Areas › Low mood and hard feelings › Act on your values
When a feeling pushes you to hide or lash out and it does not fit the facts, gently do the opposite.
Fear says withdraw; step forward. Anger says strike; soften. When the urge misfits reality, act against it.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Repel evil with good (Quran 23:96). Answering an ugly pull with its opposite good is the move being named.
ٱدۡفَعۡ بِٱلَّتِي هِيَ أَحۡسَنُ ٱلسَّيِّئَةَۚ نَحۡنُ أَعۡلَمُ بِمَا يَصِفُونَ
Repel evil with good- We are well aware of what they attribute to Us
Qur’an 23:96read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
When an emotion does not fit the situation, doing the opposite of what it urges, approaching instead of avoiding, softening instead of striking, gradually turns the feeling down.
Linehan, M. M., Armstrong, H. E., Suarez, A., Allmon, D. and Heard, H. L. (1991). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of chronically parasuicidal borderline patients. Archives of General Psychiatry doi
Structured skills training in emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness reduces crisis behaviour and improves functioning.
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
Acting against an unhelpful emotional urge, when it does not fit the facts, weakens the emotion over time.
Where this sits: DBT and ACT, opposite action and values-based action.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.