yes, therapy helps!
Emotional ups and downs: 7 tips on what to do to manage them

Emotional ups and downs: 7 tips on what to do to manage them

March 29, 2024

Know how to manage emotional highs and lows It is one of the key skills that we must work, regardless of whether we go regularly to the psychologist's office or not.

On the other hand, to assume that we can not modulate our emotions is to limit ourselves in an unnecessary way, especially when these tend to change quickly and we become very sensitive to what happens to us.

In this article we will see a series of tips to know what to do in the face of emotional highs and lows, adopt anti-instability strategies of this kind , and adapt ourselves in the best way possible to the environment and to life in general.

  • Related article: "The 8 types of emotions (classification and description)"

What are the emotional ups and downs?

The existence of emotions makes sense, among other things, because they do not arise through our conscious control. Thanks to them, we do not have to go through a long period of reflection to know how to position ourselves before an idea or event; simply, we adopt an attitude automatically, and sometimes in a matter of fractions of a second.


However, in some cases the dynamic character of the emotions it can turn into emotional ups and downs, which appear when minimal changes cause the mood to change completely.

This emotional instability can not only generate discomfort in the person who experiences it first-hand; It can also negatively affect their way of socializing, since it facilitates the appearance of misunderstandings and communication failures. Thus, it is normal to look for solutions , either looking for a psychologist (for cases in which the quality of life is worn out) or changing certain routines from day to day.

How to manage emotional instability

Below we will see several ideas to apply in case you are not attending psychological treatment, although reading them and trying to follow them by oneself can not replace the work of a mental health professional.


1. Look at what situations feed emotional ups and downs

Does this emotional instability appear in any situation, or does it remain linked to a specific context or scope? The answer to this question can give you clues about to what extent ups and downs are facilitated by elements of your environment .

2. Learn about Bipolar Disorder

As with any type of psychological disorder, Bipolar Disorder can only be diagnosed by mental health professionals through personalized evaluations. However, the simple fact of reading about it can help us understand what happens to us, comparing its symptoms associated with what happens in that case .

Specifically, Bipolar Disorder is characterized by stages of mania, in which the euphoria and extreme optimism and motivation prevail, with another depressive type. These stages are usually long (several days in a row, or weeks), and the symptoms are very extreme and relatively independent of what happens to us.


So, if the emotional ups and downs are not extreme and do not last more than a day, there is no reason to think that this may be the phenomenon that affects us, while in the opposite case it is advisable to attend a psychological evaluation, even if in account that it does not have to be about Bipolar Disorder . Also, keep in mind that there is a tendency to identify with the symptoms of mental disorders, even though this relationship really does not exist or is exaggerated.

  • Maybe you're interested: "Types of Bipolar Disorder and its characteristics"

3. Sleep well and eat properly

In many cases, emotional instability is due to frustration fueled by poor physical condition. People who can not afford the energy cost their daily life demands tend to have higher levels of anxiety , which causes them to react in a more extreme way to negative stimuli.

For that reason, to sleep the necessary thing and to take care of the feeding will favor that it does not happen that deficit of energy, which is reflected in the emotional state.

4. Learn to surround yourself with the right people

There are times when emotional ups and downs arise from flawed relational dynamics, perhaps because of conflicts with another person, memories associated with someone and that we would prefer to forget or simply because The predominant attitudes in a group do not do us any good .

That is why it is important to be clear that if a relationship does not make us feel good, it is totally legitimate to cut it off, even temporarily until we recover.

5. Do not force the appearance of other emotions

If you try to "force yourself" to feel differently, that will only cause you frustration, since it will not work. Instead, it's much more useful to indirectly influence how you feel exposing yourself to environments that convey the way you want to feel .

Anyway, in the case of emotional highs and lows this can not be the definitive solution either, since it can only be effective when the sudden change has already appeared that you want to avoid that is repeated constantly.

6. Take some time to disconnect

Entering a phase in which the ideas that obsess us and the environments that bombard us with reasons to worry are no longer important, is very positive, since it allows us to recover our strength and take up those daily challenges with renewed energy.

If possible, change places , so that your physical environment does not remind you of what makes you experience stress.

7. Go to the psychologist

If you can not adequately manage emotional instability, do not blame yourself; The field of emotions works through processes that do not depend on our voluntary control, and we can only influence it indirectly, modifying our way of relating to the context. In this last, psychological therapy works very well .

So, it is important to look for a psychologist or team of psychologists and let yourself be advised and helped. Working from the consultation sessions and through the routines indicated by the professional we will be doing what is necessary to improve significantly in a matter of weeks.

Bibliographic references:

  • Salmurri, F. (2015). Reason and emotion: resources to learn and teach to think. Barcelona: RBA.
  • Solomon, R. C. (2007). Not Passion's Slave. Oxford: Offord University Press.

5 Tips to understand men better (March 2024).


Similar Articles