Emotional Reasoning- The Cognitive Distortion that makes you Emotionally Reactive - Anxiety 18/30

In this video I'm going to teach you an important  skill to be less emotionally reactive. This last year my family needed to buy a house. We were  living in 1500 square feet with six people, and we were trying to work from home, and it  was just too loud and tight.

So we looked at homes for over a year. We carefully saved up and  considered our budget, and we finally found a home that was perfect for us. So we put in  an offer.

But the market was really high, and mortgage rates were really high. And  even though we knew that we could afford it, after we went under contract I felt so scared  that I was almost sick to my stomach with anxiety. And it would have been really easy for me to  think, "This anxiety means that we're making the wrong choice.

This anxiety is a sign that we  shouldn't move forward," or "If I feel this way, it must mean that we need to back out of the  contract. " But I knew this would happen that I would feel this way before we went under contract.  Before we submitted our offer I told my realtor, "You need to text me every day until we close. 

Send me a text saying, 'This is an investment, not just an expenditure'" because I hate spending  money on myself. And because I know myself, I know that I'm going to feel emotions very  deeply. And sometimes I feel anxiety and it means nothing.

Sometimes I feel panicky and it  means nothing. Sometimes I worry about a ton of stuff and it means nothing. But if I were using  emotional reasoning, I would have said, "Because I feel anxious, this is a sign that we made the  wrong decision," and I probably would have backed out of the contract, and then we wouldn't have  gotten a new house.

Which, by the way, we did buy, and it has been wonderful. So emotions lie to  you all the time, but they feel so real. They are very powerful motivators, but they aren't  always accurate.

In this video you'll learn how to be less emotionally reactive by learning  to combat emotional reasoning. You'll learn four ways to slow yourself down in an intense  moment and three steps to combating emotional reasoning. We'll also talk for a minute about  the difference between emotions and intuition.

[Music] Okay. So what's emotional reasoning? Emotional  reasoning is a cognitive distortion where you believe that something is true simply because  it feels true.

You use emotions as your evidence instead of logic or, you know, evidence.  Emotional reasoning sounds like, "If I'm mad, it means someone did something hurtful. " "If I  feel anxious, it means this must be dangerous, so I must avoid it.

" "If I feel disappointed,  the restaurant did a bad job. It's someone else's fault. " Or "I feel lucky, so I'm gonna  go gambling because I'll probably win.

" Or "I feel uncertain in this social setting, so I'm  probably an awkward person. " Or "I feel depressed, so my life must be pointless. " "If it feels  good, I must, it must be okay to do.

" "If I feel resentful, it's because the other person  isn't taking care of me. " "If I feel offended, then they must have been offensive. " "If  I feel anxious about this relationship, it's a sign that we should break up.

" So I I see  this one all the time in the comments sections. If you feel anxious about whether the relationship  is going to work out, it's a sign. Break up.

But I like I just got to say like, I hate to break it  to you, but there is a difference between anxiety because you're in danger or something's wrong  and anxiety because you're afraid of being hurt, heartbreak, right? You have to take risks if  you want to find love. Okay.

So off of that side tangent. Sorry. Emotions are big, loud, chemical  releases in your brain and body that are fast and imprecise.

If I hear a rattling in the rocks near  my feet, I'm going to jump first and check to see if it's a rattlesnake later. Emotions are like a  smoke alarm. It's better if they're loud and too reactive just in case there's a fire than being  quiet and slow and very accurate.

Right? Emotions serve a function to keep us alive. Even though  emotions are so strong and so personal and and they feel so real, emotions just are frequently  inaccurate.

Emotions also impact our attention. They make us pay more attention to similar  things. So if I'm feeling sad, I'm going to pay more attention to sad things.

If I'm feeling  anxious, I'll pay more attention to frightening news stories. And this makes it difficult to tell  the difference between feelings and reality. But when we fuse a feeling with a belief, like, "Oh,  if I feel it it means something," that's emotional reasoning, and it often leads to poor decisions. 

Now, in DBT they describe the different parts of us as emotional mind, rational mind - which is  logical, but can sometimes be too cold, rigid, or serious - and wise mind - that's the part of  yourself that considers all the factors and makes a good and balanced decision. Okay. So emotions  are often inaccurate, and they're big and loud, but what about intuition?

