Emotional wreckage is a state of intense emotional distress triggered by factors such as past trauma, stress, or some other mental health-related issues.
Someone who is experiencing emotional wreckage may sometimes have this feeling of emptiness, have different negative thoughts, and be confused and sad.
Sometimes, when people feel this way, they might not even know that it is emotional wreckage and this is why you have to read this article to the end to find out everything you need to know about emotional wreckage.
First of all, how do you know that you are experiencing emotional wreckage? Let’s find out by looking at the signs.
Signs of Emotional Wreckage
- Constant sadness
- The feeling of Hopelessness and emptiness
- Mood swing
- Lack of focus and concentration
- Sleeping more or less than usual
- Isolation and withdrawal from social activities
- Headaches and fatigue
- Intense anxiety, worry, and guilt
- Negative thoughts
- The constant outbursts of anger and sudden irritability
- Overthinking
Having examined some of the signs of emotional wreckage, let us look at the things that can make one start feeling this way.
What causes emotional wreckage?
Different things can cause emotional wreckage in people. Knowing some of these things will help us know the preventive measures to take to avoid feeling emotionally wrecked. Some of the causes of emotional wreckage include:
1. Lack of Sleep
Consistent lack of sleep can have a big impact on our health and emotional well-being. People who may be having trouble getting enough sleep or who constantly deprive themselves of sleep are doing a lot of harm to themselves.
Not getting enough sleep triggers stress hormones, which may cause feelings of anxiety that may lead to emotional wreckage.
Lack of sleep also causes fatigue, which makes you inactive, therefore exposing you to emotional wreckage
2. Stress
Exposing the body to too much stress has an impact on you. When the body is exposed to stress, it causes the release of stress hormones.
When these hormones are released, it affects your emotional well-being. It will become hard for you to effectively manage your emotions.
The state of your mood may become constantly affected, causing mood swings, frustration, anger, headaches, and irritability, which are the things that lead to emotional wreckage in a person.
When the rate at which you stress yourself is too high, it has an impact on your cognitive ability as you may not be able to think straight, stay focused, or make any meaningful judgment, making the level of emotional stress heightened, causing you to break down and feel emotionally wreck
3. Grief
Grief is a feeling of sadness that is usually caused by intense emotional damage or the loss of a loved one. Grief is a feeling that can engulf one and have an impact on our emotions.
Grief can affect one’s mental health in so many ways if it is not well managed. These are some common feelings found in people who are grieving.
First of all, people who are experiencing grief may become angry because they are furious about their loss and they feel that such a loss is unfair to them.
They may start transferring their aggression to other people around them and they may become easily irritable, which is one of the signs of emotional wreckage.
Aside from this, grief can cause someone to start isolating themselves from people or social activities, causing them to overthink and start having negative thoughts when left alone.
This is why people should be around people who are grieving so that they can get emotional support.
In addition to all of these, grief can cause an imbalance in one’s daily activities and normal life. This is because people react to things differently and the way people grieve is also different. It can cause a loss of appetite in some people, while others may struggle to sleep, causing their emotional state to get messed up.
Grief can also lead to an emotional meltdown as the person may continually cry and sigh deeply, which can cause headaches and affect the mental health of someone.
4. Unhealthy Diet
Poor diet or consuming foods that have no nutritional value can also result in emotional wreckage in a person. For instance, when our food does not contain the essential vitamins that our body needs, it affects the overall functionality of the body.
For the brain to function well, there is a need for good nutrition. When the body lacks the needed nutrients, the cognitive system becomes affected as well and this can cause people to become emotionally distressed. This is why it is advisable that people eat foods that have high nutritional value.
5. Underlying mental health issues
Persons with different mental health issues are susceptible to emotional wreckage. Mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder can affect the emotions of people struggling with these conditions.
Some symptoms common to these people, such as negative thoughts, can cause emotional crises, as these people may even harbor thoughts of self-harm, isolation from social activities and people, as well as constant mood swings.
All of these combined feelings can leave the person feeling like an emotional wreck.
6. Failure
The way some people react to failure can cause them to feel emotionally distressed, especially when they have high expectations.
Nobody likes failure but we should not give it so much room to the extent that we start feeling emotional wreckage. Failure causes sadness, regret, and disappointment.
These people may become angry with themselves, constantly blaming themselves for failing and this can cause negative thoughts that may cause emotional wreckage. This is why sometimes you may hear people going to the extreme of committing suicide because they failed.
Your failure does not define who you are. The moment you notice that you are harboring negative thoughts or thinking of hurting yourself, please speak up and tell someone about it. Get professional help as soon as possible
How to Deal with Emotional Wreckage
1. Therapy
Get professional help when you notice all of the signs that have been mentioned above are going to be beneficial for you. You can book a professional session with a therapist or a guidance counselor as they assist you in getting through the issue.
You need to take your mental well-being seriously and this is why you need the help of a professional to manage your situation so that it doesn’t overwhelm you.
Also, with therapy, you can easily confide in your therapist and express how you feel. You can let out your emotions without being judged and you know that everything you say is in safe hands. This will help a lot and get you to the root of the problem and a solution.
2. Practice self-care
You need to be deliberate and more intentional about your self-care. Make sure that you watch the things you eat, eat foods that are nutritious and reduce your caffeine consumption.
Also, do not get yourself too worked up or stressed; always try to find time to rest and relax, as it is very important to the body.
Stress can cause you to break down and cause emotional wreckage so taking preventive measures is important. Also, get enough sleep, as this is the best way to get your body relaxed and recharged so it can perform actively.
3. Relaxation technique
Practicing relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation is an important practice for dealing with emotional wreckage. This practice makes you feel very relaxed, makes you self-aware, and helps regulate your emotions.
4. Talk to a trusted friend
Having a strong support system is important. When you are feeling like an emotional wreck, try to find people who you can trust and share your thoughts with.
Let them know how you feel so that they can offer you emotional support to help you navigate the challenging period.
Also, withdrawing from people or isolating yourself from them is not a good option to consider, especially when you notice that you are having constant negative thoughts.
5. Practice Positive Affirmations
Practicing positive affirmations is a good means of dealing with emotional wreckage. Replace the negative thoughts with positive affirmations. Don’t allow negative thoughts to dwell in your heart
6. Self-reflection
Engaging in self-reflection will help you understand why you are experiencing emotional wreckage, understand how you feel, and know how to manage your reaction or emotion.
Self-reflection creates a sense of awareness and helps you understand what steps to take to make a positive change.
Conclusion
A lot of times, many people resort to bad coping mechanisms when they experience emotional wreckage. Bad coping mechanisms such as using drugs or alcohol are not the best way to handle emotional wreckage. Maybe this will work temporarily but the truth is that it will not even solve the problem.
What you need to do is find a proper solution by getting professional help. The first thing to do is to first realize the reason you’re feeling emotionally wrecked and this will help you realize a proper solution from some of the solutions that have been mentioned in this article.
