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Unpacking Anxiety: A New Perspective of Emotional Intelligence

Unpacking Anxiety: A New Perspective of Emotional Intelligence

Plus, 5 tips to stop labeling all emotions as "anxiety" and boost emotional intelligence.

Sol TV
April 24, 2025

😰 Why "Anxiety" Isn't Always the Optimal Word

🔎 TL/DR

🍎 Sol Bites: Five Ways to Stop Labeling Everything as Anxiety

🌈 How Nature Can Help Master Your Emotional Intelligence

📹 Video Bite: Brandon McCullen on Coping Anxiety

🦉 Words of Wisdom

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Why "Anxiety" Isn't Always the Optimal Word

Psychologists and scientists have always placed high value on emotional granularity—the capacity to recognize and label specific emotions to tackle them appropriately. We all need self-awareness and emotional literacy so we don’t fall into a trap of calling everything we are feeling “anxiety”—but that’s exactly what is happening these days. We’re experiencing a cultural phenomenon in which there is unrestricted use of mental health terms on social media. It contributes, in part, to the labeling problem.

In a 2024 Vox article, "How anxiety became a catchall for every unpleasant emotion," author Allie Volpe delved into how the excessive use of the term "anxiety" dilutes its meaning and squashes our emotional intelligence. She argued that labeling any queasy sensation as anxiety is oversimplistic and neglects complex feelings like sadness, anger, or guilt. What we really need to do is address their root causes. Oversimplification can trap us in a vague distress, which makes dealing with negative emotions more challenging. With a more expansive, multidimensional awareness of our feelings, we can become better at coping with mental illness and developing resilience.

TL;DR

The overuse of "anxiety" as a catch-all for bad feelings is harmful to emotional health because it obscures personal feelings, such as—but not limited to—sadness or frustration. Correctly naming emotions enables us to cope with their causes and build resilience. Careless use of mental health jargon contributes to the problem, but deliberate practices can improve our emotional intelligence.

Sol Bites: Five Ways to Stop Labeling Everything as Anxiety

Pause and reflect.

When you notice you’re unsettled, sit with the discomfort rather than immediately calling it "anxiety." Ask yourself, "What am I actually feeling at this moment?"

Expand your emotional vocabulary.

Use more specific terms, such as “frustrated,” “overwhelmed,” or “dejected,” to better label your mood. A tool like an emotion wheel can help.

Source: Feelings Wheel

Identify the trigger.

Follow your emotion back to its source. Was it sparked by a work deadline, an argument, or discussion about the future? Knowing the underlying cause accounts for the emotion.

Practice correct emotion labeling.

Journal regularly or talk out your feelings with a close friend. It helps to play with different emotional labels to pinpoint the exact sentiment you are feeling continually.

Avoid using broad terms like "anxiety" when you’re talking or thinking about yourself. Challenge yourself to be specific, even if it feels awkward.

Be vigilant on social media.

Be careful about adopting trendy mental health terminology from platforms like TikTok or X, which can give complex feelings to oversimplified labels.

The inclination to categorize all painful sensations as “anxiety” hinders our ability to engage with and modulate our emotional health. By cultivating emotional granularity, we can transcend this all-consuming trap and become more familiar with our internal lives.

I hope this serves as a reminder that your emotions are complex and deserve nuanced consideration.

By transcending this complexity, you can enhance your emotional intelligence and your ability to live more authentically and resiliently.

Let's keep delving into the depths of feeling together. Want to go deeper? Check out more articles on anxiety from Sol TV here.

How Nature Can Help Master Your Emotional Intelligence

Learn how nature’s cues can sharpen your emotional intelligence and help you move beyond labels like "anxiety."

Video Bite

Sol TV Creator Brandon McCullen shares an actionable technique on dealing with anxiety beyond just breathing or counting numbers.

Words of Wisdom

❝

Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.

Charles Spurgeon

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