What are emotions?
Emotions are complex, and this is a deep subject. It will be covered in more detail throughout many other articles on this site, and for the purposes of this discussion, a brief overview will be mentioned below.
Emotions are subjective experiences that are unique to each individual. They involve physiological arousal, cognitive appraisal, expressive behaviour, and subjective feelings. They play a fundamental role in human psychology and influence various aspects of behaviour, cognition, and social interactions.
Emotions are often accompanied by physiological changes in the body, such as increased heart rate, changes in breathing patterns, muscle tension, and activation of the autonomic nervous system. They help people interpret their experiences and make evaluations in order to make sense of their environment, make decisions, and ultimately define to themselves how safe they feel to “be present”. Emotions can be conscious or unconscious, in relation to the awareness a person has of them, when experiencing them. Which brings a whole other level to dealing with emotional trauma, the causes of unhelpful habits, and what a persons process through their recovery of difficult experiences will consist of.
Emotions play a distinct part in learning, personal development, and are significant in enhancing or breaking relational connections. They are pivotal in the human experience, and understanding the reality of one’s own behaviour requires acute emotional awareness.
Emotions can be a powerful resource, espcially when the person experiencing them is self aware and being honest about what they are feeling. Emotions comprise a great proportion of our moment-to-moment experiences, and can define if we enjoy our lives, or if we simply endure our weeks by emotionally suffering with unhappiness.
The good news is, emotions can be influenced. What we allow ourselves to be emotionally influenced by is very important.
DISCLAIMER
These articles are not to replace a licensed therapist’s advice, or to influence any choices in where one gets therapy, who with and at which time of an experience. The posts are simply designed to help people find out what they might like to look further into regarding the psychotherapy industry. The reader is responsible for their own decisions, actions and behaviour, and further exploration on topics is recommended before making any decisions related to the details in the posts. These articles are designed to be at a superficial level of discussion. In compiling the articles, we have attempted to keep triggering material to a minimum, yet we cannot guarantee that readers will be comfortable when reading posts at all times. If you are experiencing any type of discomfort while reading any of the posts, please consider if you need some support.