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What are Emotions? In psychology, and in ordinary
language, emotion is used to describe a state of a person. Examples
of emotions are fear, anger, joy;Love ,Hate, Fear,Anger,Sorrow, Joy,Disgust, Acceptance,
Anticipation, Surprise, Jealousy. Emotional state is related to mood, sometimes
even identified with it, although emotions are generally considered to be more
transient than moods. Emotional state is sometimes thought of as being internal
and unobservable. However, this is not an assertion which is supported by empirical
evidence, since externally visible changes almost always accompany emotional changes.
Emotion is also sometimes regarded as the antithesis of reason; as is suggested
by phrases such as appeal to emotion or don't let your emotions take
over. Again, there is no empirical support for any generalization of this
kind: Indeed, anger or fear can often be thought of as a systematic response to
observed facts. Mental
Health and Emotions Emotions are generally
regarded as an indicator of mental health. For example a wide class of psychiatric
disorders relating to mood are classified as affective disorders. Depression for
instance, is an affective disorder with a range of symptoms such as the prolonged
and painful experience of sadness. On the other hand individuals that are incapable
of experiencing emotions such as sadness or anger are referred to as suffering
from emotional poverty reflective of many personality disorders. Principally
involved in the physiological component of emotion are: the autonomic nervous
system (ANS), the limbic system, and the hypothalamus. Fear, in particular learned
fear, is thought to depend on the amygdala.
Molecules of
Emotion
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