Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin 272 — How to Handle Big Emotions: 5 Science-Backed Skills to Stay in Control
Dec 12, 2025
Feeling overwhelmed by your emotions? Discover five scientific strategies to regain control! Learn to label your feelings to manage them better and find healthy distractions to break negative thought cycles. Explore how changing your physical state can calm your mind and why reframing your internal narrative can shift your emotional landscape. Finally, embrace the power of doing the opposite of your initial reaction to break free from emotional habits. Get ready to build your mental strength!
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Mental Strength Is Regulation, Not Toughness
- Mental strength means feeling emotions and choosing responses, not suppressing them.
- Regulating intensity and duration lets you process or dial down feelings when needed.
Label Emotions To Reduce Their Power
- Label the emotion out loud or silently to move activity from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.
- Saying "I feel anxious" reduces intensity and helps you think more clearly.
Distract Your Brain With A Hard Task
- Change the channel with a demanding mental task to occupy working memory and interrupt high-intensity feelings.
- Use tasks like counting backward by sevens or reciting the alphabet backward for a quick reset.
