Experience - what kind of feeling is it? Definition, types and forms of experience

Experience is the bodily experience of mental states. A person comprehends the event that has happened, passes it through his head in order to analyze it and draw conclusions. But there is another way. Basically, people embody an event in the body, during which a joyful event fills the body with positive emotions, and a difficult event is expressed through crying in order to break out of the body and leave.

Usually people experience a negative state, which becomes their habit. It is normal to be upset sometimes, since we all face problems from time to time that cause stress, and our life cannot always be cloudless. However, if stress does not let you go all the time, you should be wary. Suffering has a detrimental effect on health and leads to serious illnesses.

How is it considered in psychology?

In the psychological literature there are different interpretations and views on the feelings of experience. There are two views on emotional experiences as a psychological phenomenon:

1. Study of feeling based on the emotional sphere.
2. Experience allows a person to overcome various situations during which the inner world changes.

For some authors, feeling is closely related to emotions. Any emotional experience is associated with life events and has a vivid psychological overtones.

Other authors distinguish between emotions and experiences; for them, the second state is a separate process associated with the reflexive part of a person. The most famous work on this topic was presented by F. E. Vasilyuk in his book “Psychology of Experiences.”

Let's consider different aspects of this complex mental phenomenon.

Find the source of your anxiety

To solve a problem, you need to understand why it appeared. At first glance, it would seem that everything is so easy and simple. But not always. There are situations when a person feels internally restless, but cannot do anything about it, because he simply cannot understand why he is in such a state. Sit in a quiet and calm place, concentrating on your emotions and feelings. And start thinking about exactly what worries you so much. Ask yourself specific questions, then listen to the feelings inside you and answer your question. But you should answer only the truth.

For example, let’s give the following chain of thoughts of a girl who is about to make an important speech in front of a large number of people. “Am I afraid to perform? No, this is not the first time I have done this, and I am confident in my skills and preparation. Am I afraid of the big hall and the audience? No, I’ve been doing this for quite a long time and, on the contrary, I love seeing the audience in front of me, although every time I worry, like the first time. Am I nervous about the new venue I'm about to perform in? In fact, no, for a long time now it has not made any difference to me where I perform, I don’t pay attention to it at all. Am I scared because I've moved to a new level? Not certainly in that way. Of course I'm worried about this, but it makes me more happy than it bothers me. Am I worried that my loved ones will not be with me on this day? I don’t need a whole support group, but... still this thought sticks out to me. I am offended that my boyfriend will not be able to support me on such a day. Of course, as always, he has good reasons for this. But for the umpteenth time he doesn’t come to my performances. It seems to me that he is not at all interested in what I do. He's probably not interested in me. It seems to me that he has lost interest in me. I think he has another woman. That's why I'm worried."

Forms of experiencing feelings

If we connect the emotional sphere and experience, then we cannot bypass the form of manifestation. Forms of experiencing emotions:

1. Mood. A general condition that is associated with vitality. It can be positive or depressed, passive.
2. Affects. Severe agitation in which a person is unable to control his actions. The result of affective behavior can be unexpected feelings - laughter, joy, anger. Affect depends on the individual qualities of a person - temperament, character.
3. Stress. The condition occurs under stressful conditions and a person’s behavior changes.
4. Frustration. This form of emotional feeling is characterized by disorganization of consciousness; the person is in a state of hopelessness.
5. Passion. A strong, lasting feeling that completely captures a person. One of the feelings that increases the activity of the individual. Manifests itself in learning, work, sports, creativity, and science. There is negative and positive passion.

