People who experience emotional instability may have difficulty regulating their emotions and may experience frequent mood swings, ranging from extreme sadness and despair to euphoria and excitement.
Emotional instability presents with a changeable mood. You could be feeling happy and energetic one minute, but then small things like a comment made by someone or something not going as planned can result in a sudden, and sometimes quite catastrophic, drop in mood. Everything can suddenly feel pointless.
Confused thinking or reduced ability to concentrate. Excessive fears or worries, or extreme feelings of guilt. Extreme mood changes of highs and lows. Withdrawal from friends and activities.
Emotional instability is a catch-all term sometimes used to refer to unpredictable reactions and extreme emotions. While it is natural for everyone to experience a range of emotions, the term is usually used when discussing people who have more difficulty regulating their emotions.
Emotional health is the ability to cope with and manage emotions. It's also the ability to have positive relationships. Mental health is the ability to think clearly and make good decisions. It's also the ability to cope with stress and manage emotions.
Behavioral Differences
Mental health conditions can often cause people to behave in ways that are irrational and out of character, such as engaging in risky or harmful behaviors. With emotional health, behavior is more driven by how someone is feeling than by any actual mental illness.
Causes of Emotional Instability
There are several factors that contribute to whether or not someone will develop emotional instability. These include genetics, mental health history (including past trauma), and exposure to certain stimuli such as drug use and abuse.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
We can all experience difficulties with our relationships, self-image and emotions. But you might get a diagnosis of BPD/EUPD if these feel consistently unstable or intense and cause you significant problems in daily life.
Just because your partner is emotionally unstable doesn't mean they are a bad person and that the relationship has to end. There are plenty of ways to help keep your partner in check, as well as potentially help them practice regulating their emotions more effectively.
Thankfully, anyone can learn to become more emotionally stable. The key is to identify and eliminate these unhelpful mental habits that cause so much excess emotional suffering.
Some personality types that are prone to mental health conditions include isolated introverts, overachievers, dramatists, day dreamers, worry warts, and perfectionists. People with these personalities are at risk of anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and other mental disorders.
The Anarchist.
This rebellious personality type is perhaps one of the most exasperating to manage. These types enjoy behaving recklessly and acting out in ways others find off-putting, uncomfortable or even obscene. This type of person has a difficult time socializing with others and are quick to boredom.
INFJs are complex because different aspects of their personalities seem to contradict one another. However, these traits are also what make INFJs fascinating. Learn why the INFJ Personality type is the most complex Myers-Briggs Personality Type.
When you struggle with unstable emotions, your relationships will begin to suffer. Having little to no control over your emotions will lead to drama, pain, and distance. The instability of your emotions may affect your friends, partners, and family's ability to trust you, feel comfortable around you, or talk to you.
Practice Self-Care. If you aren't taking care of yourself, it might be easy for your emotions to take over, leaving you feeling out of control. This is one reason why self-care is so important. You may need to take care of yourself physically and mentally if you want to maintain control of your emotions.
An unstable person suffers from sudden and extreme changes of mental state: He's emotionally unstable – you never know how he'll react.
feel isolated — disinterested in the company of family and friends, or withdrawing from usual daily activities. feel overwhelmed — unable to concentrate or make decisions. be moody — feeling low or depression; feeling burnt out; emotional outbursts of uncontrollable anger, fear, helplessness or crying.
Explains borderline personality disorder (BPD), also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD). Includes what it feels like, causes, treatment, support and self-care, as well as tips for friends and family.
Research has indicated that individuals with high emotional reactivity (high neuroticism) and introverted tendencies (low extroversion) are more likely to experience anxiety than other personality types [101].
In addition, being introverted is linked to spontaneously remembering more negative life events. Together, both personality traits — neuroticism and introversion — are linked to depression and anxiety. On the other hand, people with stable emotions who are more extraverted are at lower risk of depression and anxiety.
INTP. According to Comen, both INTJs and INTPs are among the smartest, adding that thinking is actually "the primary life goal" for INTPs, as opposed to the key tool. These people are most likely to be engineers and mathematicians, Robledo says.
If you are in a relationship with someone with a mental health disorder, you need to understand that there will be ups and downs. Some days can be tough for your partner, and your patience may be tested. Try to bring positivity and support during these challenging times to help guide your partner out of a bad day.