Saturday, July 3, 2010

The Downside of Trying to Control our Emotions

Everyday Strivings in War Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Suffering From a Hyper-Focus on Avoidance and Emotion Regulation by Todd Kashdan, William Breen and Terri Julian
This article is part of some developing evidence suggesting that focussing on controlling our emotions is counter-productive.  They found that in veterans:

"devoting finite time and energy in daily life to regulating emotions was associated with less purpose,  meaning, and joy"'
It seems that focussing on who we want to be and what we want our life to stand for, is much more likely to lead to a joyful life than trying to avoid painful emotions.