You feel overwhelmed by the tough times or the challenges life throws you. In the face of these issues, you often lose heart and ask, “ What’s wrong with me lately? Why can’t I control my emotions? Why am I too emotional? Or Why am I too emotionally sensitive?”
Many people suffer from poor emotional regulation, lack awareness of their emotions, or have strong feelings they cannot control.
Are you one of them?
If so, don’t worry. We understand that recognizing your emotions and dealing with them is overwhelming. You should be proud to take the first step towards better mental health by informing yourself about this situation. Maybe you’re curious because a friend told you you were too emotional, or you find it difficult to function in everyday life.
Another common query is, “Is being emotional a sign of stress?” Stress can make you frustrated, hyper, and moody. Stress is the silent killer; it slowly drains your emotional energy and leaves you depressed. Hence, it is a potential cause of being too emotional. People exposed to stressful conditions over time may develop mental health conditions.
Not all stress is harmful, but unnecessary stress can lead to significant mental health problems. Developing a positive attitude to be more optimistic can help you reduce excessive stress.
You also might consider yourself too emotional if you lack emotional awareness. This means that you keep your emotions hidden or do not acknowledge them. Not acknowledging your feelings can lead to suppression and unhealthy emotional expression. There are various techniques to deal with this condition discussed below, along with the causes of being too emotionally sensitive.
But before delving deeper into the causes and reasons for being emotional, you must understand the signs of being overly emotional.
Signs Of Being An Emotional Person: Why Am I Too Emotional?
It may seem simple at first, but whether we are too emotional is decided by the cultural, social, and geographical context we belong to. Some cultures do not promote open expression of emotions, while others are more emotionally expressive. A simple threshold for deciding whether you are too emotional:
-your emotions hinder and overwhelm you in day-to-day life,
-you make decisions emotionally and cannot control your actions when under their influence,
-you’re being more emotionally expressive in unhealthy ways,
-you feel distressed about your emotions,
-you feel an overwhelming sense of grief or loss, & many more.
If you’re going through the signs of being an emotional person, don’t worry: you’re not alone. Everyone goes through times of emotional turbulence in their lives. Refer to this blog post to feel better when depressed. Following are some reasons you could be too emotional and some ways to deal with the same.
Causes And Reasons: Why Am I Too Emotional?
1. Genetics
Being too emotional may be a product of your genetics. Still, the factors that make you emotional or decide your emotional responses to events are very complex and intertwined for absolute clarity. Studies have shown that emotionality can be inherited to a certain extent, making it one of the possible causes of being extra emotional.
2. Environment
If you’ve been going through stressful conditions or significant life changes, chances are that you will be more emotional than usual, and that’s totally fine. You need to have some time off to calm your mind rather than constantly walking forward toward your goals. You can take steps to make your environment better in this case. If changing your environment is not feasible, you can engage in uplifting activities such as art therapy and journaling to keep your spirits high.
3. Personality traits
Personality is one of the most common reasons of being emotional. Some traits and patterns of behavior you have may become a part of your identity. In childhood, you can learn these traits from mirroring(learning through observing people and repeating their behavior) through friends and loved ones. These traits may also arise on their own as a natural response to your environment.
For instance, neuroticism (being more vulnerable to neurotic behavior or emotions) may lead you to be more emotional. You can change personality traits and behavior over time with the help of therapy and a support system.
4. Hormonal Imbalance
Imbalanced hormones are prevalent in adolescents and teenagers going through puberty. Hormones can influence your moods and feelings positively and negatively and may lead you to be more emotional. Some common hormones include oxytocin, estrogen, testosterone, growth hormone, melatonin, insulin, and cortisol.
Hormones regulate growth, digestion, arousal, motivation, and many other processes in the body. As they are critical, hormonal imbalances can lead to many physiological and psychological problems.
5. Psychological Trauma
Today’s world can be dangerous, and we’ve all had a few experiences that still haunt us. These experiences might keep surfacing through memories and nightmares or may always be at the back of your mind. In this case, getting help from a medical professional or licensed therapist is advisable.
