What Is An Emotional Hangover And How Can You Overcome It?
What happens when we drink too much? The next day there is no escape route: we get a terrible hangover. But it seems that alcohol is not the only thing that can cause one. Neuroscientists at New York University have studied the subject, and according to them, there is also an emotional hangover . Emotional hangovers are experiences produced by extremely intense emotions that shake us, intoxicate us.
The question we must ask is, can we avoid them? The truth is, we can not. Emotional hangovers are deeply intense states that come from unexpected emotional experiences. They can even affect our memories of past events and cause physical symptoms. These range from headaches and back pain to fatigue.
Emotional hangovers are inevitable
Even if we want to have control over everything around us, it is impossible. Things happen unexpectedly. It could be a dismissal, the death of a family member, an unplanned pregnancy, a serious diagnosis or a financial crisis…
All this will produce very intense emotions that can develop into different states. Some of these are: depression, anxiety, and even panic attacks.
These unexpected and extremely intense emotions will lead to a major hangover. Most of the time we are not aware of that, in fact. But somehow it affects our thoughts, focus and memory.
The traces of emotional hangovers will lie in our bodies and moods. They are an example of how everything we experience has consequences far beyond when they first happen.
Now, just like with a regular hangover, emotional hangovers end. But we may do the opposite by minimizing them. We will only feed them if we continually put ourselves in situations that exhaust us emotionally. We can feed them if we refuse to leave our comfort zone. Exploitation is a good example of a permanent emotional hangover.
How can we minimize the effects of emotional hangovers?
Why can an emotional hangover last? When we have hangovers, we feel bad. And when we feel bad, everything around us becomes dark and negative. So it’s like when we’m depressed, and then all of a sudden we stop seeing the world in color and switch to black and white.
As we have seen, emotional hangovers can make us sad, depressed, or anxious. This will flow into our perception of reality. It is important to be aware of how an intense experience can affect us and create discomfort.
These emotional hangovers last anywhere from a few hours to a day or more. It all depends on the person. It depends on their ability to confront it. And also on their willingness to move forward through the whirlwind they are in.
Therefore, it is very important for us to learn to stay calm when we are on the edge of the abyss. Avoid making important decisions under the hangover, if you do not want to regret it later. If you take them, your work may go in the sink, or you may miss a great opportunity.
Being aware of our emotional hangovers will be of utmost importance. That way, we can postpone making any life-changing decisions.
Finally, we want to make it clear that emotional hangover is something we all experience at some point. It happens more and more with the high pace of our daily lives. But we can follow its paths. We can observe how the situation that causes the intense emotions affects our decisions and experiences later.
Breathing and giving us time will help us disconnect from the outside world and connect with ourselves. These things will all help us get over these hangovers that can be so very painful.
