hey psych2goers whoever said sticks and
stones may break my bones but words will
never hurt me forgot about emotional
wounds
ever stop to wonder why that forgotten
birthday still hurts even though it
happened many years ago or why you still
stay awake at night wondering why
someone backstabbed you in high school
those are emotional wounds that have not
healed
unlike physical wounds they aren't
visible and we don't have a surefire
simple band-aid for it the good news is
that healing these wounds takes a few
different tactics that we may not have
thought about before
so let's go through how to recognize
that you need that emotional first aid
kit and how to use it
number one
being alive but not living
sure being alive can be clinically
spelled out in cool terms your heart is
beating you're able to remember your
name you can perform work functions you
eat food and you sleep at night
but living is different
it's when you follow a passion do fun
things and do anything outside the bare
necessities
maybe you've lost a loved one and since
then you felt undeserving of happiness
so you cut yourself off from all these
things
and before you know it you start living
in survival mode
you're alive
but not really
step back
look at the situation
understand that you have a right to
grieve to be angry to be hurt
connecting with others can help you
understand that living your life is not
causing these things to happen
you may in fact find that not living
your life is in fact hurting those
around you who are still there for you
and care about you
number two
being disproportionately angry or sad or
emotional or
emotional wounds are wounds when wounds
are still tender and raw a breath of
fresh air can feel like fire
you know yourself you know what normally
gets to you and when you start getting
angry at things where two seconds later
you think what was that all about why
did i yell at them that's a sign of a
possible wound that needs attending
you might not even be getting something
directed at you you could be looking at
random paint colors and suddenly you're
sobbing
you're not losing your mind it's your
emotions trying to communicate to you
saying hey you have some processing to
do so we can get to healing
it likely means that there is something
that hasn't been fully acknowledged and
dealt with
it may be perceived as embarrassing or
you thought you were done with it
but if you're still emotionally
everywhere perhaps it's time to take a
second look and acknowledge these
emotions
number three you can't stop replaying
the situation over and over
admitting the situation and talking
about it is good you have to admit that
it's there for it to be healed
but if you keep talking about it without
direction or purpose and on repeat it's
gone from helpful to harmful
so when talking about the situation or
assessing it always ask yourself
what am i getting out of talking about
it is there something i still don't
understand that will help me move to the
next step
and ask yourself honestly if you're
repeating things because you're denying
what you already know but hoping to get
a different answer
this is not closing a wound it's
reopening it and undoing all the hard
work you've done before
number four
self-growth stunted by fear part of
living or experiencing life is
continuing to grow
learn and reach out being heard
emotionally can make you hyper aware of
other intense emotional opportunities
for example if you were in a harmful
relationship you may stop getting into
relationships where you feel deep
emotions
but you're robbing yourself of the life
you deserve if you do this
you deserve to learn and grow despite
the ups and downs that have come
it's normal to fear the unknown and the
what if
but having the courage to grow anyhow is
worth it
we're not saying don't fear because
that's inhuman
it's how you deal with it that matters
understand your fear and recognize that
the bad thing is not the only option
that will happen
recall remember and recognize all the
factors that are on your side
realize that these factors exert just as
strong a force as anything else
do what you need to to give yourself the
best chance as possible
it could be having a back-up plan or it
could be a different approach from the
one taken before but you can do this
and number five
sleep schedule what sleep schedule
have you been losing sleep even when you
haven't been downing caffeine or stay
awake meds
if so something is going on emotionally
ironically getting good sleep is one of
the things that will assist with healing
that wound so tackle this by getting
yourself an honest goodness routine
that's right sleep prep
here are a few suggestions to get you
started making your own personalized
routine
no food or electronics one hour before
your goal sleep time
meditate to calm and quiet your mind
sip some warm tea with natural calming
agents like chamomile
sleep helps your whole you recoup
persistence and courage are required to
heal emotional trauma
many of us can agree that emotional
trauma cuts deeper and lasts longer than
most physical injuries
with something so complex it's easy to
feel like we have no choice but to hurt
forever
but that's not true
if we can choose to put in the time and
the effort we can choose to heal and we
don't have to do it alone
to navigate this journey it's normal and
even encouraged to speak to the guidance
of a seasoned professional
you are worth the time and effort don't
rob yourself of the best life you could
live how do these points resonate with
you please feel free to comment and
discuss any methods you've tried or
things you're puzzling over thanks so
much for watching and we'll see you soon
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