The essence of emotional excitement

An emotion is a person’s response to stimuli, which can be both external and internal. This is like an internal signal to inform what happened to a person. Emotions are assigned the role of a secondary phenomenon from our nature of contact with other people during communication. The following emotions are distinguished:

• Feeling of anger - a person is angry, he wants to get into a fight, which is manifested at the physiological level by increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, uneven breathing, muscle tension, and a feeling of heat in the body. Our body needs a release that will help calm down. They do not recommend suppressing your physiological needs or pushing your emotions inside yourself.
• A feeling of fear - suggests the appearance of dryness in the mouth, moistening of the palms, chills, goosebumps throughout the body. If people begin to suppress the feeling of fear that has arisen, this can have negative consequences.
• The feeling of resentment is associated with experiencing states of protest, accusation, aggression, suffering, which are used to attract attention to oneself and put pressure on another person. Each of us has a fear of being the object of offense and the offender himself at the level of consciousness and subconsciousness. But by hurting another person who deserves it, you can push him to take some important step for the better.
• Shyness is a feeling after realizing one’s value, which does not correspond to the opinions of others or personal principles.
• Suffering is a negative experience that begins to manifest itself when it is impossible to satisfy the needs that are significant to a person.
• Delight is a positive emotion when current human needs are met.
• Amazement is an emotional reaction to situations and circumstances that no one expects.

These are not all types of such experiences that are considered means of manifesting relationships and making contact with other people.

What does it mean to experience internally?

A storm of a person’s internal emotions associated with anxiety, worry, anxiety, and foreboding are his experiences that manifest themselves at the level of the soul, somewhere inside. Usually a negative phenomenon causes anxiety, fear, and a premonition of something bad. In addition, internal sensations can be manifestations of feelings about what has happened or what is about to become real in the future. Most of us in such a situation begin to be filled with fear of the unknown or consequences. Fear is generated by the unknown, a lack of positive experience. We understand with our minds that some strange things are happening. This provokes the production of hormones of anger and fear. And as a result, we see the emotions and reactions of the body.

Most of us experience the following symptoms:

• mood swings;
• internal anxiety;
• systematic movements indoors;
• speech becomes hasty;
• does not sit in one place;
• facial expressions are monotonous;
• other.

During this state, a person becomes tired, sleeps poorly, eats poorly, cannot concentrate at work, suffers from panic attacks, excessive sweating, dizziness, palpitations, nausea, etc.

The psychological aspect of a panic attack is often a reaction in a certain situation when the usual routine is disrupted. All this is complicated by real and imagined events. The female sex is more filled with such feelings. Violent imagination can lead to nervous breakdowns.

How to stop unnecessary worries?

It is harmful to worry too much and too much. A person often finds himself in situations where it is difficult to get out of a depressive state, which drags him into a black pool of problems, anxieties, and worries. How different people experience it can be very different. Also, this condition affects each of us differently. A quarrel cannot compare with the death of a loved one. But the reaction will be different due to our character traits. Some withdraw into themselves, others begin to seek solace in work or hobbies. And some are not able to overcome even small problems.

Read our article “Breathing practices: characteristic features of basic techniques.”

Some people think so much about what worries and causes pain that they simply see no other way out and drown their grief in alcoholic drinks. But the worst version is suicidal thoughts. In these ways a person wants to escape from himself and reality. But there is another way to overcome pain and cope with the problem.

The soul hurts: how to free yourself from such experiences?

There are several recommendations from experts to get rid of it.

• Start living not in the past, but in the future. The point is that a person must stop dwelling on past problems, must realize, accept, and say goodbye. Thinking about the future will help. Salvation lies in dreams, goal setting, and expectations of something new and bright. But for this there must be willpower and motivation.
• Removing memorabilia from life. It’s not difficult, but it is necessary to remove things that remind you of former partners, deceased people from your close circle (letters, photos, wardrobe items, gifts, etc.). All this makes most of us feel sad and feel pain in our souls. Putting things in order and clearing out old trash will help. It is not recommended to give items to family and friends due to the possibility of transmitting negative energy. It is better to burn it after mentally saying goodbye to each thing.
• Realize that no one is to blame for what happened. Finding the culprit will not help in getting rid of or solving the problem. Resentment towards oneself and others, as well as accusations, drive one into a blind corner, provoke depression, ignoring those living nearby, distance from relatives and close people, negative emotions, decreased resistance to disease, and a change in appearance for the worse. To make it easier for yourself or others to forgive, seeking for certain special “punishments” in the form of helping other people, the environment, etc. will help. focused on helping others, nature, and oneself.
• Perception of what is happening as experience. In most cases, the problem should be resolved, which will make it easier to perceive similar situations in the future. Thus, by demonstrating willpower, you should learn to transform your own mistakes, failures and difficulties into experience for your benefit. To do this, you need to understand yourself and understand the following aspects:

