The Brain and Feeling
by Dr Judith Paphazy
This second article about the brain explores the role of Feeling. What are feelings and how do they affect us? Perhaps a good way to start is to clear up the differences between emotions and feelings.
EMOTIONS
Social psychologist Dr Kinga Mnich (2022) suggests that “emotions are chemical reactions in the brain and body while feelings are the social, cultural and individual interpretations of emotions.” Simply put emotions start as sensations in the brain and body. They are our reactions to a presenting situation. Generally accepted is the Ekman (1972) model of six basic emotions: sadness – happiness – fear – anger – surprise – disgust. While there are many other theories of emotions Plutchik’s (1980) wheel of eight primary emotions is perhaps the most cited. These are grouped as polar opposites: joy and sadness – acceptance and disgust – fear and anger – surprise and anticipation.
FEELINGS
Feelings are our interpretations of emotions and are influenced by our thoughts and personal interpretations. Thus, feelings are our learned responses, our way of naming the emotions. Because our emotions and feelings are subjective, each of us perceives and processes them in a different way.
Let us take a common example: fear of spiders (arachnophobia) – usually the result of some adverse experience or interaction with a spider. Then the mere thought or picture of a spider can elicit feelings such as fright, disgust or some other feeling. Another example: becoming angry and yelling because someone has bumped into you. This appears as an overreaction but may well be just the last straw because the bumped person has built up pressure over time and finally explodes. We often find it difficult to express our feelings in a useful or constructive manner. It takes practise to become comfortable in expressing our feelings. The actual trick is to learn to name the feeling and then decide what to do about it. The behaviour that then follows is a conscious choice.
Some tips to help with uncomfortable feelings are:
- stop and think about the feeling,
- name the feeling,
- give yourself an alternative, a more useful feeling,
- practise positive self talk and look for what is good in your life,
- breathing and relaxation exercises can also be helpful.
Feelings, as a result of emotions, can of course be positive and life affirming. Fredrickson (2004) said:
“….positive emotions broaden an individual’s momentary thought-action repertoire: joy sparks the urge to play, interest sparks the urge to explore, contentment sparks the urge to savour and integrate, and love sparks a recurring cycle of each of the urges within safe, close relationships.”
Both negative and positive feelings are from emotions and both are normal. Angry feelings can be protective, they can warn us of an impending danger. But, it is wise not to dwell on negative feelings too much as they tend to make us anxious and possibly feel overwhelmed. Then, it is easy to get things out of balance and life becomes more challenging. Good or positive feelings are beneficial in many ways. Whereas negative feelings narrow our focus, positive ones increase our awareness, attention and memory. This allows us to take in more information and to be more flexible problem solvers. There is much evidence showing that people who develop habits that encourage positive emotions, and their resultant feelings, live healthier and more successful lives.
We are told that developing daily habits of naming and noting good feelings experienced during the day as well as focusing on one of the feelings, and thinking about how to strengthen that feeling, increases our overall well-being.
