It is impossible to imagine human existence without the daily flow of feelings and emotions experienced throughout life.
Every minute every inhabitant of the Earth experiences fear, love, joy or anger. This is part of human nature itself. This article will talk about feelings and will consider a detailed list of positive emotions. A description of the influence of some negative emotions on a person will also be presented.
Emotions. Concept and their manifestation
Experiencing a whole range of feelings every day, few people think about what definition psychologists give. According to the scientific definition, emotions are a certain mental state of an individual at the moment of experiencing any life situations.
The human daily list of emotions, both positive and negative, is incredibly numerous. A person’s emotional state can be conveyed by his demeanor, posture, voice, gait, facial expressions and even physiological indicators (pressure, pulse, breathing rate).
Most often, it is possible to read a person’s emotions or feelings through facial expressions. The position of the lips, wrinkles, eyebrows and eyes always immediately responds to the felt emotion. So, by too raised eyebrows you can understand that a person is surprised, by the downturned corners of his lips - that he is upset.
What are negative emotions?
Negative emotions are unpleasant sensations based on a negative perception of a situation that is dissonant with a person’s internal state. In fact, it is the person himself who decides how to react to troubles.
To understand this, it is enough to recall the picture from a biology textbook depicting the types of temperament. The four images show four different reactions to the same situation. A man sits on another man's hat. The melancholic person begins to cry, the phlegmatic person remains absolutely calm, the choleric person loses his temper and screams, the sanguine person laughs. The situation has not changed, but the perception has.
There are many negative emotions, the types of which can be classified according to the following criteria:
- Resentment. Anger, dissatisfaction, indignation, anger, irritation, curl, contempt, jealousy.
- Sadness. Disappointment, grief, sadness, pity, despair, sympathy, regret, longing.
- Fear. Anxiety, apprehension, fright, trepidation, excitement, restlessness, horror, wariness, panic.
Take a temperament test
List of positive human emotions
Positive ones, as a rule, include those that make a person feel good and pleasant at heart. These are emotions that you want to feel constantly, day after day. The list of positive ones includes:
- sympathy;
- pleasure;
- joy;
- delight;
- Delight;
- jubilation;
- tenderness;
- bliss.
If a person manages to regularly experience such emotions, he feels happy.
Sadness as self-care
Psychologists, by the way, avoid calling sadness a negative emotion. And rightly so: in the pursuit of labeling and labeling all types of behavior, we lose a reasonable view of things.
Sadness is neither bad nor good. You should neither rejoice nor be afraid of attacks of sadness. It is simply an emotion that acts as a warning mechanism. It reminds you of such important things as the need to stop for a moment, listen to yourself, talk to yourself, take care of yourself, understand what is happening and how you feel about it.
So, the next time your friend, family member, or partner suddenly says something like, “I don’t know what’s happening to me today, I’m sad,” the very last thing you should say is, “Don’t worry.” and be happy!
It would be much more correct to support them with the following words: “Tell me what you need?” These words will make them think about the root of the problem. Only in this way will people be able to better understand their true needs and requirements.
What emotions can harm a person?
In addition to the good and pleasant ones, there are also negative ones in a person’s life. This is an unpleasant feeling that you often want to get rid of as quickly as possible. We advise you to find out how positive ones differ from negative ones, which is well described in the publication: https://fb.ru/post/wellness/2016/9/3/7270.
However, sometimes negative ones also contain an important task - to motivate a person to action, to change something in himself or in his life, so as not to experience similar things again. Negative ones include:
- fright;
- anxiety;
- fear;
- disturbance;
- anger;
- shame;
- rage;
- bitterness.
However, emotions are what is on the surface, deeper feelings. They are tested for a long time, sometimes for years and sometimes for decades. And overcoming them can be much more difficult than coping with momentary anxiety.
Sadness as a warning sign
Sadness is not only a feeling, but also a loss of significant energy. Naturally, we do not reach such a state as during depression, when even getting out of bed or leaving the house is a problem.
With sadness, everything is different: we feel an internal need to step back for a while, think about something, understand something. As a rule, this condition is accompanied by some apathy and fatigue. This is logical: the body has turned on a new mode for us.
