Many teenagers struggle with mood swings and emotional regulation. Their frustration may manifest as a public outburst, which is embarrassing and hard for many parents to manage. If your teen has frequent emotional outbursts, it may indicate an underlying issue.
At NexStep Teen Academy, we offer outpatient treatment for teens struggling with emotional regulation. Our highly qualified staff will assess your teen’s mental health and treat the underlying condition. This article aims to help parents, caregivers, and educators understand public emotional outbursts. It will also help them identify the warning signs of emotional dysregulation and strategies for managing emotional outbursts.
If your teen struggles with emotional regulation, contact NexStep Teen Academy today to get them the help they need.
Understanding Teen Emotional Outbursts
Teenagers’ lives can be challenging as they undergo physical, emotional, and mental changes. Coupled with the responsibility of making adult decisions, teens often become frustrated and overwhelmed. These emotions can cause them to have a meltdown or an emotional outburst.
Emotional outbursts are sudden, uncontrollable, and strong emotions that are disproportionate to the event causing the reaction. They may also involve a rapid cycling between two strong emotions, such as frustration and rage. Your teen may start yelling, crying, or exhibiting aggressive behavior in a social setting. Witnessing a teenager’s public meltdown can be distressing for any parent and can leave them wondering what to do to help their teens.
Public emotional outbursts can happen anywhere. They are often seen during family gatherings, school, the mall, or on public transportation. The biggest problem with public meltdowns is that they are unpredictable and uncontrollable. Teens start crying or throwing temper tantrums whenever they feel overwhelmed by emotions.
Why Do Teens Experience Outbursts in Public?
Teens may become overwhelmed by emotions because of many reasons. These include the following:
Emotional Dysregulation: Teens experiencing emotional dysregulation react irrationally in certain situations. They can suddenly become irritable or cry when they are triggered. Teens with emotional dysregulation find it difficult to control their emotions and usually lack emotional regulation skills. If your teen has frequent emotional outbursts, it may signify that they are emotionally dysregulated.
Trauma: It is a complex emotional response to a traumatic event such as an accident, assault, or natural disaster. It frightens teens when they remember or experience a similar event. Trauma causes teens to become sensitive to places or people who caused them trauma. If your teen has a disproportionate reaction towards a person or a place, it may be due to a traumatic event caused by the person or place.
Underlying Mental Health Conditions: Teens with mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), borderline personality disorder (BPD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to have emotional outbursts. These conditions cause emotional dysregulation in teens.
Examples of Public Emotional Outbursts
The following are examples of emotional outbursts in teens:
Suddenly becoming irritable or angry
Shouting, yelling, or crying in public
Cursing and insulting others
Property destruction
Throwing temper tantrums
Throwing things
Slamming doors or stomping away
Kitting, bitting, or slamming their heads against the wall
Identifying Early Warning Signs of a Public Emotional Outburst
Parents should be on the lookout for the following signs of an emotional outburst:
Inability to verbalize or express feelings properly
Difficulty accepting or understanding emotions
Not understanding the cause of an emotional outburst
Feeling helpless or hopeless when it comes to controlling feelings
Impulsiveness
Feeling overwhelmed by emotions
Strategies for Managing Teen Public Emotional Outbursts
You can do several things to manage teen public meltdowns, including:
Immediate De-Escalation of The Situation
If your teen is having a public emotional display, it is vital that you de-escalate the situation immediately. You can do this by validating their feelings and showing empathy. Many teens worry that there is something wrong with their emotions since they experience very strong feelings. When your teen is having a meltdown, they feel overwhelmed by strong emotions while also worrying about how strong their feelings are. As a parent or guardian, you can de-escalate the situation by validating their feelings. Tell them you understand their feelings and why they are reacting that way. This will help them feel understood and can help them calm down.
Be empathetic when talking to your teen. Show them you love and support them despite their reaction. Remember to be calm and collected throughout your interaction. Many parents become angry with their teens rather than ensuring the situation is diffused. If you yell at your teen, their meltdown will become worse. Remaining level-headed and calm helps your teen regulate their emotions.
If your teen is reacting to a person or place, remove them from the situation. Removing them from the situation reduces their exposure to the potential trigger, allowing them to calm down faster.
Open and Effective Communication
Communication is a critical way of helping teens with emotional outbursts. Open communication skills like active listening and asking open-ended questions can help your teen regulate their emotions. Active listening involves listening to your teen’s problems without interrupting. Do not jump into offering solutions immediately because having an outlet for intense emotions can also be a source of relief.
