Taking into account the classification of emotional styles discussed by Reece and Reece (2017), my typical way of managing emotions is to suppress them. This style is peculiar to people who think that strong emotions are harmful and destructive. Such people prefer to pretend that their emotions do not exist or are not important instead of expressing them when they feel the need to do so (Reece & Reece, 2017).
From my perspective, the advantages of the mentioned style are not great in number and mainly refer to making a person’s behaviors socially acceptable. For instance, people that resort to this strategy can preserve an equal mind in case of challenging and unexpected situations instead of creating panic among others. Another potential advantage of this style is that it prevents a person from wasting time on negative emotions instead of doing something to address the main problem causing them. At the same time, the disadvantages of this style are rather harmful. Most importantly, emotional suppression is not positive in terms of mental health – research shows that the long-term effects of suppressing emotions include low self-esteem and dissatisfaction with life (Dryman & Heimberg, 2018). Additionally, to deny and suppress emotions is to be dishonest with yourself and ignore your own emotional needs.
My approach to dealing with emotions has not significantly changed over time, and emotional suppression has always been my most frequently used strategy. However, over the last few years, I have become more aware of the harmful impact of emotional suppression and the need to strike the right balance between feelings and logic. As for the room for improvement, it is possible for me to engage in self-observation and reflect on the origins of my fear of strong emotions. This, I believe, will help me to fine-tune my current style, become more open in personal and professional communication, and identify some circumstances in which suppression is totally unacceptable.
References
Dryman, M. T., & Heimberg, R. G. (2018). Emotion regulation in social anxiety and depression: A systematic review of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal. Clinical Psychology Review, 65, 17–42.
Reece, B. L., & Reece, M. (2017). Effective human relations: Interpersonal and organizational applications (17th ed.). Cengage Learning.