Negative Emotions

Negative emotions are unpleasant and disruptive emotional reactions. Examples of

negative emotions include sadness, fear, anger, or jealousy. These feelings aren't just
unpleasant; they also make it hard to function in your normal daily life, and they interfere
with your ability to accomplish goals.1

It is important to note that no emotion, including a negative one, is inherently bad. It's
perfectly normal to feel these things in certain contexts or situations. These emotions
become problematic when they are persistent and interfere with your ability to live your
life normally.

Everyone feels negative emotions from time to time, but in some cases, these feelings can
be a sign of a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety.

This article discusses the different types of negative emotions and what causes them. It
also explores unhealthy ways of coping as well as some healthier ways of dealing with
difficult emotions.

Types of Negative Emotions

There are a number of different feelings that are often identified as negative emotions.
While such feelings are often a normal reaction to certain experiences or events, they tend
to be distressing and unpleasant. Some common types of negative emotions include:

 Anger
 Anxiety or fear
 Apathy
 Contempt, hate, or disgust
 Jealousy
 Insecurity
 Regret or guilt
 Sadness, grief, or loneliness
 Shame

Causes
Negative emotions can stem from a wide variety of sources. Sometimes they are the result
of specific experiences or events. For example, you might feel upset that your favorite
team didn't win a game or angry that your partner was late for a scheduled date.

Negative emotions can also arise from:

  Relationship conflict: Problems that arise from interpersonal relationships are a
common cause of negative emotions. Such challenges can arise in relationships
with friends, family, co-workers, or romantic partners.
 Unmet needs: When your needs are not being fulfilled—whether these needs are
physical, emotional, social, psychological, or spiritual in nature—it is normal to
experience sadness, anger, loneliness, envy, and other distressing emotions.
 Poor coping skills: Everyday stress can lead to a wide variety of upsetting
feelings if you don't have the coping skills to manage it. Poor coping skills often
end up making the problem worse or introducing new problems to the situation.

Recap

Negative emotions can be short-term reactions to the events that happen in your life, or
they may stem from other underlying issues including unmet needs, relationship
problems, or poor coping skills.

Unhealthy Ways of Coping

Unfortunately, people often turn to unhelpful or even destructive ways of coping with
negative emotions. While these might provide temporary relief, they typically make
problems worse in the long run.

Ignoring Emotions
Ignoring feelings (like "stuffing your anger") is not the healthiest way to deal with
them. Generally speaking, it does not make them disappear, but can instead cause them to
come out differently2 (so, you might yell at your child when you're really upset about a
situation at work).

Negative emotions signal that what you are doing in your life isn't working. So when you
ignore them, you can't make any changes, and you continue to experience negative
feelings.

Ruminating on Emotions
Rumination involves dwelling on anger, resentment, and other uncomfortable feelings.
This amplifies negative emotions, but it also brings health consequences.3 So it's essential
to listen to your feelings and then take steps to let them go.

Withdrawal or Avoidance
When something is distressing, you might find yourself trying to avoid it so that you don't
have to experience those unpleasant emotions. If a person or situation causes you anxiety,
for example, you might take steps to avoid those triggers. The problem is that avoidance
coping makes negative emotions worse in the long run.
Destructive or Risky Behaviors
If you don't deal with the emotions you are feeling, they can cause problems with
physical and emotional health.4 This is particularly true if you rely on risky behaviors
such as substance use or self-harm to cope with distressing emotions.

Recap

Feeling angry or frustrated can be a signal that something needs to change. If you don’t
change the situations or thought patterns that are causing these uncomfortable emotions,
you will continue to be triggered by them.

How to Cope With Negative Emotions

Fortunately, there are more productive ways to deal with difficult emotions. These
strategies can help you cope while also improving your ability to regulate your emotions.

Understand Your Emotions

Look within and pinpoint the situations creating stress and negative emotions in your life.
Looking at the source of the feeling and your reaction can provide valuable information.

Negative emotions can come from a triggering event, such as an overwhelming workload.
Your thoughts surrounding an event also play a role. The way that you interpret what
happened can alter how you experience the event and whether or not it causes stress.

A key purpose of your emotions is to get you to see the problem so you can make
necessary changes.

Change What You Can

Once you better understand your emotions and what is causing them, you can start taking
steps to address the problem. Minimizing or eliminating some of your stress triggers may
make you feel negative emotions less frequently.

Some ways that you might accomplish this include

 Cutting down on job stress, often by delegating tasks, developing boundaries, and
seeking support
 Learning the practices of assertive communication to manage relationship
conflicts
 Changing negative thought patterns through a process known as cognitive
restructuring5

Not every source of stress can be changed or eliminated. It is essential to avoid

ruminating about what you can't change and focus on what's within your control.
Understanding the cycle of negative emotions can be crucial for managing and mitigating their
impact on our well-being. Here's a breakdown of the typical cycle:

1. **Trigger**: Something happens that initiates the negative emotion. This could be an external
event, a thought, a memory, or even a physical sensation.

2. **Emotional Response**: We react emotionally to the trigger. This response can vary widely
depending on the individual and the situation. Emotions like anger, sadness, fear, or shame may
arise.

3. **Cognitive Response**: Our minds start to interpret and analyze the situation. We may engage in
negative self-talk, rumination, or catastrophizing, which can intensify the negative emotion.

4. **Physical Response**: Negative emotions often manifest physically in our bodies. This can
include tension, changes in heart rate, sweating, or other stress responses.

5. **Behavioral Response**: Our emotions influence our behavior. We may withdraw socially, lash
out at others, engage in avoidance behaviors, or engage in unhealthy coping mechanisms such as
overeating or substance abuse.

6. **Consequences**: Our behavior and emotional responses have consequences, both for
ourselves and others. These consequences can further reinforce negative emotions, creating a
feedback loop.

7. **Rumination and Reinforcement**: After the initial emotional response, we may continue to
ruminate on the event or the emotion itself. This rumination can sustain or intensify the negative
emotion, feeding back into the cycle.

Breaking this cycle often involves interventions at various stages:

- **Recognizing Triggers**: Identifying what triggers negative emotions allows us to anticipate and
prepare for them.

- **Emotional Regulation**: Learning techniques to regulate emotions, such as mindfulness, deep

breathing, or cognitive reframing, can help manage the intensity of negative emotions.
- **Cognitive Restructuring**: Challenging and reframing negative thought patterns can help disrupt
the cycle at the cognitive level.

- **Physical Relaxation**: Engaging in activities that promote physical relaxation, such as exercise,
yoga, or progressive muscle relaxation, can help alleviate the physical symptoms of negative
emotions.

- **Healthy Coping Mechanisms**: Developing healthy coping mechanisms, such as seeking support
from others, journaling, or engaging in hobbies, can provide alternative ways of dealing with negative
emotions.

- **Breaking Behavioral Patterns**: Recognizing and changing maladaptive behaviors that reinforce
negative emotions is essential for breaking the cycle.

By understanding and addressing each stage of the cycle, individuals can effectively manage and
reduce the impact of negative emotions on their mental health and well-being.