What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand, and manage emotions in yourself and others. It helps people communicate better, make thoughtful decisions, and build healthier relationships.

Why is emotional intelligence important for wellbeing?

Emotional intelligence helps people handle stress, manage conflict, and respond thoughtfully instead of reacting emotionally. These skills improve resilience and personal wellbeing.

How can I improve emotional intelligence?

You can improve emotional intelligence through self-reflection, learning from emotional experiences, practicing empathy, and developing awareness of how emotions influence behaviour.

Where can I find emotional wellbeing tools?

You can explore exercises, quizzes, and reflection tools on our wellbeing tools page (https://emotionalintelligencedeveloper.com/wellbeing-and-self-help-tools/). You can also learn more about emotional intelligence concepts in our Emotional Intelligence Learning Hub.

World Teen Mental Health Day | Emotional Intelligence Developer

Being a teen is hard enough. If you add mental health struggles to that, makes life for some unbearable. In this world of social media, peer pressures can be amplified. Anxiety and Depression are the most common issues dealt with.

Depression and Anxiety should not be taken lightly. Teen suicides have increased dramatically since 2019.

What can you do to help?

*Be watchful of behavioral changes in your teen. Are they isolating themselves more? Have they lost interest in things that used to bring them joy? Is your teen sleeping more or have a change in their eating habits?

*Listen without judgement. So often, people will keep the signs of Anxiety and Depression hidden for fear of being judged. The feeling of shame is strong among those that suffer because of the stigma attached.

*Talk to your teen. Be willing to start the conversation. We, as parents, don’t always know what to do, so we hope they will “grow out of it”, or that it’s “just a phase” they are going through. Because your teen is keeping things to themselves, you will often need to make the first move to start the conversation about what they are struggling with.

*Reach out. Seek help in dealing with your teen’s struggles. If you don’t know where to start, often your family doctor can help steer you in the right direction for resources in your area.

*Educate yourself. Being aware of the issues and their symptoms can be a huge help. There are many helpful websites for this. This is a good place to start: https://988lifeline.org/

The Suicide Prevention Hotline Phone # is 988.

You don’t need to be experiencing a crisis to contact a crisis hotline. At most of these hotlines, the volunteers and counselors who answer calls, texts and chat messages are trained to help someone in crisis. But you can also reach out if you’re feeling sad, anxious or stressed and don’t know where to turn.

These hotlines also serve friends, family members and loved ones of someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis, domestic violence, abuse, addiction and many other issues.

Even if someone at a crisis hotline cannot help you with your specific needs, they can point you to the right resources that can. No one will ever make you feel bad for trying to get help, and no concern is too trivial or small. If it feels hard for you to manage, it’s worth reaching out.

For more information and other helpful resources and articles, please visit my Mental Health Help Page HERE.

Author

Penny Wilson Writes
Penny Wilson is an international writer who writes in several genres. She has written articles for WOW Women on Writing. Her poetry has been published in online journals, such as Ariel Chart, Spill Words Press and the Poppy Road Review. Penny is a member of the Austin Poetry Society. Her poetry has been featured in the publication America’s Emerging Poets 2018 & 2019 by Z Publishing and Poets Quarterly and Dual Coast Magazine published by Prolific Press. Most recently, you can find her poetry in an anthology by WordCrafter Press called Poetry Treasures.
Penny is an advocate for Mental Health Awareness and has the page “Mental Health Help” on her blog. She writes about the struggles of mental illnesses and Depression. She is passionate about spreading awareness for Suicide Prevention and Domestic Abuse. She expresses her passion through her writings of poetry and life experiences. You can find more of her writings on her blog at https://pennywilsonwrites.com/
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