Information on emotional wellbeing and dealing with emotional pain.

What is Emotional Pain?

Emotional pain can be described as heartache that results from a painful experience, such as the loss of a loved one. It can stem from depression, anxiety, disappointment, fear or guilt, and tends to worsen when you replay and relive painful, traumatic events that occurred in the past. Emotional pain can become crippling when it affects your mood, relationships, personal and professional life, and it occupies your mind constantly.

What Causes Emotional Pain?

Many people experience emotional trauma during their childhood due to a variety of factors such as neglect, abuse, abandonment, or loss of parent. Emotional pain during adulthood may occur due to the end of a relationship, divorce, loss of a loved one, being a victim of crime, substance abuse, retrenchment or loss of employment.

Often, where severe trauma is experienced, the person may be continuously haunted by recurring nightmares and mental images, as in the case of a war veteran or a rape victim.

Others who suffer from emotional pain may find themselves unable to stop dwelling on past hurts and disappointments, and may struggle to let go of the painful memories. They may find themselves in a cycle of guilt and punishment - reliving the event over and over again in their minds.

As a result an individual may fall into depression. They may find themselves plagued with feelings of worthlessness or hopelessness. Some hide their pain or avoid facing their emotional trauma by resorting to self destructive behavior such as alcohol or dug abuse, aggression, repression or denial. Although it may seem like a coping mechanism, these actions are usually a cry for help – and for a proper way of coping.

Help for Emotional Pain

There are effective ways of coping through emotional pain and letting go of the traumas of the past. Dealing directly with your emotions and acknowledging emotional trauma is the first step to healing.

Treatments that aim to help you claim your life back and put things into perspective include:

• Counseling and psychotherapy
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Meditation
• Spiritual therapy

More Information on Emotional Pain

While you coping through emotional pain, it is important that you are good to yourself. Treat yourself well by focusing on yourself and your own happiness, while at the same time taking the necessary steps to work through the pain that you are dealing with.