To help your teen express themselves better, ask them open-ended questions. These questions help them verbalize their feelings properly rather than reacting to negative situations. Open-ended questions can also help you discover the root cause of the meltdown.
Teaching Emotional Regulation Techniques
If your teen struggles with frequent meltdowns, teach them healthy coping techniques. During a meltdown, your teen feels overwhelmed by emotions. Teach your teen productive ways of channeling their emotions, such as breathing exercises, art, and music.
A typical breathing exercise involves several steps. First, ask your teen to place their hand on their stomach. They should then take a deep breath for five seconds, hold their breath for two seconds, and exhale for another five seconds. They should breathe through their nose and out through their mouth. A simple breathing exercise can help them calm down and manage their emotions better.
Another simple way of calming down is through counting. When your teen feels overwhelmed, they should slowly countdown from 50. This helps them focus on other activities rather than strong emotions.
Preventing Public Emotional Outbursts in Teens
Public emotional scene prevention can be challenging. However, there are several things you can do to prevent future emotional outbursts. These include the following:
Modeling Positive Behavior
As a parent or guardian, you should model positive behavior in your teen. Teens learn and absorb information from their environment. Your teen will learn to regulate their emotions if you demonstrate calming techniques.
Parents should also foster a positive mindset in their teens. Thought, feelings, and behaviors are connected. If your teen can learn to control their negative thoughts, they can overcome emotional dysregulation.
Creating A Supportive Environment
Let your teen know that home is a safe space to verbalize or express their feelings without fear of judgment. Many teens become overwhelmed because they do not have an outlet for their distressing feelings. As a parent or guardian, you should create a safe environment where your teen can express themselves freely.
Setting Clear Boundaries
You should have a conversation with your teen about what you expect of them when out in public. Set boundaries and be clear about the consequences of crossing the boundaries. Tell them what is acceptable and what is not.
If your teen crosses the boundaries set, ensure you follow up with the consequences. If you do not follow through, you will be reinforcing negative behavior.
Encouraging Problem-Solving
Your teen may have emotional outbursts because they do not know how to solve problems. As a parent, you should teach your teen how to navigate difficult situations. Through collaborative problem-solving, you can work together with your teen to solve their issues. That will also help them develop their own problem-solving techniques.
Therapeutic Approaches for Managing Public Emotional Outbursts
Here are a few evidence-based treatment methods for teens struggling with public emotional outbursts:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is by far the most popular evidence-based mental health treatment approach. It is based on the idea that thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are connected. CBT can help change teen behavior by teaching them to recognize and identify distorted thinking patterns. It also teaches teens how their negative thoughts cause them to behave negatively. CBT aims to help teens shift from negative thoughts to positive ones.
CBT uses three primary methods to help teens manage their emotions. These include the following:
Cognitive Restructuring: This technique helps teens turn negative thoughts into positive ones. It allows teens to identify negative thought patterns and reframe them into positive ones. It can be very suitable for teens who struggle with emotional outbursts as they can identify their distorted thoughts and restructure them into positive ones.
Journaling: This technique helps teens break from their intrusive thoughts. It allows teens to set goals and record their progress during therapy. Journaling will enable teens to identify triggers, assess their emotional reactions, and analyze how their bodies feel when faced with the trigger.
Guided Discovery: This technique helps teens gain a wider perspective. They are encouraged to see things from another point of view, and so they understand how others feel when they have emotional outbursts.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT is similar to CBT but focuses on first corrective negative behavior. It is particularly helpful for teens with emotional outbursts as it was developed to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD is an emotional regulation issue that makes it difficult for teens to regulate their intense emotions.
DBT is based on the idea that two opposites, acceptance and change, will yield better results than when done alone. This unique perspective helps teens accept their experiences and work on changing negative behaviors.
DBT utilizes four core principles to treat teens. These include the following:
Mindfulness: It is a practice that enables teens to slow down their thoughts and appreciate the present. Through mindfulness, teens can become more aware of their feelings instead of reacting negatively.
Distress Tolerance: This practice helps teens accept their experiences and tolerate negative stimuli. It helps them maintain control of their emotions when faced with difficult situations.
Emotional Regulation: It teaches teens how to choose a different reaction when faced with difficulty.
Interpersonal Effectiveness: It gives teens a different perspective on their behavior. It helps them understand how their negativity affects those around them.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a mindfulness-based form of therapy that helps teens accept difficult thoughts and emotions. It promotes flexibility, allowing people to focus on meaningful actions instead of avoiding discomfort associated with these problems.
Here are some of the key aspects of ACT:
Acceptance: Acknowledging thoughts and emotions without trying to control or suppress them.