What about our gut  feeling? Should we just ignore that? I think, I think we all have deep wisdom gained by  experience that shows up as intuition, and we can't quite explain a reason or logic behind a  decision, but we have a deep sense that something is wrong or something else is right.

Now, while  your intuition comes from subconscious knowledge, intuition is different from feelings. And here's  how I would describe the difference. I would say intuition comes with a quiet sense of confidence,  um a discerning between light and darkness, and a drive toward action.

So like, "Oh, I feel like  I know what I should do to make this situation better. " On the other hand, emotions are rash,  loud, sloppy, and impulsive. Um intuition may urge you to move quickly, but it's with certainty and  skill instead of like flustering and brashness.

So even if I'm in danger and I feel a little  twinge of fear, intuition is going to lead me to decisive action to escape that danger, whereas  an emotion like anxiety might make me shaky, confused, or impulsive. And I do think this  is like a complicated thing, right? It takes careful retrospection and experience and careful  considering to learn to tell the difference between emotions and intuition.

But regardless, if  you want to be less emotionally reactive, you've got to learn to slow things down. Slow it down.  Between stimulus and response there is a space, and in that space lies our freedom.

So when you  feel a big feeling coming on, do everything you can to pause. Shut your mouth. Like hold on for  a second.

Take a breath. Count to five. Count to 10 before saying something.

There's another thing  that I've heard people say, which is HALT. Never make a big decision when you're Hungry, Angry,  Lonely, or Tired. Right?

This is when we're more emotional, less logical. And I I get it,  right? Slowing yourself down, like it's harder than it sounds.

But these are skills that you can  practice. Uh you can, you can develop the ability to slow yourself down and be less emotionally  reactive. Um so that's the first step.

The next thing you could consider is opposite action. So if  you know yourself well, um if if you know that you have a tendency toward anger, for example, if you  feel like yelling, instead do an opposite action. Talk very softly.

If you if you feel like avoiding  something, stay where you are or approach it. Do the opposite action instead of acting on your  emotional reasoning. So for instance, if you feel afraid, don't avoid the thing that scares you. 

Approach it instead. So taking opposite action is one of the best ways to change your thoughts  and feelings. Um so if, for example, you think, "Everything feels so pointless" or "I want to stay  in bed," and then and then you just tell yourself, "I'm going to take the opposite action and get on  with my day anyway," like what's going to happen?

You might have some positive experiences. You  might get some things done. You might feel a little bit of energy.

Your anxiety might decrease  because you're channeling all that cortisol and adrenaline into action. So taking opposite action  can be really helpful if you know that you have a tendency toward emotional reasoning and emotional  reactivity. Okay.

Third thing is to get good at predicting your emotional triggers. So explore  your triggers so that you can make a plan for how to handle them. Uh first responders manage  big, stressful events by training and practicing and having acronyms and checklists to go through  during a stressful time, and you can do the same thing.

So if if you know that like you have  a tendency to blow up at family gatherings, then it might be a good idea to have an action  plan, to have your spouse like give you a signal when you're getting a little too heated, and then  um your plan is I'm going to go to the bathroom. And then after you go to the bathroom, I'm going  to go for a walk around the block. And then you can come back to the situation.

Or something like  that. There's another important skill if you do have a tendency toward being emotionally reactive.  So if you do have a blowup or you get really emotionally reactive afterwards, take the time to  analyze that experience.

Write down what happened, and then write down how you would handle it  differently next time. This lays down neural pathways that can help you respond differently  next time. So slowing things down can help you be less emotionally reactive.

Okay. So all of these  things are basically kind of stop gaps to help stop the emotionally reactive behavior. Now, let's  talk about the antidote to emotional reasoning, which is emotion processing, one of my favorite  things.

So one of the most powerful ways to combat emotional reasoning is to just start  noticing yourself doing it. Um if we go back to the emotion processing chart, um we start  with O, observe. We notice our feelings without believing them or resisting them.

And then  we use willingness. So here's your mantra: Just because I feel it doesn't mean it's true. I  can allow that feeling to be there without having to do anything with it.

