Finding yourself overwhelmed by dysregulated emotion may be all too easy. Many people struggle with emotional dysregulation, including those with mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. Conditions like borderline personality disorder can lead to more severe dysregulation.

People with these conditions often seek help from mental health professionals like those at Lightfully. Some treatment options are tailored to people experiencing dysregulation, such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which is designed to treat borderline personality disorder. However, not all options for relief require a professional’s assistance. Emotional regulation activities for adults can help you de-escalate.

You can try these activities to find regulation, grounding and a better emotional state:

• Try a breathing exercise

Box breathing is a classic grounding tool, often recommended for anxiety and other heightened emotional states. To try this strategy, breathe out for four seconds, wait for four seconds, inhale for four seconds and wait four seconds again. The four “sides” of this exercise with equal lengths of time form the square “box” that it is named for. As you begin to feel more like yourself, you can lengthen the exercise, using counts of five or six instead of four.

• Use a simple grounding exercise

Shifting your attention from your emotions to your surroundings and sensations may help you gain control. For a brief grounding exercise, identify five things you see, four that you feel, three that you hear, two that you smell and one that you taste. You can use physical or mental grounding exercises like this to bring yourself into the present.

• Borrow strategies from dialectical behavioral therapy

Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) was initially developed to treat borderline personality disorder, a condition associated with extreme, painful emotional dysregulation. Basic DBT emotional regulation activities for adults may help you, whether you live with the associated condition or not. You can find a collection of DBT distress tolerance skills here.

• Add bright light therapy to your routine

Professionals recommend bright light therapy to treat seasonal depression frequently, but it can be helpful to people without this condition, too. People with nonseasonal depression had a 41% remission rate in one study, in which participants spent at least 30 minutes per day with a 10,000-lux light box. You can purchase a therapy light or try to get outdoor light exposure. Outdoor light exposure can exceed 50,000 lux on a sunny day or range from 1,000 to 10,000 on a cloudy day.

• Look for small opportunities for joy

Even in a difficult time, a few small windows of joy can bring some lightness to your day. People who participated in a weeklong series of five- to 10-minute activities found improvements in their emotional well-being and other facets of mental health. This study featured exercises in gratitude and reflection. When you stay present, you may find that everyday joys help you navigate life’s highs and lows.

• Spend time with a pet

If spending time with a furry friend boosts your mood, you’re onto something. Researchers have found that dog owners who brought their dogs to a stressful test reacted differently than those who left their dogs at home. The 15-minute test included oral math and public speaking, few people’s favorite things, but those whose dogs joined them demonstrated a healthier response. A beloved pet’s presence can be a comfort in a challenging moment.

Maintain emotional regulation through difficult times

Regulating your emotions can be challenging, but now you have six more tools in your tool box. You can use them when you feel overwhelmed at home or throughout your day at work or with your family. Emotional regulation activities for adults may not require anything more special than a light box – anything else that you need may already be with you.

Explore mental health treatment options

If you’re experiencing severe dysregulation, the professionals at Lightfully are here to support you. Getting help may be easier to incorporate in your life than you expect. You may not even need to leave home or disrupt your schedule; our professionals can meet you exactly where you are with Virtual Services.

We also offer several in-person levels of mental health care for adults. If you’re ready for support that truly sees you, we’re here. Take the first step with Lightfully’s evidence-based and deeply human approach to mental health care by getting in touch with our Admissions Concierge Team.