o incorrectness of actions and availability of alternatives;

o availability of opportunities to correct the situation at a certain stage;

o the necessity of a phenomenon, event;

o the advantages of past relationships, actions;

o presence of a third party;

o something that should not happen again.

• Believe in the materiality of words. It is not recommended to use “I can’t live like this anymore”, “Why am I so sad”, etc. All this gives our brain a mindset for bad events. You need to say: “I want and I can,” “Life is beautiful,” etc. and preferably often.
• Search for an inspiration. Everything in our world is not unique. Situations tend to repeat themselves among different people. If you feel hopeless, you need to start looking for people who have had similar problems. This will inspire you to overcome difficulties and help you cope with them.
• Don't forget about other areas of your life. Each person usually lives by his family, work, fulfillment, personal growth, material values, interests and passions, status, etc.
• A negative phenomenon that arises in one area can provoke trouble in others. But you should remember that positivity in other areas can help you cope with your worries. A break, a little rest in some areas will also help you switch from the problem to other areas. Sometimes it's good to just let things go. But it can also be useful to throw yourself into work, take up a new business, and look for a new hobby. Being busy in any field will leave no room for negative thoughts.

Types of Emotional Experiences

1. They classify asthenic experiences and sthenic ones. Asthenic experiences suppress the vital processes of the body. Stenic emotions, on the contrary, increase vital activity. Asthenic experiences are described as a state of timidity, passivity, a person is dominated by a feeling of despondency and shame. Stenic emotions are characterized by high energy and motivate a person to activity.
2. Emotions are also divided into simple and complex manifestations. Simple emotions are associated with the satisfaction of primary needs. Such feelings are divided into pleasant and unpleasant. Complex emotions are associated with understanding various objects and the structure of life. The subjective experience of emotion is a personal internal feeling.

Make a clear action plan

After you understand what is causing your anxiety, pick up a piece of paper and a pen and write down everything that you think would help you eliminate your anxiety. We continue to analyze the example of a girl who is about to give a performance and who thinks that her boyfriend is cheating on her. Let's say on her piece of paper she wrote that in order to stop thinking that her man is cheating on her, she needs to check the list of his contacts on her phone, look at her latest correspondence on social media. networks, order a detective who will follow the man and tell her how he behaves with other women while she is not around, be alone with him for some time and observe how he behaves. Understand what he thinks about their future together and whether he thinks about it at all. And as a last resort, tell him directly about your suspicions.

A little about affect

This is the most powerful destructive force, a violent outburst of feelings. Often a person describes this state as an avalanche beyond his control.

During the affect, control over actions is lost, actions and actions are often forgotten. You can be very ashamed of your words and actions. In addition, sometimes actions cause irreparable harm to surrounding people and objects.

After the affect, one feels overwhelmed, tired, indifferent to everything, and sometimes drowsy.

Where does this condition come from? It arises in situations that a person cannot resolve; they are very painful for him. In this case, he runs away into passion.

Affects can accumulate and then a breakdown occurs. Yes, affect helps to get rid of resentment and irritation. But the consequences are very dire.

How to get rid of worries

Reducing the level of anxiety normalizes the state of many body systems: the heart rate decreases, blood pressure and blood circulation improve, relieves muscle tension, eliminates aching joints, and also improves the quality of sleep. Your life will become more comfortable. Some tips on how to cope with feelings:

Accept reality

The world we live in is impermanent. Even those plans in which we are confident can collapse at any moment. Your life will become easier if you learn to accept the variability of the world around you.

