Understanding Emotions

Emotions – signals that tell your

mind and body how to react
 Emotions affect all sides of the
health triangle
 Joy
– Release brain chemicals that make you fell
warmth and a sense of well-being
– Promotes mental/emotional health
– Improves relationships
 Fear
– Fight or flight response – physical changes
 sweating, increased heart rate, increase breathing
rate, tightening of muscles, slowed digestion
 Identifying your emotions
 Sometimes you know exactly
why you feel a certain way
 Sometimes you have no idea
what caused that emotion to
occur
– Hormones – a chemical
secreted by your glands that
regulate the activities of different
body cells
 Accurately identifying what
emotion you are feeling will
help you respond in a healthy
way
 Happiness
 What are some words that describe how
you feel when you are happy?
 Sadness
 A normal, healthy reaction to difficult events
 What are some words that would describe
how you feel when you are sad?
 May be mild and fleeting or deep and long-
lasting
 Love
 What are some words that describe how
you feel when you are feeling love?
 Can be expressed through words or actions
 How can you show love to others?
 Empathy
 The ability to imagine and understand how
someone else feels
 Different from sympathy
 Fear
 What are some words that describe how
you feel when you experience fear?
 Phobia – exaggerated fear
 What are some examples of phobias?
 Guilt
 What are some words that describe how
you feel when you experience guilt?
 Results from acting against one’s values or
failing to act when you should have
 Anger

 What are some words that describe how you

feel when you are angry?
 Common reaction to being emotionally or
physically hurt
 If not handled in constructive ways it can
result in violence
– Hostility – the intentional use of unfriendly or
offensive behavior
 Hostile people are 4-7 times more likely to die from
heart disease
 Dealing with emotions in a positive
way
 Every time you experience an emotion, you have a
choice of how you will handle it
 Strategies for responding to your emotions
– Look below the surface – What are you really reacting to?
– Will this matter later (tomorrow, next week, next month,
next year)?
– Thoroughly consider the possible consequences before
taking action
– Let positive feelings inspire you. Relieve negative
feelings.
– If a negative feeling doesn’t go away…seek help.
 Defense Mechanisms
 Mental processes that protect individuals
from strong or stressful emotions or
situations
 Common Defense Mechanisms
 Suppression
– holding back or restraining – conscious, intentional
pushing of unpleasantness from one’s mind
 Repression
– involuntary pushing of unpleasant feelings out of
conscious thought
 Rationalization
– making excuses to explain a situation or behavior rather
than directly taking responsibility for it
 Regression
– reverting to behaviors more characteristic of an earlier
stage of development
 Common Defense Mechanisms
 Denial
– unconscious lack of acknowledgement of something
that is obvious to others
 Compensation
– making up for weaknesses and mistakes through gift-
giving, hard work, or extreme efforts
 Projection
– attributing your feelings or faults to another person or
group
 Idealization
– seeing someone else as perfect, ideal, or more worthy
than everyone else
 Handling Fear
 Some fear is healthy and natural. It is only a
problem if it is irrational or uncontrollable
 Overcoming fear
– Identify your fear
– Talk about your fear
– Learn about fear
 Managing Fear
 You can choose how to approach your fears
– 1. Forget Everything And Run
– Or
– 2. Face Everything And Rise
– The Key is having the knowledge, skills, and
support to know how to face the fear.
 Dealing with guilt
 Try to get to the source and deal with the
problem
 Do your best to right the wrong
 Learn from the experience and be more
responsible in the future
 Check yourself to make sure it was within
your control. If not, it is not your guilt.
 Managing Anger
 Get at the underlying source and address it
– Even if you can’t do anything about the source
 Cope with your feelings
 Strategies for Managing
Anger
 A 12-step program developed by doctors at Duke
University Medical Center
 Some examples
– Try seeing an upsetting issue from the other person’s
perspective
– Learn to relax
– Practice trusting other people
– Develop your listening skills
– Learn to assert yourself. Using assertiveness – instead of
aggression – can improve your relationships and help you
achieve your goals
– Remember that life is short. Ask yourself whether you
really have time to get angry
 Managing Anger Activity
1. Write the following headings on your paper
– Do something to relax
– Re-channel your energy
– Talk to someone you trust
– Get some physical activity
2. Under each heading list at least 2 activities you can
try the next time your are Angry and record them in
your phone. For extra Credit if you qualify
(meaning all your other work has been completed)
you can access your “Anger Management
Techniques” in your phone the next time your are
angry and put one or more of them to use. Then
write a paper clearly communicating the following;
 1. What made your angry?
 2. How did you feel before and after using
your “Anger Management Technique”?
 3. Were you able to move forward in a
positive way in the relationship with the
person or people you were angry with?
 4. Did you use your healthy communication
skills to try and move beyond the argument?