Acharya Prashant explains that emotional hurt is primarily a result of one's own internal expectations and mental images rather than the actions of others. When we depend on a specific response from someone to feel good, any deviation from that expectation causes pain. He emphasizes that most of the time, people do not even intend to cause harm, but our fragile self-image, which relies on external validation like 'likes' or compliments, makes us vulnerable. To stop being hurt, one must stop living in imaginations and drop the burden of expectations. He clarifies that true closeness involves freeing the other person from expectations rather than binding them.