Many people, even when under immense pressure, still keep their worries to themselves. “Opening your heart” can actually improve your brain’s rational thinking and is an important part of stress management.
First, everyone’s brain is born with the ability to communicate, including expressing themselves through speech and facial expression. Every innate ability is a “Humanity Need”. Just like other necessities like breathing and eating, when their communication needs are not met, people feel stressed. This is loneliness. The pressure of loneliness strains the already stressed mind even further.
In addition, one rule of brain functioning is that when our emotions flood the mind, rational thinking will weaken. In the stampede of passionate and uncomfortable emotions such as anger, panic, and extreme sadness, the ability to think rationally will be greatly weakened, and it is easy to enter various cognitive biases, such as rigid future predictions (such as believing that things will never turn around), overgeneralizing and jumping to conclusions (for example, after a few unsatisfactory things at work, concluding that your life is over). Naming abstract feelings through words and talking to others will help to tame this “emotional beast”.
By confiding to others, you would narrate the matter once, not only for others but also for yourself. Compared with mulling over things alone in our heads, telling others our thoughts allows us unknowingly to invoke the time, place, and people involved in our troubles (including the thoughts and feelings of everyone involved). Thus, we get the chance to sort out the details again. This time systematically and holistically. In addition, as mentioned above, the process of talking can cool down emotions. As a result, new perspectives and solutions will naturally emerge in the mind. This way, rational thinking is enhanced and we gain a greater ability to solve problems.
The seemingly emotional act of talking about our concerns turns out to help us improve our rational thinking when our brains are stressed and trapped.
Written by: Dr. William Chui
Originally posted on: HKEJ Health
Translated by: Cheuk Long Chan