Live in the moment

Start living in the here and now. Today you are at your workplace and devoting your thoughts completely to work, today you are meeting with family members and enjoying it. You only live for today. Look at the colors around you, smell the smells. The future is very important for all of us and it is necessary to plan certain things, but you definitely shouldn’t get lost in plans. Be aware that you are in today.

Make an action plan

Take a pen and paper. Sit in a comfortable position and begin to create an action plan to solve problems with unnecessary worries.

Think positively

Leave all the negativity and turn on optimism. As soon as you notice negative thoughts in your head, drive them away. Only positive emotions will change life for the better.

Set your priorities, take action

Identify and deal with each experience individually. Try writing down everything you do for the day. This will help avoid surprises and the day will not be wasted. Worrying will not solve the problem, so instead of worrying, start taking action. Let the day be scheduled minute by minute. But remember, problems must be solved as they arise.

Talk about the problem

It's a big plus if you can share your problems with someone. The interlocutor must think intelligently and not suffer from depression. In this case, he will be able to give the right advice, as well as get you out of this state.

Do relaxation exercises

Various exercises can come to the rescue: breathing, physical, yoga, massage.

The “Trying to Experience” exercise can help you. Close your eyes, allow your body to feel and allow it to experience. Various images will appear in your head and sensations will appear in your body. Observe it, but don't analyze it. There is no need for resistance, let everything go naturally. Continue the exercise until the image that arises changes or disappears completely. This method can even expel an old, inspired experience.

The theme of feelings in existential psychology

Existential psychology examines the uniqueness of every person, their experiences and history. Important attention is paid to issues of life and death, freedom, responsibility of choice, communication, the problem of love and loneliness, as well as the search for meaning.

Existential experiences can be negative and positive. The negative ones include:

1. Horror. Lack of understanding of what awaits him.
2. Boredom. Devaluation of what exists for oneself.
3. Despair. A person has nothing to rely on; he seeks support only in himself.
4. Loneliness. A person can understand that he is loved, he has people who support him. He feels completely alone, no one understands him completely.
5. Death. It either devalues ​​Existence or initiates a revaluation of what is happening.

Positive inner experiences fill the life world with meaning. These include love, catharsis and creativity.

Anxiety as an illusion of action

It is very convenient not to solve the problem itself, but only to worry about it. After all, along with this, the illusion of some kind of action is created. That is, we are not sitting with our hands folded. We are asking someone something. We constantly check what time it is. We clarify something, trying to find information that, in fact, cannot help us at all.

Why are we doing this? Most likely, internally we are afraid to begin the process of solving the problem. Or we are not going to solve the problem at all, because we think that we are already working on it. But in fact, our actions are aimed not so much at a solution, but at clarifying the details. It takes too much time and brings absolutely no benefit...

Research

According to the research of some psychologists, experiences and emotions belong to different classes of mental phenomena. How can one imagine the process in question without including emotions? Experiments show that feeling often occurs without the emotional sphere, which is associated with the actions of psychological defenses.

For example, you can come across cases where a person is having fun at a holiday, smiling, and in the depths of his soul anti-vital experiences (reflections about the meaninglessness of his own life) flow. People are very surprised when they learn about such a person attempting suicide the next day. Avoidance of painful emotions occurs with the use of psychological defenses; they lead to withdrawal from reality. It should be noted that anti-vital experiences are not always suicidal; they are often reflections on the meaninglessness of life.

The removal of psychological defenses leads to strong changes in the individual; they are accompanied by emotional, bodily, and cognitive processes. The practice of psychotherapy is based on this scheme. To develop the client, he is freed from the oppression of defense mechanisms, due to which his personal growth occurs. Video: 10 facts about emotional experiences

Why do people worry?

