Reaction

Any significant life change can be stressful. Changing jobs and losing loved ones are examples of significant life changes that can lead to stress. Interestingly we all respond to stressful events differently, depending on health status and mental orientation.

Based on the stress-illness relationship, healthy people can emotionally insulate themselves from the stress linked to dire life changes. Such individuals can withdraw from the emotional event and turn around the situation into something positive (Petri & Govern, 2012). But how long can people hide their emotions? We all know that everything has a limit beyond which it cannot exceed, and the same seemingly can apply to emotional insulation. Even though emotional stimulation helps us develop more positive emotions, making it easier to handle challenging situations, I believe not acknowledging our feelings for too long can make them stronger, leading to an emotionally unavailable person, which is a tricky situation in social interaction. Image socializing or living with individuals without the feeling of their feelings! Think about that. I also think that prolonged emotional insulation can lead to emotional buildup, which can cause underlying conditions such as blood pressure. However, some people have natural emotional hardness and believe they can control whatever happens in their lives (Petri & Govern, 2012).

Emotionally hard people have a sense of interest and curiosity in life experiences, and they approach life with total commitment, the belief they can control life events and are often willing to challenge themselves. Such changes naturally occur from challenging life experiences, making such individuals develop higher stress tolerance and view tasks as less threatening (Petri & Govern, 2012). But if challenging life experiences can make one respond by creating a sense of emotional hardness, should a shift in life experiences back towards smoother and easier allow a change backward to emotional softness? It may appear that way, but I do not think the universe operates this way. I believe people holding themselves in emotionally challenging places for too long will cave into depression, anger, and other adverse health issues that can lead to death. We all have to pour out our emotions occasionally.

Reference

Petri, H. L., & Govern, J. M. (2012). Motivation: Theory, research, and application. Cengage Learning.