For those who have and continue to deal with various mental health conditions, you are well aware of the range of emotions that you can experience, especially while dealing with the ways in which mental health can affect your life. These can include emotions like joy, depression, anger, grief, hope, and sadness, with some emotions seeming to be easier to feel than others. For example, anger can be an incredibly confusing emotion, especially when that anger stems from fear. This fear can be the fear of the impact that your mental health can have on your loved ones or the fear of having joy or hope and then losing it. However, emotions are not only an inevitable part of having a mental health condition, they are an inevitable part of our existence as human beings. Thus, lean into the easy and the difficult emotions because experiencing these emotions can provide key insight into who you are and how you operate.
Learning how to process various emotions can also strengthen your relationships with others, as you are able to communicate your feelings as well as provide insight into your mental health and how it can impact you and those around you. For instance, being able to help your partner better understand your mental health and some of the feelings you may struggle with can open the door to critical conversations on how you and your partner can be sensitive to and supportive of each other’s mental health needs. Below is an example provided in a recent blog post that highlights one woman’s experience in connecting with her spouse over her mental health:
“As we focused on treating our relationship, my spouse recognized the underlying roots of my anger and adjusted his approach. He insisted that I play a greater role in my care instead of letting me depend on him. He grew to respect and trust my concerns. He shifted from a paternalistic obligation to protect me from myself to a partner in a collaborative care plan. It made all the difference.”
Leaning into and experiencing the range of emotions life has to offer can feel vulnerable and daunting, but doing so will provide moments where you will experience an abundance of joy.
For more insight into emotions and mental health as well as the blogpost that inspired this post, click here.