This physical reaction is caused by signals that come from the brain. It’s as if he’s telling us: “Disconnect from everything that’s happening around you, focus on your inner self.”
There is nothing left to do but submit: we should carefully analyze what worries and worries us. If we are distracted by external stimuli or pretend to be cheerful, we will never get to the bottom of the reasons for what is happening.
Feelings that are formed under the influence of emotions
Psychologists advise familiarizing yourself not only with the list of positive emotions, but also feelings. These include:
- Gratitude;
- Love;
- pride;
- respect;
- confidence;
- safety;
- attachment.
The range of feelings is not limited to the list of positive and negative emotions of a person; we should not forget about negative feelings. Unfortunately, many people can also experience them for a long time and suffer quite a lot from it. The list of negative feelings includes:
- anxiety;
- melancholy;
- sadness;
- despair;
- offense;
- sorrow;
- discontent;
- a pity;
- hatred;
- gloat;
- regret;
- despondency;
- jealousy;
- anger;
- mistrust;
- contempt;
- disgust;
- envy;
- disappointment.
Of course, this is not a list of all human feelings and emotions, but only a small part of them, but surely everyone has had to experience one or another feeling at least once in their life.
Experts say that it is necessary to understand the difference between a list of positive emotions and a list of positive ones. It's not the same thing. If positive emotions can be regarded as pleasant always, regardless of the situation, then negative feelings or emotions caught in such a situation can also be positive.
Why is it good to be happy?
As you know, a positive emotional background is good for health. It helps improve the functioning of all organs and systems of the body, especially the nervous system. Positive emotions help to withstand stressful situations and avoid the occurrence of many diseases. Joy hormones (endorphins) contribute to the normalization of all biochemical processes in the body. Therefore, experiencing a lot of positive emotions is simply necessary for all people to maintain good health. It’s not for nothing that they say that laughter prolongs life.
List of dangerous emotions
According to psychologists, each person should make such a list on his own, because only he alone knows which feelings lead to a deterioration in his physical condition. However, there is also a generally accepted opinion about which emotions and feelings irreversibly harm health.
In this case, there are no emotions from the list of positive ones; only negative feelings have a negative impact. These include sadness, disappointment and melancholy, since prolonged manifestation of these feelings causes rapid weight gain, and also contributes to the emergence of life-threatening neoplasms in the body.
In addition, fear has a negative impact, since it can fetter a person, both physically and mentally. A person who experiences fear will never walk with a straight posture, which sooner or later will lead to scoliosis and problems with the musculoskeletal system. The fear of rejection often leads women to health problems and the loss of the opportunity to produce healthy offspring.
Anger also has a destructive effect: it increases blood pressure, strains the heart, and leads to gastrointestinal problems and serious skin diseases.
Resentment has the most destructive properties, especially if it is directed at oneself. It can lead to serious mental illness, depression and even loss of sanity.
Jealousy and envy can lead to loss of appetite, decreased immunity and lack of sleep. Frequently experienced shame will inevitably affect the condition of nails, hair and skin. Disgust and contempt can cause frequent headaches, nausea and insomnia.
It is clear that it is impossible to prohibit yourself from experiencing certain feelings or emotions, but in order to prevent the occurrence of such diseases, you need to learn to take your feelings and emotions under control.
This is interesting: “How to cope with anger, irritation and rage”
“Diary of Emotions” technique
For my clients who have difficulty understanding their emotions, I suggest keeping an emotion diary as homework. In the evening I ask you to remember some situation that happened during the day. It may be a situation with intense emotions, and it may be an unremarkable everyday situation without any particular emotion. In general, the situation can be anything at your discretion. Write down on paper words with which you can describe your internal state in this situation.
Make sure that your description includes emotions, and not thoughts or a desire to act in some way. After you have described your emotional state in the situation you have chosen, think about what emotions you are experiencing at the moment “here and now”. Record your thoughts on paper.
