How to Positively Deal with Negative Feelings

Anger, sadness, even disappointment, they're all emotions Lee Health clinical psychologist Dr. Jacqueline Hidalgo says are normal. "It's ok to feel sad, it's ok to feel mad, it's ok to feel disappointed. We don't have to act on those feelings, we can just feel them."

She recommends addressing how you feel and finding healthy ways to cope with your emotions. "Some people may cope by physical exercise, other people enjoy journaling, other people like meditation or breathing exercises."

Others may need to talk about their emotions or seek counseling to get professional insight into how they feel. "There's always something we can do to self-soothe. Whether that is, I go fishing, whether that is, I listen to music," she said.

But ignoring and suppressing your emotions can cause feelings to come out in different, often unhealthy, ways. "Dealing with emotions can be tricky because often we want to run away from them and distract ourselves, push them down, think we don't have them, but that can be really bad for us," said Dr. Hidalgo.

When negative feelings arise, she recommends avoiding things like fighting, blaming, and using alcohol and drugs to cope. It's important to give yourself time and space to find positive ways to cope with negative situations.



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Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Lee Health - Caring People. Inspiring Care.


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