People dismiss or try to hide their emotions, but it’s not that easy. Although we can’t often define or explain them, emotions can rule our lives. This can be good. Emotions can help us fall in love, care for our children, succeed in our careers, and find our passions in life. Getting all emotional doesn’t have to mean something bad.
Of course, we’ve all had emotions affect us in negative ways. Since they’ve help us fall in love, emotions can lead to breakups. They can lead us to perform impulsively or just plain badly.
If we’re dealing with emotions such as sadness, anxiety, pain, fear, guilt, or grief, we want to treat these negative emotions. Sometimes we might want to treat these emotions by having a beer, a glass of wine, or a joint or marijuana. But often, that beer, glass of wine, or joint works only helps our emotions temporarily. If we drink a lot or use a great deal of drugs, using just a little alcohol or drugs won’t help at all—we need more to have any sort of effect on our emotional states.
This creates a slippery slope in which we need more and more wine, beer, or marijuana to soothe our pain. This heavy use could make us dependent on those substances. Even worse, we’re still feeling the anxiety, grief, or sadness that prompted us to use such substances in the first place. Plus, we’re now struggling with other emotions that have popped up since we’ve started and alcohol.
That’s why it’s important to acknowledge our emotions. If we don’t, they could affect us in unusual, unexpected ways. Getting in touch with our feelings isn’t being touchy-feely or overly sentimental. Getting in touch with our feelings can preserve our health and help us avoid substance use disorder.
