 Hey, Psych2Goers, welcome back to another video. Before we start, we would like to say thank you so much for all of the love and support that you've given us. Psych2Go's mission is to make psychology and mental health more accessible to everyone. Now, let's begin. Have you had an experience that left you wounded in the heart? Does the memory of it still hurt you today? If so, you may be emotionally wounded. Emotional wounds are essentially emotional or psychological trauma. And the effects of these can be damaging to your physical and mental well-being. They can encompass many experiences, such as heartbreak, emotional abuse, betrayal, and more. So here are seven signs you may be emotionally wounded. Number one, you get flashbacks. Did you know that many people who have gone through an emotionally traumatic event experience flashbacks afterwards? And there are actually two types of flashbacks you might experience, explicit and implicit. Explicit flashbacks are more memory-based and describe the feeling where you find yourself reliving the event all over again. On the other hand, implicit flashbacks are driven more by emotions and feel like an unexplained overreaction or outburst to an emotional trigger. Number two, you have low self-esteem. Emotional wounds hurt and may make you doubt your self-worth. According to therapist Tracy Hutchinson, it's common for these emotional wounds to involve verbal abuse and insult. Therefore, you may look back at those events and feel small, worthless, or ashamed. Your mind may be processing the event by tearing yourself esteem down to rationalize what happened to you. However, with proper healing, you may be able to process your emotional wounds in a way that doesn't cause you to question your confidence or self-worth. Number three, you have trouble controlling your emotions. You find yourself getting angry over small things and lashing out unexpectedly. Do you have a hard time quieting your mind at night? These could be signs of an emotional wound, since emotional wounds can make it really hard to regain control over the emotions that have been damaged. According to psychologist Melanie Greenberg from Psychology Today, emotional wounds often damage the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex, which are two brain areas heavily responsible for emotional regulation. Number four, you find yourself emotionally eating. Do you ever find yourself mindlessly eating sometimes? Emotional eating is common during times of stress, pain, and discomfort. This may be because food releases a feel-good chemical in the brain called dopamine. Emotionally eating may give you a sense of control or distract you from your past. However, it's important to recognize this in yourself because emotional eating can lead to a variety of eating disorders that can be harmful to your body. Number five, you have a chaotic sleep schedule. Have you had trouble falling asleep or problems sleeping too much? Do you wake up at random times late at night? All of this chaos surrounding yourself could be an effect of emotional wounds since trauma can impact your sleep in a number of negative ways. You may experience nightmares or experience anxiety at night when you are adrenaline may be keeping you alert and awake when you should be sleeping. Number six, you have a heavy heart. Do you sometimes feel sad out of the blue? Have you found yourself crying easily over the littlest of things? Another major sign of an emotional wound is extreme sadness. Extreme sadness is hard to bear and if it goes on for a long time, it may lead to emotional numbness where you suddenly go from feeling a lot of emotions to feeling absolutely nothing at all. Both of these options are difficult to deal with and could very well be signs of an emotional wound. And number seven, you feel the most secure by yourself. The spending time alone make you feel the calmest and the safest. Emotional wounds can bring about trust issues and make it hard to feel secure around other people. This may cause you to avoid social events and a lot of time alone and even begin to isolate yourself. Although you may feel best alone at the moment, remember that social isolation can cause so many other forms of damage to your emotional wellbeing. Do you think you're suffering from an emotional wound? Let us know in the comments below. If you found this video helpful, be sure to hit the like button and share this video with those who might benefit from it too. And subscribe to Psych2Go for more content. The references and studies used are added in the description below. Thanks for watching and we'll see you in our next video.