Insight & Action: No Hard Feelings

The myth of "negative" emotions

How do we handle hard feelings?

As a psychologist, I bristle when people refer to emotions as "positive" or "negative." In my mind, feelings exist on a different continuum: discomfort. Some emotional states are easier to sit with than others. It's problematic to label an entire group of important, adaptive human experiences as "negative." These semantics communicate that some emotions are something to avoid, hide, or shut down. 

Anger, guilt, anxiety, sadness, and loneliness can be unpleasant, yes—but without them, life would be a mess. Every feeling has a function. They each provide us with important information. It is ultimately up to us how we choose to use it.