These are the 5 benefits of negative emotions.
Emotions do not have to fit into the categories of "good" and "bad".
In recent years we have experienced the rise of currents that defend tooth and nail everything that is related to positivism or happiness. However, this "good vibes" is far from people's reality and can even be somewhat frustrating.
The truth is that negative emotions are also importantAlthough they may not always be obvious to us, they can provide us with a great number of benefits. Next, we will talk about them and how they can help us.
The importance of these mental states
Traditionally, society has taught us to think that negative emotions and feelings cannot bring us any benefit and that they only give us moments of sorrow, frustration, anxiety or fear, as well as a great deal of tears conceived as useless.
However, negative emotions are necessary. Reaching mental balance is only possible if we experience all kinds of emotions. The moment we begin to repress any unpleasant feelings we fall into the error of not fully developing as a person on a psychological level.
The experience of different experiences in which all kinds of emotions in which all kinds of emotions appear mold us as people and help us to grow in a complete way; being this the first and most important benefit of negative emotions.
Obviously, if we settle into these psychological states, or allow them to invade our mind on a daily basis, we may run the risk of developing some kind of psychological disorder. However, experienced in a natural way, they are essential to maintain our mental balance.
The need for a wealth of experiences
If we only experience positive emotions or experiences, if we never let some negative feelings or feelings associated with suffering come to the surface, we could never become complete people and frustration would take hold of us..
In the same way, without negative emotions we would not give any value to all those positive experiences or feelings and, in the same way, we would not be able to differentiate between what is good and what is bad in our life.
Therefore, it is necessary to assimilate that we do not have the obligation to always feel happy, but rather to we must accept our feelings whether they are positive or negative. This can be tremendously complicated, since we are not used to face them, either by fear or by comfort.
What benefits do negative emotions bring us?
Although in occasions it turns out to be difficult to believe, if we realize a good management of our emotions, to experience negative feelings or to live moments of affliction, it provides us mental balance, as well as knowledge about ourselves and skills to solve and to face with greater facility, future unpleasant situations. and face future unpleasant situations with greater ease..
In general, the main benefits of negative emotions are mental balance and experience. In addition, each of the negative emotions can provide us with a series of much more specific skills.
1. Mental or emotional balance
As mentioned above, the main benefit of experiencing negative emotions is to achieve or maintain mental stability or balance. or maintain a mental stability or balance that we will not achieve that we will not achieve if we repress them.
Emotional balance is essential to experience inner calm, improve our self-esteem and live life to the fullest; and this obviously includes negative emotions.
Of course, each emotion has its specific moment and opportunity to appear, and it is then when we must allow ourselves to experience it. If we do not allow them to surface, they will remain latent within us and will end up appearing at the least opportune moment.
If one day we wake up on the wrong foot and feel in a bad mood, or a situation occurs that makes us sad and we feel like crying, we must not repress these emotions. We have to be able to experience them and let them flow, so that they will pass us by and we will be able to feel them. we can feel good again completely..
However, although we cannot feel guilty for the emotions we experience, the acts or behaviors we carry out guided by them are our responsibility. That is to say, we should not hide behind them to do whatever we want.
Finally, one of the keys to achieve mental equilibrium is to forget what society imposes on us, living and finding our own balance.We must live and find our own balance between positive and negative emotions.
2. Skills and experience
As well as the experience that all kinds of situations provide us with, the experience of negative emotions also provides us with a series of skills and knowledge that will help us to future complications more effectively and with less emotional intensity. and with less emotional intensity.
Just as we learn to relate to other people, the appearance and experience of negative emotions teach us how to deal with them and manage them correctly. and to manage them in a correct way in future circumstances. in future circumstances.
It is useless to want to experience only one type of emotion, either positive or negative, since the rest will end up appearing sooner or later and its containment only deprives us of the possibility of learning from all types of feelings.
Advantages of some negative emotions
In the previous point it was already mentioned that there are a series of specific emotions or feelings, traditionally described as negative that, well managed and experienced in an effective way, can provide us with a series of skills or abilities really useful to face the situations of the day to day.
1. Sadness
Sadness is a common and basic emotion. Experiencing feelings of sadness is natural because there are a myriad of factors that can turn a happy day into a sad one.
If we don't let it settle in and stay with us longer than necessary, sadness is very useful in the development of resolution, sadness is very useful in the development of problem solving..
However, we must be cautious, since if we let it flow for too long it can affect our self-esteem or turn into a depressive condition.
2. Anger
Several studies have found indications that the feeling of anger is a motivator of analytical thinking, which helps us to think more rationally. It is necessary to specify that this refers to the emotion of anger, which should not be confused with anger. should not be confused with angerwith which the opposite is true.
A poorly managed feeling of anger can turn into anger; and while anger helps us to release tension, anger increases this emotional and mental tension.
3. Shame or shyness
Although, a priori, shame is not considered an essential emotion or one with positive or negative overtones, it is true that some people do not consider it beneficial.
However, thanks to feelings of shyness, we analyze better how we relate to others and how we feel. we analyze better how we relate to and interact with other peopleWe can become a little more introspective and help us to know ourselves a little better.
4. Fear or worry
Fear is an adaptive reaction that helps us helps us to stay alert in the face of danger.. A rational sense of fear that is proportionate to the context around us can help us keep perspective on what is around us.
However, when this fear becomes disproportionate or irrational, it can turn into anxiety or any of the conditions associated with it, so as with the rest of the emotions, the key is not to let them dominate us.
5. Disgust
The sensation or feeling of disgust helps us to maintain our health, both physically and emotionallyThe feeling of disgust helps us to maintain our health, both physically and emotionally, since it makes it easier for us to move away from that which could be harmful or harmful to us.
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)