The Phenomenon Of Emotional Reasoning: What Consequences Does It Have?

Do you know what it’s like to vividly experience a certain reality without having any proof that things really are that way? Well, then you know first hand what happens to one of the most unpleasant psychological issues. It is a problem that occurs often. We call it emotional reasoning. In this article, we take a closer look at the phenomenon of emotional reasoning.

Emotional reasoning is a term that describes a type of cognitive distortion. Aaron Beck, the creator of cognitive therapy, was the person who used this term in the 1970s.

According to Beck, any moment when you decide that your emotional response corresponds to reality is a case of emotional reasoning. You then either dismiss any factual evidence or simply ignore it.

You only pay attention to this “truth” that comes from your own feelings. Beck said that this form of reasoning also has a basis in negative thoughts. They are involuntary, uncontrollable and spontaneous.

The phenomenon of emotional reasoning: feelings are not facts

The phenomenon of emotional reasoning is when you assume that what you are feeling in general must be true. For example, suppose you feel sad. Then it must be true that life is not going so well for you and that you are just unhappy.

Of course it can be good to be in touch with your feelings. However, it is not good if what you feel is very different from what is actually happening to you.

The power of your feelings leads to beliefs. They usually stick around until the emotional storm dies down. When you use emotional reasoning, you believe the automatic thoughts that are causing the emotional problems. You will then eventually try to reason things out based on your feelings.

That’s why emotional reasoning usually distorts your reality. It portrays reality in a negative light. In fact, it can also portray reality positively. In this article, however, we are not going to discuss that side of emotional reasoning.

It is an interpretation that fits perfectly with your world. You don’t realize it affects you. So you never ask yourself whether what you see is really true and whether you are not completely manipulating it.

Emotional thinking can sabotage the present moment

The phenomenon of emotional reasoning is a very deceptive way of reasoning because it relies on emotions. The problem is that feelings only reflect thoughts and beliefs and not realities.

We give an example. Everyone has felt like an idiot at some point in their lives. That doesn’t mean we’re all idiots, though, just because we’ve felt it that way.

Of course not! It’s a distorted feeling. This means that the emotions it gives us don’t provide good evidence that we are, in fact, idiots. The same thing happens when, for example, you feel overwhelmed or hopeless about something. Those feelings don’t mean that it’s impossible to solve your problems and that everything is already over.

Emotional reasoning has a side effect that is really very common: procrastination. If you feel like you’re going to screw up, you’ll probably procrastinate or not try at all. The procrastination prevents you from making healthy decisions in function of taking care of yourself.

When something is certain, our natural response is not to fight for it and avoid it or put an end to it. We usually resign ourselves to that reality. We just accept it as fact. What usually happens, then, is that your perception of reality will almost always become reality.

The phenomenon of emotional reasoning and depression

In almost all cases of depression, the phenomenon of emotional reasoning plays a huge role. Depressed people feel things in a very negative way. So they usually assume that things really are the way they are. They never think to question whether that perception from their feelings is valid or not.

Many depressed people eventually fall into emotional reasoning. For example, they may begin to filter things and focus on the negative aspects of a very positive outcome. They do this because they go through life in a negative state of mind.

Besides, it doesn’t make much difference whether they have any control over this situation or not. They will eventually overlook this anyway as long as they use emotional reasoning.

One of the major problems is that the phenomenon of emotional reasoning is really just a learned behavior as many people use it.

It is also worth mentioning that emotional reasoning does not lead to depression. However, it does give you certain thinking patterns. These can make it very difficult for you to fight depression if you have it.

The real truth is that emotional reasoning is very common. We all like to think we make rational decisions. Most of the time, however, we don’t. It is much easier to be guided by our feelings.

Our brains have a specific wiring. In fact, because of this network, it is much easier to make decisions based on feelings than on facts. Usually we don’t look for facts to support our decisions. We just accept them because it’s easier.

Change your limiting beliefs and end emotional reasoning

The main problem with false thoughts (the thoughts involved in the phenomenon of emotional reasoning) is that you stop looking for alternative explanations once you’ve decided that your emotions are facts. That is why these thoughts are so limiting and problematic.

If you want to put an end to emotional reasoning, start by seeing when it takes over your thoughts. Then try slowing yourself down for a few seconds. Do the following:

• Save your thoughts. If you find emotional reasoning, remember that those feelings may have nothing to do with what’s really going on around you. Try to think about things objectively.
• Put on your “calm glasses”. Ask yourself if you would view the situation differently if you were calmer. Try to look at the evidence. Decide whether the emotions you feel are appropriate and understandable in the specific situation.

• Give your emotions time to go away. Sometimes they do disappear very quickly. So take your time. Once the emotional thorn in your side is gone, you can then question your conclusions. It is much easier to come to a different perspective once you have calmed down.

Never lose sight of the fact that emotional reasoning is a mental trap. It is an illusion that occurs when you have a hard time controlling the emotions that arise from your feelings. However negative those emotions are, they are never bad in themselves. They are actually there to help us survive.