Affecting emotions: what they are, characteristics, and how they affect us

The afflictive emotions are those that cause us discomfort and affect our relationship with the environment, also altering our cognitive and behavioral state.

Emotions, regardless of their valence, that is, whether they are positive or negative, are functional, since they tell us how we feel, what our state is. The problem appears when they increase their intensity or are shown continuously in the time, causing the subject to cease to be functional and the negative state affects his life everyday.

In this way, it will be important to be aware of how we feel, of our emotions, in order to act and try to regulate them; Assess the reason for their appearance, to know what changes you can make to try to reduce them.

In this article we will talk about afflictive emotions: how they are defined, what alterations they entail, what distinction they show with functional emotions and what to do to try to control them.

• Related article: "Emotional psychology: main theories of emotion"

What do we understand by afflictive emotions?

We can differentiate three components that are basic in a person; These are behavior, cognition, and emotions. The three factors are important for the functioning of people and are related, that is, the change or alteration in one can produce change or affectation in others. In this way, it is important that there is a balance between the three components so that the person can lead a functional life.

As well, afflictive emotions would be those that break this balance, that cancel or reduce the ability to think and reason, thus altering their behavior and generating discomfort. Emotions are necessary, even those that produce negative sensations, can be useful to know our state, but when they become very intense they can be destructive both to oneself and to others. the rest. It will thus be necessary to realize this and be able to act to try to control them and that they do not harm us.

• You may be interested: "The 8 types of emotions (classification and description)"

What are afflictive emotions?

There are different types of afflictive emotions, a characteristic feature is the negative valence and the discomfort it causes to those who show them and their environment. Examples of these emotions are: jealousy, envy, frustration, anger, guilt or disappointment.

We observe how they are secondary emotions, that is, they arise later in the subject, due to the influence and coexistence in society; therefore, we can consider that they are learned. Likewise, they are not necessary for survival, nor are they functional or adaptive for the individual that displays them.

What do afflictive emotions produce in us?

As we have already mentioned, this type of uncontrolled emotions that affect our ability to think clearly, generate negative consequences for us. So let's see what is the symptomatology that is mainly linked to afflictive emotions.

1. They appear without us being able to avoid it

As with other types of emotions, afflictive emotions appear without us being able to decide. That is, in a situation we can feel envy without really wanting to feel it, although this lack of decision in the appearance does not mean that we can not try to control them, it is not an excuse to act in a way incorrect. It is important to be aware of the appearance of these emotions and remedy them, before they harm us or harm others.

• Related article: "Emotional management: 10 keys to dominate your emotions"

2. produce negative states

When we cannot remedy the afflictive emotions and they increase disproportionately and persist over time, generates in us a negative state that will continue until we act. This negative state produces both physical and psychological discomfort. When the emotions that stand out in us are negative, as we have already advanced, there is a negative effect of these on our behavior and way of thinking, thus having repercussions on our lives.

Similarly, it has been seen that afflictive emotions increase hormones or neurotransmitters related to stress, such as cortisol. Low and controlled levels of these hormones are functional to face stressful situations. But when high levels are maintained for a long period, symptoms of stress begin that affect our health and physical well-being.

3. cause difficulty in reasoning

When we lose control of emotions and they invade us, it is difficult to think clearly, it is difficult for us to reason and we can act without having previously thought about the best way to proceed. We see here the dysfunctionality of afflictive emotions, since they not only affect our state generating a negative and agitated feeling, but also does not let our cognitive part work with normal.

• You may be interested: "The 8 Higher Psychological Processes"

4. They generate impulsive responses

The subject's behavior is likely to be impulsive. Difficulty thinking clearly it is possible that the person acts without taking into account the consequences that his behavior may have. In this way, automatic responses such as insults, hits or screams are more likely to appear, which we really do without think and that later, when we manage to calm down and regain control of our state, we regret our conduct.

5. Create addictive effect

Another of the hormones that is released during the experience of afflictive emotions, during situations of intense emotions and activation is adrenaline. Adrenaline is a hormone that increases its amount in situations of high emotional activation, thus behaving an activation of the body, such as an increase in blood pressure, heart rate and blood glucose.

It has been proven that this molecule generates in us an addictive sensation, wanting to feel this sensation of activation again, of power with everything, of being unstoppable. For this reason, it is possible that the subject, in order to re-experience the sensations produced by the adrenaline, propitiate or seek to generate events where afflictive emotions are activated, that is, situations of conflict.

As expected, The search for this type of situation affects both the subject's relationship with his or her social environment, the vision they have of it, as the subject's own state, since this increase in activation is not good for their physical health, increases the risk of heart disease, or psychological, increases anxiety and alters his mood.

Differences between afflictive emotions and functional emotions

As we have already seen, emotions, in general terms, are necessary and functional, that is, the subject needs them to be able to live properly, whether they are positive, such as joy, or negative, such as sadness. The problem appears when they increase their intensity and we lose control, thus altering our behavior and our ability to reason.

We see how afflictive emotions affect different areas of our lives, they do not allow us to behave normally, reverberating our relationship with the environment and our own state, such as our self-concept, self-esteem or resilience, which consists of ability to overcome difficult situations, which can put our well-being at risk, despite living in a suboptimal environment, which does not aid.

• Related article: "What is emotional intelligence?"

How to manage afflictive emotions?

As we have stated in previous points, afflictive emotions appear without our wanting it, but it is our task to control them and be able to reduce them. For this reason, it will be important that we work on emotional control and regulation so that we can be the ones who control our emotions and not the other way around. It is essential to keep this issue in mind; the work should not be aimed at trying to avoid this type of emotions but rather be aware of them and thus be able to act.

1. Being aware of emotions

It is essential to be aware of how we feel. To achieve this goal we can spend a few minutes each day to stop and reflect or become aware of our state. Recognizing something, how we feel and what emotion we are feeling, is the first step to being able to face it and work on it. Doing as if nothing, trying to deny it or not giving it importance, only makes it continue to appear and can worsen the situation.

2. Assess the reason for the situation

Although we do not value these types of emotions as functional, since they affect the state of the subject, they can serve as indicators, that is, they tell us that something is not going well. For this reason, we cannot try to reduce the emotion without further ado, we must assess what could have caused this emotion? Why do we feel this way? What can we do to have more information on how to act?

3. express how you feel

Expressing or externalizing how we feel helps to really know how we are, since at the moment of communicating it, either to another person or writing for ourselves, we organize our thoughts and help us to be more aware of what we happens. In this way, we may become aware of things we are not aware of and may also get another person's point of view.

4. look for alternatives

Sometimes we show ourselves rigid and it is difficult for us to change the vision we have about an event or a person. We must try to work on flexibility. To achieve this goal, it is useful to assess all the alternatives that an event may have.. That is, brainstorm possible explanations or solutions that we can make. Thus we try to modify our vision or at least assess other alternatives that will help us reduce the intensity or appearance of the afflictive emotion.