Why it is important to be emotionally intelligent
People with a high level of emotional stability have a higher chance of coming out of depression naturally.
Ours is an incredible country where all religions exist equally, where we talk about empowerment and education. A country where science has reached the sky and beyond, where artificial intelligence is the future, where our life is influenced by digitalisation. Despite all these wonderful achievements, how and why are we still back-dated in terms of our mental and emotional health?
For us, the term ‘mental well-being’ is nothing more than someone being free of any mental illness — so unaware are we of the facts and the possibilities. With the growing number of youth and adults suffering from depression, we have to take this seriously and find ways to deal with it naturally. With ongoing life and other responsibilities, we hardly get time to focus on our emotions. On the other hand, we are absolutely far away from the fact that emotions are either the maker or the destroyer. With every phase of life, individuals face different problems. The need of the hour is to identify the issue rather than ignoring it.
According to WHO, one in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. As a life coach, my observations are different — I say that almost all of us are depressed at some point of time. But what is that one thing that pulls us out of such a serious condition? The answer is ‘emotional intelligence’. People with a high level of emotional stability have a higher chance of coming out of depression naturally.
Solving the riddle
What are we not understanding here? Our emotional health is almost connected to all the major aspects of our life. When a person commits suicide, they are not thinking straight. They are either full of fear or have given up completely on themselves. In both cases, emotions play a major role. A student feeling depressed after getting low marks, a wife who finds out that her husband is cheating on her, a corporate guy who experiences a setback, someone going through a break-up with their partner, past life trauma, or maybe present expectations — all these and many more issues are normal that an individual may face in life. A person with a high level of emotional intelligence will understand that they need help and they act on it keeping that fact in mind. Their decisions will not be based on just emotions.
In my years of work and research, I have observed that people are hesitant and afraid. They are either afraid of the society, or their own family, and in many cases, the awareness is not present. On the other hand, there is a growing number of people who have stepped up with their issues and either opted for counselling or joined a group or shared their issues with friends. In the case of serious mental health issues, they have even consulted psychologists and psychiatrists.
Antidepressant pills may not be the complete solution for depression. It may be a temporary relief. Counselling is highly recommended for all those who find that they have started to develop issues. Depression is something that can lead to suicide and many other serious mental health issues. What we need is to create awareness as much as we can. It could be anyone from any gender. It is time we stepped out and spoke up. There are various ways to get help if needed. Awareness related to emotional intelligence must be spread.
In India, it is high time we took care of our emotional health. In the coming years, where relationships are likely to be even tougher to deal with and people opting to live their life on their own terms — with or without families, it has become more important to understand ourselves better than we did yesterday.
Dealing with our issues today and living well tomorrow is the real definition of intelligence.