Distress tolerance skills are important skills that teach you to manage difficult emotional states. Many people are eager to change their circumstances to feel better in the short term only to face the same emotional intensity again and again in the long run. Rather then engaging in harsh judgments, chronic distraction, or impulsive behaviors, distress tolerance skills teach you that you are capable of feeling the discomfort and still be effective in your actions. These management skills lay a foundation that eventually help you to process difficult emotions more deeply, giving you anchors and resources to draw on when it gets tough. You’ll also learn how fighting reality makes situations worse and useful ways to learn to engage with life’s challenges, even though you may not like it. Look, you may not have created all of your problems, but the reality is you have to solve them anyway. Distress tolerance skills can be powerful allies in calming the emotional storm so you can act more effectively.