If you are not used to tracking your internal state, use the list of emotions. This is difficult for many people to do at first. However, if you keep such a diary of emotions every day for at least two weeks (or better yet, a month), you will see that you have become much better able to understand yourself, and it has become easier for you to manage the emotions that arise in you. After all, in order to manage something, you need to know well the phenomenon you are managing.
Read more about the Emotion Diary technique here.
How to manage emotions
In order to maintain your mental and physical health while in society, you need to learn to control the flow of daily feelings. It is important to note that the list of positive emotions is quite extensive, but they never cause poor health or illness.
If the situation becomes tense and you need to immediately pull yourself together, psychologists advise taking a break in the conversation or discussion if it is caused by an unpleasant conversation. You can go out into the air and think about something else for five to ten minutes. Sometimes, in order to give yourself time to cool down, you need to go to the restroom and wash your face with cold water and take a refreshing shower. Water can wash away accumulated negativity, making room for positive emotions.
It happens that you cannot cope with accumulated emotions on your own. In this case, you should not torment your friends and family with your problems, but it is better to seek help from a psychologist. He will identify the problem and help get rid of it as soon as possible.
To get rid of acute negative emotions, you can use physical force, play sports, or have a good cry. Sometimes it helps for long-term therapy to write at the end of each day a list of the positive emotions the person experienced today. This helps to discharge emotionally and look at the situation calmly.
With the help of these tips, you can maintain your normal mental state and mental balance, thereby avoiding depression and health problems.
Instructions for overcoming sadness
I want to offer you unusual instructions that will help you cope with negative emotions. It is compiled on the basis of spiritual practices and has nothing to do with the advice of psychologists.
Step 1. Don't hide from emotions
When your soul becomes restless, it is very important to realize what is happening inside. It's not enough to just understand
You just need to realize it. This means that you must understand and accept these emotions. Accept the fact that you feel bad and hard. But you shouldn’t think about why this is happening to you and what it’s all about.
Tell yourself: “This is how I feel! This is my pain, my sadness, my feelings and emotions.”
Step 2. Immerse yourself in sensations
Once you have fully accepted your emotions, immerse yourself in your state. Feel how your body reacts to the feelings you are experiencing. This is what is happening to you at the moment
And it doesn’t matter at all why this happened. What caused these emotions
Cry if you want to cry. But don’t start feeling sorry for yourself or scolding yourself.
Step 3. Imagine that the mind is not you
The mind evaluates our actions and everything that happens around us: this is good, but this is bad. This happens automatically and unconsciously. A person is accustomed to believing that his mind is himself. And there are more than 7 billion such minds on our planet. And everyone gives their own subjective assessment.
At the same time, we become so accustomed to our assessment that we desperately suffer in situations that are essentially empty and worthless. The mind loves to exaggerate everything.
Now try to imagine your mind as something independent of you. Think about what he looks like? In the shape of a cloud or a soap bubble? Where is he located? On right? Left? Over you? Let your imagination run wild.
The most important thing is to feel that the mind is not part of you.
Step 4. Feel your condition again
Re-immerse yourself in your sensations. But now, as if from the outside, observe how the mind sends you thoughts. So he sent the idea that you shouldn’t have done that. But the thought is that you don’t know what to do next.
Notice all these thoughts coming from outside. But don't take the mind's assessments personally. You will see how thoughts are born on their own, filling your head. And the longer you watch them, the fewer they become. And the less often they come to mind.
On the site you will also find an article on how to get rid of negative thoughts.
Step 5. Observe emotions
Feel your emotions as sensations inside your body. Record the thoughts that your mind sends to you. Don't analyze them, don't take them personally, don't evaluate them. It's just a thought.
When the mind evaluates our negative emotions, they feel heavy and unpleasant. If you don’t evaluate them, they will be neutral.
You will see that it is no longer so uncomfortable to observe feelings. It's even getting interesting. Your mood will probably improve and a little joy will appear. But even in this case, do not evaluate the sensations that arise. Just watch them.
Resentment, sadness, and joy are just sensations inside you. They are no worse and no better than each other. It is your mind that gives them estimates. All sensations are neutral. And that means you shouldn’t have a hard time experiencing certain emotions.
