As humans, we feel. Unrealized biases, subconscious beliefs, and silent expectations are stirred. While going about their day, emotions can flow and send messages to the brain, which reacts. In summary, we move from the frontal lobe’s emotional stability to the limbic system’s amygdala, which spins and triggers.
Do we have tools to help our brains respond to emotions more maturely and “control” them? What can help us return to the solution-focused frontal cortex from limbic firing?
Emotionally activated people can regulate themselves with several methods. Beyond responding better in the moment, emotional management has many benefits. Self-control, self-management, and getting unstuck and out of the spin are examples.
NC NeuroHealth PA, in Apex, NC has psychiatrists who specialize in diagnosing and treating mental illness. Using labels is simple. Labeling lets people label their emotions or summarize their situation. Metaphors can describe thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc. Labeling seems to align the heart and mind, almost like being understood. As it feels “yes, this is it” and returns to the frontal lobe for processing, management, and next steps, the amygdala calms.
Such examples include:
The stress and pressures of work overwhelm an executive. Reviewing recent decisions, the team has received harsh criticism. The executive struggles to lead but cannot creatively pull everything together. What metaphor describes your feeling and sensation? Executives may say, “I feel like an octopus with people pulling on every leg and stretching in different directions.” I feel so stretched my legs just might pop off or my head explode.” Applying the “octopus” label can immediately shift the mind and body by fostering understanding and resonance using the analogy. More meaning and insight flow as the mind calms from amygdala panic to understanding.
With so much information and so little time and resources, a child with a school project feels pressure to do well. Uncertainty, overwhelm, and fear of failure plague them. The lack of time or space to share all the information makes them angry. The child accuses and attacks. When asked, “What does the project feel like to you right now?” children can label what is happening. Labeling the project’s final appearance helps children create aspirational labels.
Like, “It feels like a mess right now and I want it to be like a museum billboard.” The labeling can help the child summarize their many emotions, thoughts, and feelings into a “label” that can contain and hold volatile emotions. After being “captured” in this basket, emotions are identified and contained. Without “rolling around” and “bumping” into other things, they are “held” in this label, allowing the brain to switch from the limbic system’s “pinball-like” environment to the frontal lobe. As the body calms and realizes there are answers, solutions, and a path forward, deep breaths may occur. Labeling helps the brain regulate emotions and manage self-control by allowing the child to sit down and work on the project instead of standing, rocking, being physically agitated, etc.
Code words can help couples communicate, calm down, and understand each other in marriages and relationships with recurring conflicts, trigger points, or sensitivity. Code words may seem abstract to outsiders, but the two people with the code word agreement know that when “Red Rose” is used, tension is high, thorns are driving blood, and sweet harmony is needed. While talking, if someone says “red rose,” the label helps the mind understand and move from a triggered state to a more open one.
Labelling works at home and work. Labeling can be used whenever emotions are high. Individuals who create the most relevant labels help. If a label is suggested, it should be done without attachment so the individual can choose the best one.
