Almost each one of us knows about first aid and has either experienced it firsthand or seen someone do it. But have you ever heard about emotional or psychological first aid? If not, don’t worry because we’ll cover most of the important details related to it in this blog.
What Is Emotional First Aid?
Just like normal physical first aid, emotional first aid is the emotional support and help that a person receives whenever they are going through an injury.
When someone cuts their finger, we immediately rush toward the first aid box and cover their finger with a bandage after applying an appropriate ointment or lotion. But do we ever rush to someone’s aid whenever they’re fighting depression, rejection, loneliness, or anxiety?
The sad reality is that not many people have basic knowledge about emotional first aid, let alone its importance and significance.
So, before we get to its significance, let’s discuss what emotional first aid is.
It comprises several practical techniques that help the other person deal with rejection, failure, shame, or any other form of psychological trauma.
The basic aim of emotional first aid is to make sure that the emotional and psychological traumas are taken care of immediately before they cause any significant, long-term damage.
Significance Of Emotional First Aid
Now that we have some basic knowledge regarding emotional first aid, let’s dive right into its importance and significance:
- It improves the quality of life: People who suffer from loneliness, depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions could see a significant improvement in their quality of life if they get emotional first aid.
- It prevents long-term damage: The basic aim of emotional first aid, as discussed, is to prevent emotional trauma from causing serious long-term damage to mental health. Just like physical first aid prevents something as minute as a small cut from turning into a painful infection and infestation of bacteria, emotional first aid can prevent or even cure long-term mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, or suicidal tendencies.
- It bolsters the immune system: Our immune system is affected whenever our body is fighting a disease. The stronger the disease, the more it damages the body and weakens the immune system. Providing emotional first aid to people who recently went through a trauma creates space for positivity and helps release the trapped negative emotions. As a result, the body’s physicality, especially the immune system, becomes stronger.
- It increases self-love: Providing emotional first aid to someone not only increases their love for themselves but also boosts their feeling of #BecomingFlawesome, which means that regardless of their shortcomings or flaws, they are still awesome.
Tips For Healing Your Inner Self
With that being said, healing your inner self isn’t that easy, especially if there is any long-term damage. For this reason, you might want to give Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani’s book: Becoming Flawesome – The Key to Living an Imperfectly Authentic Life a read for motivation and guidance on how to heal your inner self.
Here are some tips:
- See a therapist: Just like there’s nothing wrong with going to a doctor whenever you’re struck with a disease, it’s completely normal to visit a therapist and get yourself checked, especially after a traumatic experience.
- Talk about it: Surrounding yourself with people who love you is extremely important. Whenever you feel depressed or anxious, make sure you talk to someone about it, as letting it out can be very helpful.
- Earn to accept failure: Failure can be the most important trigger for your depression, anxiety, or loneliness. Before you execute a task, make sure you have a backup strategy so that if you face failure, you take a deep breath and redirect with the backup strategy. Try to focus more on the future instead of the shortcomings, and make sure your self-esteem doesn’t take a hit.
With increased awareness, more people realize the fact that emotional first aid is as important, if not more, than physical health. Even the simplest of measures can prove to be life-saving. Now that you understand the significance of healing your inner self, make sure to educate others as well.