Emotional reasoning is a cognitive behavior that causes people to be controlled and consumed by irrational thoughts. People who suffer from emotional reasoning allow their fears to override what it true. A person who suffers from this issue may have studied several hours for a test but will allow anxiety to convince him or her that there is no option aside from failure. Solid facts can be spelled out for a person suffering from a cognitive error, but he or she may still fail to see the truth because his or her emotions say otherwise. People who constantly turn to emotional reasoning to make decisions may need the help of a therapist to learn to separate facts from feelings.
It is normal for people to act based on emotions from time to time. A person who uses emotional reasoning all the time, however, should seek professional counseling so his or her emotions do not impede everyday decision making. A person with severe emotional reasoning disorder may become extremely scared that he or she is going to die every time there is a storm. While it is possible to die during a storm, the odds are that the person will not. The extreme fear the person is causing for himself or herself may lead to missed social and job opportunities if the person refuses to leave the house every time it begins to rain.
Depression, anxiety and social phobias can all develop in people who have a problem with emotional reasoning. Therapists and psychiatrists can use talk therapy to help suffers find ways to overcome their emotions. A person may have experienced a traumatic event that leads him or her to start using emotional reasoning to make a bulk of his or her decisions. When the root of the problem is discovered, the suffer can slowly begin making more rational decisions and his or her anxiety and depression symptoms also can be treated.
Therapists also may utilize cognitive behavioral therapy to help people who struggle severely with emotional reasoning. Cognitive behavior therapy can give patients tips and techniques for looking at situations in a new light. Patients can learn to see all the possible outcomes of situations instead of just the one worst-case scenario outcome they are visualizing because of their own fears. Doctors and patients can go over sample decision-making scenarios together so suffers can develop skills to use on a day-to-day basis.
