Psychology Facts

▲ Emotinal Dysregulation ▲

》Emotional dysregulation is a mental health symptom that involves trouble controlling your emotions and how you act on those feelings. To those around you, your emotions and reactions will seem out of proportion compared to what you're reacting to. It's similar and closely linked to executive dysfunction.

》Some examples of emotional dysregulation include:

Having trouble steering your moods, causing you to feel stuck or unable to make yourself feel better, especially with negative moods and emotions like depression, anxiety, etc.

Becoming easily frustrated by small inconveniences or annoyances.

Mood swings.

Impulsive behavior.

Mania or hypomania.

Trouble with emotions interfering with how you pursue goals and achieve desired outcomes

Being prone to losing your temper.

Persistent irritability or anger between outbursts.

》Some of the more severe effects can include:

Verbal outbursts (shouting, yelling, screaming or crying).

Aggressive or even violent behavior (towards objects, animals or people).

Trouble maintaining friendships, relationships or other forms of social connection.

》There are a few different reasons why someone may develop emotional dysregulation:

Early childhood trauma. These are traumatic events experienced during the early years of a person's life. This is deemed the most critical developmental period in human life.

Child neglect. A form of abuse from caregivers that results in a deprivation of a child's basic needs, including the failure to provide adequate supervision, health care, clothing, or housing as well as other physical, emotional, social, educational, and safety needs.

Traumatic brain injury. A brain dysfunction caused by an outside force, usually a violent blow to the head.‌

Chronic low levels of invalidation. This occurs when a person's thoughts and feelings are rejected, ignored, or judged.

》Experts suspect that when you experience emotional dysregulation, there is a reduction in certain neurotransmitters' ability to function as "emotional brakes,'' causing you to remain in a prolonged "fight or flight" response. When this happens, the pre-frontal cortex — the part of the brain responsible for emotional regulation — is essentially turned off during times of heightened stress.

》Emotional dysregulation is a symptom of many mental health conditions. Some examples include:

Disruptive, impulse control and conduct disorders, especially conduct disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and oppositional defiant disorder.

Trauma-related disorders, especially post-traumatic stress disorder.

Personality disorders (especially borderline personality disorder).

Bipolar disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Depressive disorders.

Anxiety disorders.

》There's another form of emotional dysregulation common in people with ADHD. Rejection sensitive dysphoria isn't a medical condition, but it's something most people with ADHD experience. It involves feelings of intense pain or other negative emotions when you feel rejected or that you've failed at something.

》Some may engage in self-harm or suicidal behaviors. Others may behave recklessly or in a way that puts them at risk for serious injuries or death.

》Many people who have emotional dysregulation can learn to manage its effects. But treatments can make learning to manage them easier.

》The main forms of treatment are:

Psychotherapy.
Also known as mental health therapy, this treatment involves working with a mental health professional. They can help you understand how and why you experience emotional dysregulation. A key part of psychotherapy is learning coping skills and strategies that can help you prevent the more severe effects of emotional dysregulation.

Medications.
These can help make it easier for you to manage emotions. How they do this depends on the medication itself, the condition it's treating and more.

Supportive and symptomatic care.
These involve treating the underlying conditions or factors causing or contributing to emotional dysregulation. For example, concussions aren't directly treatable. However, treating the symptoms of concussion can ease and speed up recovery. As a person recovers, their emotional dysregulation will improve and even go away (unless they had it before the concussion).