Remaining positive and able to see the bright side of the world can do wonders for your mental health, and random internet posts might help you unlock certain parts of your inner world.
"If you are the feeler, see if you can notice when emotions are arising and allow space for them. Setting aside intentional time to be without distraction can be useful. Journaling or using music or pictures may help you access your emotions," writes Noelle McWard, LCSW, the founder of Counseling Solutions, a group practice in Chicago providing psychotherapy services to individuals and couples.
"In the television series 'Shrinking,' Harrison Ford's character advises the teenager whose mother has died to play a song that evokes emotion so as to allow her time to cry." Sometimes, a tweet or a meme can be enough to spark a smile and lift your mood, too.
"While it is essential to feel your feelings, having skills to help you be regulated within them is also important," McWard adds.
Being self-regulated, according to the psychotherapist, is the ability to manage your emotions and direct your impulses toward healthy adaptations. Practices that support emotional regulation are: pausing; accepting uncertainty, self-compassion and self-care, taking committed action toward solutions, and finding community.
Pausing allows you to create space between feeling your feelings and reacting to them so that you can choose how to respond to them.
Accepting uncertainty is a hard one for us humans because it's counterintuitive to our wiring—this is especially true in times of stress. "Reminding yourself that whatever you are feeling and whatever is true right now, is only true right now, not forever can help," McWard says. "Keeping your focus on what you do know, what is certain, is also useful. Lastly, reminding yourself of whatever support or resources are available to you may help alleviate the stress of whatever is unknown."
Self-compassion and self-care. Being kind to yourself and taking care of yourself opens you up to love from others as well.
Taking committed action toward solutions. "While many people resist feeling their feelings, others get stuck in their feelings, preventing them from taking action toward living with this new reality," McWard explains. "Reflecting on what values you wish to demonstrate in the face of hardship, how you wish to show up for yourself, and who you want to be within the challenge can help guide the actions you ultimately take."
If you fear that moving forward means minimizing the magnitude and pain of what has happened, allowing someone to “get away with something,” or dishonoring the memory or love for someone you are grieving, the psychotherapist wants you to remember that your suffering punishes no one and it honors no one too.
Finding community. "When you are facing a painful life experience, it is common to feel isolated, alone, and like no one understands. The truth is, family and friends, as much as they care, may not understand. Connecting with people who do is essential," McWard says.
That's why even silly memes can be so powerful—if we can relate, we feel heard.
"These skills are not intended to be linear steps," she adds. "Think of them like emotional states and moments that you move back and forth between, repeating as new emotions and new circumstances arise. They are fluid and flowing, not rigid. They are your guide on your journey to resilience."
A 2020 study even found that humorous memes acted as a therapeutic tool post-Covid, helping people cope with the pandemic’s severity by providing stress relief and fostering emotional well-being.
