EMOTIONAL

STABILITY
Pachala Swathi
Topics
• Understanding Emotional Stability

• Understanding Emotional Liability

• Causes and Symptoms

• Role in Psychological Disorders

• Methods for Enhancing Emotional Stability

Emotional Stability
• It is …. Calmness of mind and freedom from anxiety and depression ( Hay
and Ashman, 2003: 2).

• Someone who has the ability to cope with general changes in the
environment without responding with an intense emotional reaction, is said
to be emotionally stable.
Attributes of Emotionally Stable Person
• Emotional maturity

• Self confidence

• Stability in their plans and actions

• Don’t give into occasional fluctuations in the mood

Emotional Liability (Instability)
• Permanent or temporary loss of emotional regulation

• Emotions dominate the controlling facilities of the brain

• Loss of control gives way to bursts of emotion for no apparent reason

• No stopping to self regulation

Symptoms
• Emotionally impulsive

• Low frustration tolerance

• Impatience

• Quick to anger

• More easily excitable

Causes found in Research
• Physiological

❑ Brain injury

❑ Stroke or car accident

❑ ADHD

• Psychological

❑ Trauma and Stress

❑ Anxiety and Depression

Trauma
• It is been known to impair emotional and social functioning.

• It results in emotional dysfunction because of intensive devastating,

uncontrollable, profound, and long lasting impact on all internal dimensions
of the person’s life.

• It is a symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Depression
• Enhances unstable patterns of negative emotions.

• Loss of Control: Inability to suppress those negative emotions.

• Low serotonin levels.

Anxiety
Highly anxious individuals generally have lower emotional stability.
Emotional Liability
• It is likely to be characterized through a flood of emotions in response to a
trauma related stimuli.
Enhancing Emotional Stability
• Resilience

It is not just a matter of constitutional strength or a robust temperament; it is

also a product of how people perceive, appraise, approach and tackle stresses
and challenges.
Enhancing Emotional Stability
• Meditation

It is conceptualised as emotional and alter national regulatory training

regimes developed for various ends, including the cultivation of well-being,
and emotional balance.

It enhances consciousness to non-reactively monitor the events and the

experience of emotions which are occurring in the mind.
APA’S Recommendations
• Take decisive actions.
• Look for opportunities for self discovery.
• Nurture a positive view of life.
• Keep things in perspective.
• Maintain a hopeful outlook.
• Take care of yourself.
• Exercise regularly.
• Writing about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to trauma or other
stressful events in life may be helpful in building resilience.
• Meditation and spiritual practices help some people build connections and
restore hope.
References
• American Psychological Association. (2009). The Road to Resilience. at
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience.aspx#
• Barkley, R. (2010). ADHDEmotional Regulation. Presentation at The Centre for
ADHD/ADD Advocacy Canada (CADDAC), at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cw8jHUkHiA
• Holford, P. (2003). Optimum Nutrition for the Mind. Piatkus: London. Lutz, A.,
Slagter, H.A., Dune, J.A., Davidson, R.J. (2008) Attention Regulation and
Monitoring in Meditation. Cognitive Emotional Trends, *2(4), 163-169
• Martens, W.h.j. (2004). Multidimensional Model of Trauma and Correlated
personality Disorder. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 10(2).
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, 3rd ed. - revised. (DSM-III-R). American Psychiatric Association,
Washington, 1987.
• Pavienko, V.S., Chernyi, S.V., & Goubkina, D.G. (2009) EEG Correlates of
Anxiety and Emotional Stability in Adult Healthy Subjects. Neurophysiology,
41(5), 400-408.
Thank you!