Emotion Dysregulation

What Is Emotion Dysregulation?

Emotion dysregulation refers to difficulties with controlling and managing strong emotional responses. A person with emotion dysregulation tends to experience more intense, prolonged, and fluctuating emotions. They may act upon their feelings in a manner that is not healthy or adaptive, which could lead to negative consequences.

Emotion dysregulation can significantly impair one’s daily functioning, mental well-being, and ability to maintain healthy relationships with others. Loved ones of someone struggling with emotion dysregulation may find it difficult to understand the intensity of their emotional reactions that may seem unwarranted or disproportionate to the situation. Frequent and sudden mood swings may also appear alarming or unpredictable to others, especially if the emotion dysregulation leads to impulsive behaviour or expressing emotions in an uncontrolled manner.

For example, anger that is regulated poorly may manifest as yelling or lashing out at others, which can damage relationships. Furthermore, difficulty calming down after experiencing strong emotions can lead to prolonged distress, making it harder to bounce back from negative emotional states. Experiencing such intense fluctuations in emotions so frequently can make it very difficult to function without the coping strategies to manage them.

Signs of emotion dysregulation include:

  • Intense emotional reactions that may be disproportionate for the situation 

  • Strongly reactive to stress or perceived threats

  • Frequent and sudden mood swings

  • Difficulty calming down after experiencing strong emotions 

  • Impulsivity resulting from acting on emotions

  • Trouble recognizing and identifying own emotions

  • Difficulties with emotional expression (e.g, expressing emotions in an uncontrolled manner, or alternatively, suppressing emotions)

How Do We Treat Emotion Dysregulation?

One of the first steps to improving emotion dysregulation is learning how to identify and name emotions that we are feeling to increase our self-awareness and understanding of our emotions. Therapy can help with this process, as well as with developing coping strategies for managing emotional distress. Improving emotion regulation is one of the core aspects of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), which teaches mindfulness and distress tolerance skills that can help with increasing control over one’s emotions and dealing with them in a healthier manner instead of acting impulsively. Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) can also assist with identifying negative thought patterns that contribute to emotion dysregulation.

The Emotion Dysregulation Treatment Team