What You Need To Know About Emotions
When it comes to grief, loss, or any type of trauma the chances are you’ll experience a whole lot of emotions. And we will all experience them in different ways and on a variety of levels. To help understanding emotions in grief, today we give a simple overview of the 6 main emotions.
Can You Master Your Emotions
You can master your emotions once you understand what they are. In this article, we will define emotions, how they are triggered, the 3 main components of emotions, and the different types of emotions that you can experience.
With this said when it comes to understanding emotions in grief, loss and trauma it is important to feel them all. Stuffing them in will only help dealy grief. But there are times when mastering them will help serve you better, especially if to comes to emotions like anger.
Emotion Defined
If you search online, you will find several definitions of emotion. We think that the simplest definition to absorb is that emotions are reactions in humans to a specific situation or event. People experience different types of emotions and the triggers for these are unique to them.
3 Components of Emotions
Your emotions are complex and there are 3 components to them which are:
1. Subjective experience
2. Physiological response
3. Behavioral response
Experts believe that there are 6 universal emotions that at some time each and every person will experience. We will discuss these later in this article. Studies have shown that emotions are subjective and that your emotional experiences are unique.
You can experience a combination of emotions at the same time and this will have a subjective impact on you. The bottom line here is that you will react to certain emotions in a different way than other people do.
Physical
Your body will react to different emotions. Some emotions may make you anxious and cause your stomach to churn and your heart to start racing. If you experience fear from the emotion then your brain is hard-wired to put you into a state of “fight or flight”.
Mental
The brain plays a very important role in emotions. You have an amygdala which is an element of your limbic system. Research studies have proven that the amygdala activates when a person is experiencing fear.
Your behavioral response is how you express your emotions. An unwanted emotion can cause you to behave in a way that you will regret afterward. Controlling your behavioral response to your emotions is very important.
An Overview of the 6 Universal Emotions
Paul Eckman is a psychologist who offered the notion of universal emotions to the world in the 1970s. Also known as the “core” emotions, Eckman’s notion has received wide acceptance across the world. Here is a brief overview for understanding emotions in grief and in life.
The 6 universal emotions that he put forward are:
1. Anger
2. Happiness
3. Fear
4. Surprise
5. Disgust
6. Sadness
Anger
You can usually tell if a person is angry. While releasing anger in times of grief loss and trauma is healthy, anger can result in violence if it gets out of control. A lot of people scream and yell when they are angry. Experiencing the anger emotion is not always bad as it can motivate you to make changes in your life.
Happiness
We all crave the happiness emotion. It can be very pleasant and provide us with a feeling of well-being and satisfaction. When you are experiencing a happy emotion, you are likely to smile and have an upbeat tone in your voice.
Fear
The fear emotion can be triggered by real danger or something irrational. Your brain will perceive both of these to be real and you can experience physiological effects such as a racing heart. Fear is a very commonly experienced emotion.
Surprise
Surprise can be good or bad. We all want pleasant surprises and not unpleasant ones.
Disgust
You can experience the disgust emotion from something that you do not find morally acceptable. It can also be experienced on a physical level such as a bad smell.
Sadness
We all experience the sadness emotion from time to time. Frustration can trigger the sadness emotion and so can the grief of losing a loved one. Some people will attempt to hide their sadness while others will openly cry.
Concluding Understanding Emotions in Grief
Expressing emotions is natural. We will all experience a variety of emotion and in different level. We can experience many at the same time, it is almost impossible to separate many. To help you manage them the above explanations give an overview of what they are so you can recognise them.
When it comes to grief, loss, and trauma that causes any life changes ist is important to feel them all. What is important is that you know if they are getting out of hand so you can protect yourself and others in cases of uncontrolled anger. Taking good care of yourself will help you move through your emotions in the healthiest way possible..