Um E, explore, is um look  for alternatives. Look for logic. You could ask, "What other evidence is there?

Are there any  other ways to see that situation? Are there any facts that dispute my beliefs? " Um so for  example, if you you have a thought like, "Oh, I feel like something bad is going to happen," and  then you counteract that with a thought like, Huh, reality is I'm in a safe place with people  who love me.

I'm not in danger. " Okay. So that's exploring.

And usually with exploring and  emotional reactivity, you're looking for alternate evidence. So if I feel like everyone's being  mean to me, I would look for examples of people who were all like nice to me. Um if I feel like  everything is awful, I'd look for like something to be grateful for.

And that's why those kind  of behaviors can be so helpful. They combat that emotional reasoning. Okay.

Then we're on to  C, choose. Clarify. And then A, which is act.

So we're choosing to act based on our values. You  make a choice based on what is most important to you instead of acting rashly on your emotions.  When it comes to anxiety, people with anxiety often believe that if they feel anxious, it means  that whatever is making them anxious is bad or dangerous and that they need to avoid it.

All that  stuff - that anxious feeling and the belief, "Oh, I feel anxious. This must be dangerous" - that's  all fused together. To be less reactive, you have to be able to say, "I feel anxious, but this  feeling doesn't necessarily mean something.

" So we observe our anxiety. "Oh, I notice I'm feeling  anxious about buying this house. Is this a sign that we shouldn't do it?

" And then we explore the  facts. "Can we afford it? Yes.

Is there any reason to believe that the markets will improve if I  wait? Not really. Um in the long run, what's best for my family?

Right? This is what I value. Uh for  my family it's probably best if we buy the house.

" And normalizing these feelings. "Oh, it's normal  to feel some anxiety when making big decisions. I'm going to choose to move forward even with  this feeling of anxiety.

" Let's look at anger for a second. Anger is another hot and fast emotion  that shoots first and asks questions later. When we feel angry it's easy to believe that we're  being attacked, maligned, or mistreated.

We use anger as the reasoning for why we need to act out.  Sometimes anger falsely convinces us that it's someone else's fault and we have no responsibility  in this situation. Let's use an example of someone we'll call Alex.

Uh Alex says, "I feel so angry  every time I think about my co-worker Sarah getting the promotion instead of me. It just  proves that she's manipulative and that the bosses favor her over me. " Jordan says, "Have you  considered that maybe she was promoted based on her qualifications or accomplishments?

It doesn't  necessarily mean that she's manipulative or that the boss has favored her. " "No, I just know it. I  feel so angry and betrayed when I think about it, so there must be something unfair going on.

My  feelings wouldn't lie. " Right? In this example Alex is using emotional reasoning by assuming that  because they feel anger and betrayal, it means there's an inherent unfairness or manipulation  involved in Sarah's promotion.

They're letting their emotions dictate their perception of reality  rather than evaluating the situation objectively. So first, observe. Alex would say, "Ooh, I feel  really angry right now.

I'm upset that I didn't get that promotion. I'm noticing that I'm thinking  it's unfair, and I'm having thoughts like Sarah is manipulative. " Second, explore.

Are these beliefs  true? Is there any other evidence out there? "Hmm, well, I have been showing up late to work a lot  lately, and I didn't finish that last project on time.

Maybe she was promoted because she did  finish her project on time. " Third, what would be helpful? What actions do I value?

Well, I'd like  to get promoted, so maybe I could talk with the boss about what I could do to perform better, and  I can put more effort into being on time. Also, if I really do believe that the boss is unfair,  being really angry probably won't make me happier. Maybe I need to get a new job or some new skills  so that I can get a new job.

So in this situation, emotional reasoning made Alex feel helpless and  angry, but when they process their emotions, they got some ideas of helpful actions they could  take. If we want to have the freedom to live the life we value, if we want to be intentional and  have the power to choose our path of happiness, we need to be able to incorporate these three  different sources of information - our emotions, our logic, and our experience - and then slow  ourselves down enough to see things clearly. Then when we know what we really care about, we  can make choices to line our life up with our values.

This is emotional intelligence. It's the  ability to separate our choices from our thoughts and our feelings. Okay.

I hope this was helpful.  Thank you so much for watching, and take care.