Emotional Health

Emotional health is the condition of a person's emotional well being. An emotionally healthy person usually has some level of emotional intelligence and emotional maturity. These qualities are a great help in understanding, controlling and dealing with emotions.

A person's ability to understand her own emotions will help her understand her behavior and also that of others. This capability also is very useful in meeting the demands of life, in dealing with people and it contributes to her success in life.

Emotional development starts at an early age and should show improvement as a person reaches adulthood and goes through the various phases in life. But many people don't show much emotional growth and wisdom in spite of all these. As a result they have emotional problems such as the inability to have emotional intimacy and use emotional blackmail and manipulation to get what they want. Emotional eating is an example of a person's inability in managing emotions.

Anxiety, doubt, fears, apathy, anger and feeling worthless are among the negative states in the list of human emotions. Joy, love, trust and feeling courageous are some of the healthy states of mind. Both the positive and negative emotions affect a person's physical, mental and emotional health.

Emotions originate from thoughts, mental images and self talks. What a person sees or hears in the inside causes the feelings. What's happening on the outside is just the trigger. The thoughts and triggers make a person changes her emotional states so frequently.

But most human go through a cycle most of the time. Here is the cycle of emotions according to David Viscott. These emotions affect a person's emotional health and can lead to disorders.

"Pain in the present is experienced as hurt. Pain in the past is remembered as anger. Pain in the future is perceived as anxiety. Unexpressed anger, redirected against yourself and held within is called guilt. The depletion of energy that occurs when anger is redirected inward creates depression."

But even though you may lack emotional health right now, you can take appropriate actions to improve and enhance your emotional wellness. Being aware, understanding, identifying or recognizing your emotions are beginning steps to take so that you can manage them.

Here are some common negative and positive human emotions that affect the emotional well being. These articles may help you understand your feelings, behavior and reactions. You will also find tips, strategies and self improvement resources to deal with your emotions.