Marking World Mental Health Day with actionable tips to regulate emotions

As a charity that promotes well-being in our communities, today we acknowledge World Mental Health Day. Mental health is essential to anyone’s well-being. There are many opportunities to take care of your mind and body at the Y, from connecting with nature and finding meaningful employment to volunteering, connecting with other community members and strengthening your physical health. We believe that reaching your full potential supports mental wellness.

We also believe it’s healthy to understand and talk about emotions. Dizia Raposo-Ferreira, Social Worker at YMCA Youth Employment Programs, shares how to take action and help regulate your feelings. First, it’s important to understand how stressors can affect your thoughts, emotions, and body.

4 common terms

1. Window of tolerance: A hypothetical term for how much stress you can take on at any given day or time before becoming emotionally overwhelmed (aka flip your lid).


2. Flipping your lid: A descriptive way to explain how your brain loses connection to your prefrontal cortex (the logical/problem-solving part of our brains) when you’re emotionally overstimulated. When this happens, you react from the emotion center of your brain (amygdala) and can often make impulsive or harmful decisions.


3. Self-care: Various ways to take care of yourself for physical and mental wellness. There are eight pillars of self-care that focus on various aspects of our lives, including:

• emotional


• physical


• social


• spiritual


• personal


• environment


• financial


• work

4. Coping strategies: Actions to help regulate your emotions, calm your mind/thoughts and/or relax your body so that you’re better able to problem-solve after a stressor emerges. Your thoughts, experiences, and environment can combine to impact how you feel and how you react. Knowing and using a variety of coping skills helps to calm yourself first so that you can intentionally respond rather than emotionally react.

Coping strategies for calming your mind

1. Name five things: A technique that helps you get out of your thoughts and brings awareness to the present moment by noticing what is around you. Practise pausing for a few moments when you are feeling overwhelmed and then notice things you can see, hear, touch/feel, smell and/or taste.


2. Self-compassion: Pause from time to time and notice the content of your thoughts. Replace harsh, judgmental, self-critical thoughts with a kind and compassionate inner dialogue. Speak to yourself as you would a friend.


3. Focus on what you can control: When dealing with a problem that causes worry or stress, pause and create a list of what you can and cannot do and then focus on the do-able tasks that will help you feel more in control and productive.


4. Distraction: Many of our thoughts are not helpful and can cause us distress. But you do not need to be “in your head” all the time. It is OK to tune out of your thoughts and distract yourself by doing an activity that holds your focus.


5. Reframe negative thought patterns: Use self-compassion or challenge thinking traps.

Understanding thinking traps

Thinking traps are common thought patterns that we often use when we are worrying about something in the past, present, or future. Thinking traps are your brain’s way to assess risks and attempt to protect from getting hurt emotionally, but they create unneeded internal suffering.

 How to challenge a thinking trap

1. Identify the thought that is causing distress.


2. Notice if it’s one of the thinking traps below and name which thinking trap it is.


3. Reframe your thought to be based only on the facts that you know, and not based on unknown or invented possibilities your brain comes up with.


4. Focus on your new, reframed thought and notice how the new thought feels.

9 common thinking traps

1. Fortune-telling: You predict that things will turn out badly. But in reality, you cannot predict the future.


2. Black-and-white thinking: When you only look at situations in terms of extremes; things are either good or bad, a success or a failure. But in reality, most events call for a more “moderate” explanation.


3. Mind-reading: When you believe you know what others are thinking and assume that they are thinking the worst of you. Remember that no one can read minds, so we don’t really know what others are thinking.


4. Over-generalizing: Using words like “always” or “never” to describe situations or events. This type of thinking is not helpful because it does not take all situations or events into account.


5. Labeling: Talking to yourself in mean ways and use a single negative word to describe yourself. This kind of thinking is unhelpful and unfair. You are too complex to be summed up in a single word.


6. Over-estimating danger: When you believe that something that is unlikely to happen is actually right around the corner. It’s not hard to see how this type of thinking can maintain your anxiety. For example: How can you not feel scared if you think that you could have a heart attack at any time?


7. Filtering: When you only pay attention to the bad things that happen, but ignore all the good things. This prevents you from looking at all aspects of a situation and drawing a more balanced conclusion.


8. Catastrophizing: When you imagine that the worst possible thing is about to happen, and predict that you won’t be able to cope with the outcome.


9. Should statements: When you tell yourself how you “should”, “must” or “ought” to feel and behave. However, this is NOT how you actually feel or behave. The result is that you are constantly anxious and disappointed with yourself and/or with others.

Coping strategies for emotions

How to sit with emotions as they come up.

• Without judgement or trying to change your emotions, notice where you feel it in your body and speak it out in your mind.


• Name the emotion. First as a core emotion, but then get more specific.


• Allow the emotion to be there without judgement, and breathe through it as it runs its course.


• Inquire and investigate: Gently ask yourself “what triggered this emotion?” and or “Why do I feel this way?”


• Continue to breathe through it as you ask yourself what you need in this moment.


• Follow up with compassionate self-talk, self-care, and/or healthy communication and/or problem-solving techniques.

Other helpful ways to help tune into and/or process emotions

• Tune in throughout the day. Start practising checking in with how you’re feeling throughout the day before things become overwhelming. Use self-care as needed for emotional wellness prevention.


• Talk to someone you trust: Talking can act as an emotional release (venting), allowing you to reflect and allowing others to support you with kind words or help. If you do not have a trusted friend or family member, seek out professional support, if possible.


• Write in a journal: Writing provides the same emotional release and opportunities for reflection that talking does but in a private manner.

Coping strategies for your body

Your body’s central nervous system is responsible for your physical stress symptoms and sensations. You feel your emotions and the effects of stress through your body’s sensations. You body can often hold on to the tension and trauma that you experience, so it’s important to tune into your bodily sensations and use coping strategies as needed.

Some coping strategies for your body:

• Box breathing: Taking calming breaths is the fastest and most effective way to calm your central nervous system. Taking in slow, deep breaths with a longer exhale than inhale helps to activate your parasympathetic nervous system – your body’s cues to “rest and digest”. Try closing your eyes and breathing in for four seconds, holding for five seconds and then exhaling for six to seven seconds. Repeat five to 10 times.


• Mindfulness/meditation/relaxation: Mindfulness and meditation help calm your thoughts and release tension as you relax your body. If you’re new to mindfulness or meditation, search for guided meditations on YouTube.


• Sleep: Build a healthy sleep routine. For example: Turn off electronic devices, do a calming activity or listen to relaxing music before bedtime.


• Nutrition: Choose foods that are higher in healthy fats, nutrients, and protein to build energy levels for longer while avoiding energy crashes caused by high sugar and/or processed foods.


• Daily exercise/movement: Studies show that even 20 minutes of aerobic exercise can improve your body’s ability to cope with stress. Simple activities such as walking, yoga, or even stretching can impact our stress response, energy levels, and ability to sleep better.

Mental health is a holistic endeavour that requires tools and skills for your mind, body and soul. It’s important to use self-care and coping skills to maintain good mental health. We all have days that are harder than others, but how you take care of yourself before, during and after those challenging days can greatly impact the duration and outcomes of those challenges. Using these coping tools and skills can make a big difference, but keep in mind they do not replace professional help. So if you feel like you may need more mental health support, please contact your family doctor or a mental health provider or access community mental health supports.