Cognitive Defusion: Learning to see thoughts as separate from oneself, reducing their influence.
Mindfulness: Staying present rather than being caught up in past regrets or future worries.
Values-Based Living: Identifying core values and committing to actions that align with them.
By fostering these skills, ACT helps individuals navigate challenges, build resilience, and create a fulfilling life.
Family Therapy
This type of therapy helps families understand how to deal with emotional outbursts. It helps them build stronger bonds and work together to improve teen mental health. It uses behavioral techniques to equip families with the required skills to help teens overcome emotional dysregulation.
Teen Treatment Programs at NexStep Teen Academy
At NexStep Teen Academy, we provide high-quality mental health treatment. Our five-day-a-week outpatient program is suitable for teens with emotional regulation issues. Tucked away in the desert of Arizona, NexStep Teen Academy is a premier mental health facility offering different services for teens in Arizona.
Our highly qualified staff will ensure that your teen’s underlying mental health condition is treated and that they have overcome their emotional regulation issues. At NexStep Teen Academy, we believe in a family-centric approach to ensure the whole family is involved in treatment.
Teenagers struggle with emotional regulation. While it is normal for teens to have emotional outbursts, if they become more frequent and intense, it may signify an underlying issue that needs to be addressed.
Teen Public Emotional Outbursts
Table of Contents
Many teenagers struggle with mood swings and emotional regulation. Their frustration may manifest as a public outburst, which is embarrassing and hard for many parents to manage. If your teen has frequent emotional outbursts, it may indicate an underlying issue.
At NexStep Teen Academy, we offer outpatient treatment for teens struggling with emotional regulation. Our highly qualified staff will assess your teen’s mental health and treat the underlying condition. This article aims to help parents, caregivers, and educators understand public emotional outbursts. It will also help them identify the warning signs of emotional dysregulation and strategies for managing emotional outbursts.
If your teen struggles with emotional regulation, contact NexStep Teen Academy today to get them the help they need.
Understanding Teen Emotional Outbursts
Teenagers’ lives can be challenging as they undergo physical, emotional, and mental changes. Coupled with the responsibility of making adult decisions, teens often become frustrated and overwhelmed. These emotions can cause them to have a meltdown or an emotional outburst.
Emotional outbursts are sudden, uncontrollable, and strong emotions that are disproportionate to the event causing the reaction. They may also involve a rapid cycling between two strong emotions, such as frustration and rage. Your teen may start yelling, crying, or exhibiting aggressive behavior in a social setting. Witnessing a teenager’s public meltdown can be distressing for any parent and can leave them wondering what to do to help their teens.
Public emotional outbursts can happen anywhere. They are often seen during family gatherings, school, the mall, or on public transportation. The biggest problem with public meltdowns is that they are unpredictable and uncontrollable. Teens start crying or throwing temper tantrums whenever they feel overwhelmed by emotions.
Why Do Teens Experience Outbursts in Public?
Teens may become overwhelmed by emotions because of many reasons. These include the following:
Examples of Public Emotional Outbursts
The following are examples of emotional outbursts in teens:
Identifying Early Warning Signs of a Public Emotional Outburst
Parents should be on the lookout for the following signs of an emotional outburst:
Strategies for Managing Teen Public Emotional Outbursts
You can do several things to manage teen public meltdowns, including:
Immediate De-Escalation of The Situation
If your teen is having a public emotional display, it is vital that you de-escalate the situation immediately. You can do this by validating their feelings and showing empathy. Many teens worry that there is something wrong with their emotions since they experience very strong feelings. When your teen is having a meltdown, they feel overwhelmed by strong emotions while also worrying about how strong their feelings are. As a parent or guardian, you can de-escalate the situation by validating their feelings. Tell them you understand their feelings and why they are reacting that way. This will help them feel understood and can help them calm down.
Be empathetic when talking to your teen. Show them you love and support them despite their reaction. Remember to be calm and collected throughout your interaction. Many parents become angry with their teens rather than ensuring the situation is diffused. If you yell at your teen, their meltdown will become worse. Remaining level-headed and calm helps your teen regulate their emotions.
If your teen is reacting to a person or place, remove them from the situation. Removing them from the situation reduces their exposure to the potential trigger, allowing them to calm down faster.
Open and Effective Communication
Communication is a critical way of helping teens with emotional outbursts. Open communication skills like active listening and asking open-ended questions can help your teen regulate their emotions. Active listening involves listening to your teen’s problems without interrupting. Do not jump into offering solutions immediately because having an outlet for intense emotions can also be a source of relief.
