EMOTIVE LANGUAGE

Words are powerful things, and certain words have an emotional influence that can colour our thinking - very often in unhelpful ways. We can describe events to ourselves in terms that can either inflame our reactions or calm them down.

 

Emotive words are used to provoke emotion and sometimes to obscure rationality. It can cloud our thinking with emotion or steer us onto a side path. If I said that "this girl is unbelievably rude" instead of "she's not always very friendly" I will instantly feel defensive when the next time we meet or I will try to avoid this person altogether. My language might affect other peoples opinions too. If I told someone "that girl is unbelievably rude" I might plant a negative attitude and create a prejudice in that persons mind, so when he will meet the girl I was talking about he might see her as unbelievably rude without a question.

Emotive language is one of the main reasons why people end up convincing themselves that they will be unable to tolerate situations that they perfectly capable to cope with. It' important to remember that analogies and metaphors do not constitute proof.



How to stop yourself from using emotive language?

• When thinking or talking about emotionally inflammatory scenarios check your vocabulary and make sure you are not throwing fuel on the fire of your negative thoughts.

• Strive to achieve the most neutral, objective tone that you can.

•  When recalling a distressing situation try to look at in in detached way.

Of course it is very hard to think objectively about a scenario that has had a strong emotional impact and it might be difficult to accept that it is often our language that colours our perceptions and feeds our anxieties and low moods.