Keep your Emotional First Aid kit ready
Throughout our lives, we acquire numerous skills. For me, one skill is an absolute must-have – emotional first aid. Interestingly, we often prioritize our body over our mind since the body is more tangible. This is why we’ve learned basic physical first aid: washing a cut, applying a band-aid when needed, and taking rest when we have a fever. We maintain personal hygiene to prevent diseases. But what about our emotional wounds or hygiene?
Unfortunately, more often than not, we resort to pretending these emotional injuries didn’t happen or try to forget them. Over time, we train ourselves to the point of not even understanding when we’ve been hurt emotionally. Would you handle a fracture in your arm in the same way? What do you think happens to emotional wounds? Emotional injuries can manifest in various forms, such as rejection, failure, loneliness, and guilt, and in the long run, affect your overall well-being.
Emotional first aid
Psychologist Dr Guy Winch, who popularized the concept of emotional first aid, emphasizes that we tend to our emotional well-being with the same care and attention that we give our physical health. By tending to emotional injuries when they occur, we could prevent them from becoming more damaging in the long run.
Studies on psychological resilience highlight the role of emotional first aid in developing adaptive coping strategies. These strategies enable individuals to bounce back from adversity and navigate life’s ups and downs with greater ease.
How to put together an emotional first aid kit?
While learning about emotional first aid in childhood improves your psychological hygiene, it’s never too late to pick up this skill. Begin by being more self-aware of your emotions, as if you are studying your feelings. Ensure your goal is not to resort to loneliness, damage your self-esteem, or give in to negative feelings when faced with emotional injury. Here is how you put together your emotional first aid kit:
- Identify and label your emotions: Labelling your emotions accurately allows you to acknowledge and understand what you’re feeling. For example, you just found out your favourite pizza place is offering a discount – meet Happy Hema!
- Practice mindfulness and relaxation techniques: Make it a point to have at least a few practices up your sleeve that help you calm your mind when needed, like deep breathing, one of the most easily available techniques.
- Self-affirmations: We all have qualities and strengths that help us overcome challenges and succeed. Write them down in detail and keep adding to the list every day.
- Supportive social network: Build strong social connections for emotional resilience. Nurture relationships with select friends and family members, sharing and supporting each other regularly. Turn to this safe space when needed without hesitation.
When you establish a safety net, it transforms into the perfect kit. For instance, if I miss an opportunity, I reach out to my friends, tell them exactly what I am going through, practice breathing exercises or take a walk, and recall my positive affirmations. It’s essential to develop coping mechanisms that nurture our emotional well-being. This approach enables us to grieve without guilt or a loss of self-esteem and breaks the cycle of self-criticism and rumination. Your emotional hygiene must also include regular emotional check-ins, self-care practices, and the cultivation of habits that contribute to psychological hygiene.
Children’s emotional first aid kit
Let’s take a quick look at the emotional kit that is handed to a child to develop emotional well-being:
- Emotional vocabulary: Learn to express how you feel through words. This helps others understand your feelings and, theirs.
- Express emotions: Feel free to express non-verbally what you are feeling without judgment.
- Healthy coping mechanisms: Seek help from people around you and practice self-care.
- Being kind: Show compassion and be kind to yourself and others.
- Practice finding calm: Do yoga, perform activities mindfully, learn breathing techniques, laugh, drink water, and find calm.
Whether practiced in adulthood or instilled in childhood, emotional first aid is as necessary as your regular first aid kit. While the kit helps you weather many storms, there are times when you should seek professional help. Do not shy away from it, just as you would not shy away from consulting a doctor for a fracture.
So, whether you’re dealing with rejection, a case of the blues, or just the general chaos of being human, you know the kit will come in handy. And remember, laughter is a universal bandage that can mend even the trickiest emotional scrapes. You are now equipped with emotional first aid know-how, and with a little bit of effort and practice, you are bound to improve the quality of your emotions-filled life.