-Step Guide to Handling Negative Feelings with Social Anxiety
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Many people don’t know how to handle their emotions when faced with a specific situation. Understanding the different emotions and how they are triggered can be overwhelming if you have social anxiety. There isn’t one set way that everyone handles these feelings, but some ways may help or help relieve them. You should try some different methods until you find one that works best for you, so here is what I do:
Awareness
When in the situation, I might say, “I’m feeling anxious right now”. Then, I consider what emotion I am feeling and then evaluate whether it is good or bad. If it is good, I should actively try to move forward with the situation.
If it was a bad one, I should get out of the situation or space and have a break from people for a while. You may consider that you are having negative emotions when you feel anxious or uncomfortable. Still, you should be able to distinguish between them to know which ones are okay to deal with and which are worth escaping from. When dealing with negative emotions, think of them like a switch that can be turned on or off based on how they impact your well-being.
Evaluate
Try to evaluate what you like and dislike about the situation. If it is just one thing, then try and work with that. For example, if someone comments about your face being red, maybe you don’t like that, but you like how you look and feel, so work more on the positive emotions as much as possible.
Manage
Not everyone can stay in the situation, even if they might be able to manage their emotions. Something may happen that is really overwhelming for you, and it would make matters worse to stay in the situation. If this happens, try to believe that you did your best to emotionally handle what was said or done while keeping your best interest at heart. If it is just too much for you, maybe getting out of the situation and having a break will help. I sometimes need a break from social situations to help me get over the situation, but not everyone might.
