Emotionally Distressed People Need Hope
An emotionally distressed person may suffer from depression, anxiety, or feel a sadness they simply can’t get over. They don’t feel well and hopelessness is their daily bread.
Therefore, your duty is making them feel hope again.
When you don’t feel good, you think you’re never going to get out of that funk. You complain, you feel you’re a victim of circumstance, and you only hope or “pray” for it to all go away. However, emotional issues aren’t easy to address.
Read: Managing the Pain Well is the Key to Moving on After a Loss
The Inability of Seeing Beyond
When a person is emotionally distressed, their emotions simply drag them down and ruin everything. This is because the emotions we consider negative take the front seat and leave no room for the positive emotions.
This is why it doesn’t matter how many times you tell an emotionally distressed person that things will be OK or that they just hit a rough patch, because this person will be unable to see beyond their own pain.
Also, emotional pain is far worse than physical pain.
Emotional pain robs you of your enthusiasm, your motivation, and sometimes even of your own self-esteem. You may stop wanting to look pretty and even shut people out.
Negative emotions end up taking over everything to such an extent that you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Discover: Being Alone Hurts, the Pain Can Help You Heal
However, negative emotions aren’t the only ones that can leave you feeling crappy. The people around you may also do this without even meaning to or realizing it. But society has taught us to reject the good and embrace the bad.
Let’s talk a little more about this…
An Emotional Distressed Person Doesn’t Need Compassion
The society we live in has taught us to reject those who say: “Everything is going great” deeming them reckless and cocky. However, you willingly accept people telling you “I’m not doing so good”, “Everything is going as usual” or “I could be doing better”.
The reason you accept people telling you that things aren’t going so hot is that, this way, you don’t feel bad.
Therefore, you’ll be able to feel compassion and pity for the other person and tell yourself: “Things are going great for me.” You just compare your life to theirs…
However, the last thing an emotionally distressed person needs is for people to pity them. What they need is hope. However, they only hear things like “Everything will get better, you’ll see” or “Seems like everyone’s life sucks right now.”
Read: Tips That Will Help You Know If Someone Is Lying
Where is that helping hand that holds on tight and doesn’t let go? At what point did people forget to listen to others to listen only to themselves? Why not laugh, make jokes, and try to cheer that person up? Why feel pity for them?
That will only make them feel worse.
How to Help an Emotionally Distressed Person
The best way to help an emotionally distressed person is listening. You don’t have to say any of the things we mentioned above because this will interrupt their rant.
Let them vent and just stay by their side, listening.
Under no circumstances should you get angry or lose your cool. Sometimes, when someone is suffering from depression, other people don’t understand their emotional ups and downs and they tend to get into arguments or start blaming, thus worsening the situation.
Although it may seem that the emotionally distressed person doesn’t want you to bother them, a simple “How are you doing today?” or “Do you need anything?” may work wonders, even if the answer is always “no.”
This will let the person know that you’re there for them, that they’re not in this alone, and that you care for them.
Before you go, make sure you read: Scientists May Have Found the Physical Source that Causes Depression
An emotionally distressed person must go through and get over their pain alone. Although you can stick by their side, it’s not your responsibility to fix them. You need to understand this and make the person feel supported.
These are some of the ways to give emotionally distressed people some hope. Yes, they may seem subtle, and you may feel that you’re not doing anything at all, but they actually may help a lot.
