Chinese people have recently adopted the word “emo” to express sadness, depression, and being emotional.

(A celebrity asks what is “emo” on his Weibo.)

It was originally taken from the music genre "Emotional Hardcore" which emerged in the US in the 1980s and became popular in the 2000s, featuring acts such as My Chemical Romance and Fallout Boy. It was a kind of sub-culture and people who liked that kind of music were called “EMOs”. In the dictionary, “EMO” refers to a young person who likes this music, wears mainly black clothes, and is often nervous, worried and unhappy.

Actually the “emo” culture has always existed, and each generation has different ways of expression. As a netizen said, “people born in the 1970s expressed their feelings through poetry and words; those born in the 1980s expelled their dismal feelings by listening to folk songs and rock and roll; and people born in the 1990s liked to express their youthful feelings on Qzone.”

How can we fight against and avoid being “emo”? Here are four tips:

1. Accept your emotions

2. Divert your attention

3. Do some breathing exercises to relax

4. Deal with stress in time