Emotional dysregulation involves having intense and extreme emotions that do not align in severity with a given event.
The problem makes it hard for you to control or manage your emotions.
It can also be difficult to return to a normal baseline after an outburst.
Illustration by Julie Bang for Verywell Health
Emotional dysregulation is not a mental disorder though it can occur with these types of problems.
It can exist alone even if its causes are not fully known.
Treatment involves learning skills and techniques to help you manage emotions and handle conflict.
This article describes emotional dysregulation, its causes, symptoms, and how it affects you and others.
It also explains treatment options and ways you’re able to work to manage the problem.
Many biological and environmental factors can impact emotional dysregulation.
It often surfaces in childhood or adolescence, though the problem can persist into adulthood.
It comes up whenever the methods you use to process external or internal stimuli become dysfunctional.
As a result, you are left without significant skills to help regulate emotions.
These experiences are also associated with impaired physical, affective, behavioral, cognitive, and interpersonal functions.
Damage to the frontotemporal systems can affect socioemotional function.
People with a traumatic brain injury often have emotional dysregulation.
Emotional Dysregulation Symptoms
Emotional dysregulation symptoms can vary by individual and the situation involved.
People tend to not have the same punch in of extreme response to every triggering event.
Emotional dysregulation can also harm the way you see yourself and the world.
Your reaction can lead to self-injurious conduct such as substance abuse, impulsivity, and suicidal ideation and attempts.
These types of reactions can help immediately reduce the level of emotional distress.
Intense emotions can lead to situations in which you are unable to calm down easily.
As a result, you may take a stab at avoid difficult emotions.
However, when difficult emotions do arise, your reaction can be impulsive and overly negative.
On Others
Your emotional responses affect how you relate to others around you.
Emotional dysregulation can hurt those around you.
Those closest to you may become the targets of your impulsive emotions.
Even if you lash out at others unintentionally, your actions have an impact on the other person.
It can lead to misunderstandings and hurt feelings.
Over time, your actions can contribute to the breakdown of relationships.
Emotional dysregulation can affect your family, social relationships, and professional relationships.
It can make it difficult to function normally as your outbursts intensify.
Getting help for emotional dysregulation can lead to better management of your emotions and emotional responses.
This problem can cause intense outbursts and reactions that do not align with a given event.
It can damage the way you see yourself and how you deal with others.
After an outburst subsides, it can take a longer than normal time to return to your baseline state.
Treatment can address an underlying mental health problem.
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