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There is a pervasive belief that mental illness stems from weakness, but that is not true.
Last year I suffered from severe anxiety and stress disorder. If you ask my folks or friends they will approve of me being one of the strongest minds but yes, just like the healthiest bodies cannot guarantee absence of sickness or diseases at any point of time similarly even the strongest mind can face mental illness and emotional discomfort at any point of time.
It is generally said that stress is a slow death but just like a smoker who knows he is inhaling and exhaling death yet clinging to his/her awful habit accepts the repercussions, I also remained faithful to my stress regardless of all bookish knowledge that provoked me to retaliate against stress and anxiety.
Allergic cold and cardio vascular disease happened to me as a result of collateral damage caused by stress. However I had managed not to react to my stress disorder because I considered it to be a momentary discomfort that could be resolved with time since I was always taught that “strong people do not fall in the trap of emotional vulnerability.” But now since the disease had expanded itself both mentally and physically I had to do something in order to save myself from sinking and that is when I learnt the concept of “emotional intelligence.”
Emotional intelligence is an ability to harness emotions and acquire emotional agility. I had a wrong impression about my own behavior and that was the reason I confused repression of emotions with management of emotions. But in quest of emotional rehabilitation I learnt one thing and that is, people who can feel strongly can also communicate it as powerfully and authentically as they felt it.
Emotional intelligence is for strong and high proficiency individuals who have the capacity to manage behavior and navigate social complexity. To speak more scientifically about emotional behavior, the communication between emotional and rational brain is the physical source of emotional intelligence. The senses generated out of experiences travel through limbic system (where emotions are generated) and than goes to rational brain and hence a person has an emotional reaction first followed by rational thinking which is generally not coherent. So, emotional intelligence requires effective communication between rational and emotional centers of the brain.
At times we are skeptical of our own feelings and that happens because of the war between emotions and rationality. Attaining emotional intelligence means understanding its four wheels, self awareness, self management, relationship management and social awareness. If we get in touch with all four of them we would be successful in managing stress which is a better idea than getting rid of it because that is more of an obsolete concept, no once can be stress free but yes healthy stress can lead to more work efficiency.
I believe emotional intelligence should be acquired to free yourself from being a prisoner of your feelings. Emotions are natural and they must be cherished in every possible way ranging from empathy to anxiety. Today I can say I successfully cured my mental illness and also got rid of bronchitis not because I am stress free but with an acute analysis done by my emotional intelligence I can now bifurcate topics that need my stress and topics that do not even deserve my attention.
Written by – Shaiva Pandya
