Overview
This lecture discusses the importance of "emotional hygiene," highlighting how people neglect psychological health compared to physical health, and offers strategies to build emotional resilience.
The Body vs. Mind: Societal Attitudes
- Society values physical health more than psychological health.
- People are taught physical self-care from a young age but not emotional self-care.
- Psychological injuries like failure, rejection, and loneliness are common and can worsen if ignored.
The Impact of Loneliness
- Loneliness causes deep psychological wounds and distorts perceptions of others’ care.
- Loneliness increases risk of early death by 14% and causes serious physical health problems.
- Chronic loneliness is as detrimental to health as cigarette smoking.
Emotional Reactions to Failure
- Failure distorts thinking, causing people to underestimate their abilities.
- People can become convinced they cannot succeed after just one failure.
- Believing in helplessness leads to reduced efforts and missed potential.
- It's important to recognize and break cycles of negative thinking after failure.
The Harm of Rejection
- Rejection severely hurts self-esteem and often leads to self-criticism.
- People treat psychological wounds worse than physical ones by self-blaming after rejection.
- Lower self-esteem increases vulnerability to stress, anxiety, and slower emotional recovery.
Unhealthy Psychological Habits: Rumination
- Rumination means repeatedly dwelling on upsetting experiences or thoughts.
- Chronic rumination raises risks for depression, alcoholism, eating disorders, and heart disease.
- Two-minute distractions can break the urge to ruminate and improve outlook.
Practicing Emotional Hygiene
- Treat yourself with compassion during emotional pain, like a good friend would.
- Catch and change unhealthy thoughts to protect psychological health.
- Small positive habits can build resilience and lead to a more fulfilled, happier life.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Emotional hygiene — actively maintaining and caring for psychological health.
- Loneliness — a subjective feeling of being emotionally or socially disconnected.
- Rumination — compulsively focusing on negative thoughts or events.
- Self-esteem — one's sense of self-worth or personal value.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Practice self-compassion after rejection or failure.
- Use brief distractions to stop rumination.
- Identify negative self-talk and actively work to change it.
- Reflect on how you maintain your psychological health and make improvements as needed.