Have you ever felt that you are losing control of your thoughts, feelings, or even your movements and actions?
If you’ve been through this, you’ve probably had an emotional hijack, something that has become common, due to great pressure, stress and anxiety.
- Emotional hijacking leads the person to lose rationality, often lucidity itself..
It is the peak of when emotion takes over all thoughts, leading some people to the level of physical aggression, becoming reckless.
It is a way of manifesting impulsive behaviors based on emotions experienced in the face of certain situations, without measuring the consequences.
These attacks, which usually don’t happen overnight, are the sum of some events that are not treated and resolved and the emotional accumulation, taking people to the extreme.
To avoid possible emotional hijackings, these actions can be taken:
– Self-awareness: Be aware of situations that trigger fear, anger, or act impulsively. It is important that you name each of these feelings: “What I feel right now is fear”; “now I’m anxious”; “I’m angry” etc.
– Emotional management: develop emotions, especially pleasant ones. Seek to work with activities that develop calm, pleasure and well-being, such as practicing physical activity. When you discover these activities, connect with them and increase awareness of how they generate positive effects on your body.
– Work on your breathing: this act will promote muscle relaxation, increase your concentration, decrease your stress and anxiety. In some cases, it will also increase balance and self-esteem. You don’t need a lot of technique for this, start by counting 6 to 10 breaths before acting impulsively, either to escape the situation, or to attack, or to explode.
– Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness exercises are key to promoting self-awareness, emotion regulation, mindfulness, and avoiding emotional hijacking.
– Have a hobby: sports, body activities in general, artistic activities, meditation and gardening are excellent tools for you to assertively release emotions, even working as an outlet for stress.
– Look for a professional: In addition to all of the above strategies, It is recommended that you have help from trained professionals to expand your self-knowledge, learn emotional regulation strategies, name emotions, develop social skills, build emotional intelligence and mental health promotion strategies.
It is very important for you to know yourself and your limits, whatever it is, you will always find a solution.
