Negative emotions that can be lived in a healthy way, advice from a specialist, psychologist Simona Ionita

Constant negative conditions lead to increased levels of stress and can affect physical health. However, there are things you can do to reduce the intensity and duration of negative emotions.

According to psychologist Simona Ioniță, negative thoughts cannot be ignored. "If you're obsessed with the situation you're going through, whatever you do, don't say: I have to stop thinking about it!" Instead, the emotion being experienced should be identified and named.

Negative emotions can make us sick.

“Instead of trying to turn off your negative emotions, acknowledge and accept them. The simple act of identifying the underlying emotion of your negative feelings can begin to lessen their intensity. For example, sadness is manifested by a “lump in the throat”, tearing, crying, withdrawing into oneself.

The type and severity of sadness can vary depending on the cause and how you deal with such feelings. Sadness can cause you to use coping mechanisms such as avoiding other people, self-medicating, and ruminating on negative thoughts. This behavior can increase the feeling of sadness and prolong the duration of the emotion,” explains psychologist Simona Ionita, author of the blog www.psihologsimonaionita.ro.

Anger is another negative feeling that is manifested by muscle tension, jaw tension, screaming, arguing, fighting.

“Anger can be a particularly strong emotion, characterized by feelings of hostility, excitement, frustration. Like fear, anger can play a role in the fight-or-flight response and can become a problem when it is excessive or expressed in ways that are unhealthy, dangerous, or harmful to others. Uncontrolled anger can quickly escalate into aggression, abuse, or violence and is associated with coronary heart disease and diabetes. It has also been associated with health risk behaviors such as aggressive driving, drinking and smoking,” says psychologist Simona Ionita.

Correlating with negative health effects is fear, which psychologist Simona Ionita describes as follows: “An emotional reaction to an immediate threat. You may also develop a similar reaction to anticipated threats or even thoughts of potential danger, and this is what counts as anxiety. Social anxiety, for example, includes an expected fear of social situations.

Over time, untreated fear leads to heart disease, ulcers, panic attacks, or depression.

When negative thoughts make you feel agitated and overwhelmed, take a deep breath. Practicing mindful breathing can help reduce the stress response and calm anxious thoughts.”