The Emotionary No. 9 - Annoyed. Can CBT Help?

Annoyed

[uh-noid] adjective

Annoyed is like a yo-yo. You try to let it go, but it jerks back up to tap you on the hand. It must make you understand, pulls at your thoughts, repeats itself. Again and again. THIS is what is wrong with THEM. You have to learn to laugh and make a trick, or else put it down, or it will twist and get you stuck in its spin.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) helps us to manage our feelings of annoyance by targeting the underlying thoughts and behavioural patterns that are activated by a situation or someone else. All of us will inevitably feel annoyed at times, but sometimes we can be emotionally activated by the subconscious psychological ‘rules’ or assumptions that we have developed over our lifespan. An example of this is when we find ourselves making a ‘should’ statement, e.g. holding rigid expectations about how other people should behave or how situations should go. CBT teaches us to pause, notice our thoughts, and gently reframe them into more realistic or balanced perspectives. Alongside this, CBT introduces behavioural strategies, e.g. progressive muscle relaxation or controlled breathing to lower the physiological tension that invariably accompanies annoyance, helping us respond to the stressors we are encountering intentionally, rather than reacting purely on impulse.