Why Can’t I think Straight When I’m Feeling Emotional?

Therapy can provide insights into why sometimes it’s hard to think or communicate and strategies to work through this human phenomenon.

The higher your emotional state, the lower your cognitive abilities. This rule applies regardless of how you view the human race, what time period you examine, or what section of the earth you examine. Many people forget this little but precious piece of information. I have let my emotions run wild to the point where my ability to function almost completely fell away for a period of time. Why are humans susceptible to this, and more importantly, how can we minimize this event to make us function at a higher level? This change would allow us to solve more problems in our lives and, as a result, spend more time on things that make us happy. The answer is simple, but the solution is more challenging. The answer is that we have various emotions constantly changing in frequency, duration, and intensity. Monitoring and regulating something we can't see, smell, touch, or hear can be challenging. One of the best methods to improve in this area of awareness is to exercise the mind. In treatment, individuals can increase their ability to intake information from their environment and minimize their emotional reactions. This solution occurs when a client shares information with a licensed therapist in a treatment session who assists them in objectively processing the information to determine the most productive path for the client in any situation. Once this occurs, the client will learn to trust the process, and if repeated enough, the client will learn to do this task on their own in real time. This evolution in the client is what I call exercising the mind. Everyone has this ability, and sometimes people need to be reminded or assisted with this information.