Your Emotional Backpack

The Emotional Backpack

Imagine that every day, you carry an emotional backpack. Some days, it’s fairly light—you slept well, ate breakfast, and your pain is manageable. On other days, the backpack is full before you even leave the house.

• It might be weighed down with poor sleep, pain flares, or exhaustion.

• There might be stones of invalidation from a recent appointment, or bricks of worry from unresolved trauma.

• Maybe someone added a few extra water bottles of stress—a harsh comment from a loved one, a financial worry, or a reminder that your body doesn’t work the way it used to.

Now imagine someone bumps into you on the street—an everyday prompting event.
If your backpack is light, you might be mildly irritated but recover quickly.
But if your backpack is already heavy, even a small nudge can knock you over.

That's what vulnerability factors do:
They make the load heavier, and your emotional responses more intense.

The good news? You can lighten the load.

You may not be able to take off the backpack completely, but you can:

• Unpack what no longer needs to be carried

• Add supportive items like rest, nourishment, soothing rituals, and DBT skills

• Build strength to carry what you must with more ease and resilience

And importantly, you can learn to recognise when your backpack is heavy—and respond with care instead of self-criticism.