Step Four: Avoid Emotional Flooding. Flooding happens when you are already feeling tense or stressed and a conflict with your spouse, coworker or even child triggers an intense emotional reaction. Your heart pounds, your palms get sweaty, you feel cornered, and your mind races with defensive thoughts like, “I have to get out of this. I just can’t take it anymore”. When you feel like this, the best thing to do is remove yourself from the situation and take a break. You won’t really be listening to what the other person is saying anyway so you won’t be able to have a good communication until you are feeling more relaxed.