Experience is something that has been embedded in us since childhood, even at that stage of our development when we learned the norms of social behavior and tried to copy our parents and other adults around us in almost everything. And they, in turn, adopted this behavior from their parents.

From childhood, the idea arises in the child’s head that experiencing is a normal reaction to everything that worries a person in one way or another. And from this age he begins to put this emotion into practice.

The experience is the same as the excitement that we experience while retelling a poem to Santa Claus at a children's party or at that moment when the teacher is thinking about who to call to the blackboard. People begin to actively worry from childhood, because in their minds this is a normal reaction to what is happening around them. Thus, this emotion accompanies us throughout our lives. Emotional experiences are what adults experience when applying for a job, going to the doctor, and much more.

Theory F.E. Vasilyuk

Vasilyuk views the process not as contemplation, but as activity. Sustained emotional experiences arise as a result of a critical situation. During this situation, a person can realize his motives and values.

According to Vasilyuk, experiencing is not a mental function, but an independent process, activity. It leads to the restoration of psychological possibility. There are four types of critical situations:

• Frustration;
• Stress;
• Conflict;
• A crisis.

Positive events increase a person’s ability; they realize one vital need, but disrupt the implementation of others.

So, the topic under consideration in psychology still requires additional research and study. Life is filled with meaning through feeling emotions; this mental process affects the formation of personal qualities.

Cleaning plan

Before you act on your plan, you should edit it thoroughly. The girl should really look at the situation. She does not have the opportunity to hire a detective because she does not have enough money for this. If you ask about a future together, then, most likely, he will simply lie to her that he sees them together in ten years in a big house with two beautiful children, a cat and a dog, sitting next to a warm fireplace. Most likely, he will say what she wants to hear. Therefore, these two points should be crossed out. But the rest is quite doable.

Nature of the phenomenon

Most psychologists tend to believe that the cause of any experience is an internal struggle in the human psyche. Therefore, in order to get rid of a negative state, you first need to stop this struggle. After all, it only worsens the situation, creating additional stress for the body.

There is a good old saying: “The smart one won’t go up the mountain, the smart one will go around the mountain.” It can easily be applied to the topic of experiences, but since it is not always possible to simply get rid of them, we need to consider in detail the nature of this phenomenon, its causes and ways to combat it.

By the way, it is worth noting that emotional experiences are a completely natural state of a person, they can be:

• Bad and good.
• Real and unreal.

If everything is clear with the first categories, then it’s worth talking about the second in more detail.
A person’s real experiences are what are related to real life, and unreal ones are what we invent for ourselves. Let us give a simple example of such experiences. The present is when a person, say, has had an accident and, as a result, experiences internal anxiety, tension, stress and the like. And the unreal experience in this case may be a person’s thoughts about an upcoming car accident, which in principle should not happen.

We recommend: Symptoms and signs of hysteria

In this case, however, it is worth remembering the law of the Universe, which materializes thoughts. It’s not for nothing that they say: be careful in your desires and thoughts. By the way, unreal experiences are called mental in another way and are associated primarily with anxiety, doubt and fear. Fortunately, in most cases they do not become reality.

Let's give another illustrative example. Any mother is prone to worry that her child does not return home for a long time after a disco or party. There is nothing abnormal about this, and hardly anyone would condemn the woman.

But when she begins to go too far, constantly stressing herself out and frightening her with terrible thoughts and ideas, it is not far from the onset of mental disorders such as depressive syndrome, obsessions or panic attacks.

Go to action

Carry out the points of your plan in order. Now the girl was convinced that there were no new contacts or strange correspondence in his phone. I observed the guy’s attitude towards himself - it did not change, he remained just as gentle and caring. But things never came to a direct conversation, because her beloved told her the good news that he would be able to watch her performance. After that, all the girl’s worries disappeared.

And that's probably all. Now you know what these emotions are, what you should do and what not to do when you start to feel anxious. Follow these recommendations and don't worry about anything!