6. Inappropriate or lacking physical healthcare
Diet, Exercise, and Sleep are the foundations of physical health. Imbalances in these three can adversely affect your physical and mental health.
–Sleep deprivation leads to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, especially among the young
-According to various studies, eating unhealthy can increase the risk of stress and depression.
-Exercise strengthens your immune system, and according to many studies, it reduces the chances of depression, anxiety, and other mental health-related issues. According to a study by Yale University, exercising between 120 to 360 minutes per week is the sweet spot.
The best way to balance these critical activities is to set up a daily routine and a journal to monitor your physical health.
7. Mental Disorders
According to the World Health Organization(WHO), mental disorders make it hard to function in everyday life, obstruct self-regulation and make you prone to thinking, “Why I am too emotional?”
The National Alliance on Mental Illness states that 20% of adults in the USA suffer from a mental illness yearly. Here is NAMI’s guide to navigating a mental health crisis. Depression, for example, involves a reduced interest in activities and a lack of motivation.
Anxiety involves excessive fear or worries about events/situations and life.
ADHD involves patterns of lack of attention or hyperactivity. A more widespread condition called the Attention Deficit Trait has emerged in the modern era. It includes hyperactivity, distractions, and impatience because of a hurried sense of time.
This has happened because we are used to living on stimulation, multitasking, and overworking ourselves. All of these conditions & other personality disorders listed in the DSM-V affect emotions and might be why you are too emotional.
Who can develop mental disorders?
Anyone can develop mental disorders, but those going through adverse life conditions (See point 2) are more likely to.
8. High Sensitivity
Why am I too emotional and sensitive? Or why am I too emotionally sensitive? If these thoughts often enter your mind, you might be a highly sensitive person. Highly sensitive people are thought to have increased central nervous system activity and be more sensitive to stimuli. If you have a complex inner life, often find yourself needing time alone to calm your mind, avoid violence, and are deeply moved by things others might overlook, chances are that you may be a highly sensitive person.
This condition has merits and demerits and may make it harder to lead a “normal” life. However, it becomes manageable if you learn more about yourself and establish good practices to care for your mental health.
Now that you’ve become aware of the causes of increased emotionality, here are some techniques to help you deal with being too emotional.
How to deal with being an emotional person
1. Positive mental attitude
You can develop a positive attitude toward emotions and view them as tools leading to greater self-awareness. This will reduce your negative bias toward your feelings.
2. Self-validation
Self-validation is an effective technique to encounter your emotions directly. Self-validation is a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy(DBT) technique that involves looking at your feelings through an unbiased attitude. It validates your emotions by acknowledging rather than suppressing or distracting you from them.
3. Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a practice that involves grounding yourself in the present moment and being aware of your senses, thoughts, and emotions. Like self-care, it also consists of taking an unbiased view of the events and internal processes you observe. There are many ways to practice mindfulness, as it is a practice you can follow even with regular activities. For example, you can start mindful eating exercises correlated with weight loss.
4. Self-care
A self-care activity can recharge and refresh you for the future. There are many benefits of self-care that are sure to provide you with greater physical and mental wellness in the future.
The key takeaway from these techniques is trying to accept and acknowledge your emotions rather than fighting with them. However, if you feel like you require additional help, then there’s no need to hesitate to consult a psychologist for a counseling session.
Conclusion
Tired of asking, “Why am I too emotional?” You might be feeling too emotional due to a variety of factors. These can range from your genetics, environment, and personality traits and be influenced by specific ailments, inappropriate or lacking physical healthcare, mental disorders, & much more.
Being too emotional is tough, but the condition doesn’t come only with demerits. Emotional awareness can be the first step in living your life to the fullest. On that note, here is a list of short-term mental health goals that can change your life.
Subscribe to Your Mental Health Pal for more advice to improve your emotional well-being.