To help your teen express themselves better, ask them open-ended questions. These questions help them verbalize their feelings properly rather than reacting to negative situations. Open-ended questions can also help you discover the root cause of the meltdown.
Teaching Emotional Regulation Techniques
If your teen struggles with frequent meltdowns, teach them healthy coping techniques. During a meltdown, your teen feels overwhelmed by emotions. Teach your teen productive ways of channeling their emotions, such as breathing exercises, art, and music.
A typical breathing exercise involves several steps. First, ask your teen to place their hand on their stomach. They should then take a deep breath for five seconds, hold their breath for two seconds, and exhale for another five seconds. They should breathe through their nose and out through their mouth. A simple breathing exercise can help them calm down and manage their emotions better.
Another simple way of calming down is through counting. When your teen feels overwhelmed, they should slowly countdown from 50. This helps them focus on other activities rather than strong emotions.
Preventing Public Emotional Outbursts in Teens
Public emotional scene prevention can be challenging. However, there are several things you can do to prevent future emotional outbursts. These include the following:
Modeling Positive Behavior
As a parent or guardian, you should model positive behavior in your teen. Teens learn and absorb information from their environment. Your teen will learn to regulate their emotions if you demonstrate calming techniques.
Parents should also foster a positive mindset in their teens. Thought, feelings, and behaviors are connected. If your teen can learn to control their negative thoughts, they can overcome emotional dysregulation.
Creating A Supportive Environment
Let your teen know that home is a safe space to verbalize or express their feelings without fear of judgment. Many teens become overwhelmed because they do not have an outlet for their distressing feelings. As a parent or guardian, you should create a safe environment where your teen can express themselves freely.
Setting Clear Boundaries
You should have a conversation with your teen about what you expect of them when out in public. Set boundaries and be clear about the consequences of crossing the boundaries. Tell them what is acceptable and what is not.
If your teen crosses the boundaries set, ensure you follow up with the consequences. If you do not follow through, you will be reinforcing negative behavior.
Encouraging Problem-Solving
Your teen may have emotional outbursts because they do not know how to solve problems. As a parent, you should teach your teen how to navigate difficult situations. Through collaborative problem-solving, you can work together with your teen to solve their issues. That will also help them develop their own problem-solving techniques.
Therapeutic Approaches for Managing Public Emotional Outbursts
Here are a few evidence-based treatment methods for teens struggling with public emotional outbursts:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is by far the most popular evidence-based mental health treatment approach. It is based on the idea that thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are connected. CBT can help change teen behavior by teaching them to recognize and identify distorted thinking patterns. It also teaches teens how their negative thoughts cause them to behave negatively. CBT aims to help teens shift from negative thoughts to positive ones.
CBT uses three primary methods to help teens manage their emotions. These include the following:
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT is similar to CBT but focuses on first corrective negative behavior. It is particularly helpful for teens with emotional outbursts as it was developed to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD is an emotional regulation issue that makes it difficult for teens to regulate their intense emotions.
DBT is based on the idea that two opposites, acceptance and change, will yield better results than when done alone. This unique perspective helps teens accept their experiences and work on changing negative behaviors.
DBT utilizes four core principles to treat teens. These include the following:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a mindfulness-based form of therapy that helps teens accept difficult thoughts and emotions. It promotes flexibility, allowing people to focus on meaningful actions instead of avoiding discomfort associated with these problems.
Here are some of the key aspects of ACT:
By fostering these skills, ACT helps individuals navigate challenges, build resilience, and create a fulfilling life.
Family Therapy
This type of therapy helps families understand how to deal with emotional outbursts. It helps them build stronger bonds and work together to improve teen mental health. It uses behavioral techniques to equip families with the required skills to help teens overcome emotional dysregulation.
Teen Treatment Programs at NexStep Teen Academy
At NexStep Teen Academy, we provide high-quality mental health treatment. Our five-day-a-week outpatient program is suitable for teens with emotional regulation issues. Tucked away in the desert of Arizona, NexStep Teen Academy is a premier mental health facility offering different services for teens in Arizona.
Our highly qualified staff will ensure that your teen’s underlying mental health condition is treated and that they have overcome their emotional regulation issues. At NexStep Teen Academy, we believe in a family-centric approach to ensure the whole family is involved in treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Teenagers struggle with emotional regulation. While it is normal for teens to have emotional outbursts, if they become more frequent and intense, it may signify an underlying issue that needs to be addressed.
If your teen’s emotional outbursts become frequent and prevent them from functioning properly in their day-to-day lives, then you should be concerned.