Differences between emotions and feelings: how to distinguish them?

When we talk about everything that moves us internallyWe describe it as those things that we feel, that generate emotions in us and that, as they are so typical of each one, we perceive as subjective and are difficult for us to describe.

It is quite common that we use the terms emotion and feeling to talk about the same concept, however, emotions and feelings are not the same at all. This is why today we are going to talk to you about the differences between emotions and feelings.

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Let's define what emotions are

To know and understand the differences between emotions and feelings, it is necessary that we be clear about what each of the concepts is about. You will realize that it is already in the definition itself where the differences arise. Let's start by defining what emotions are.

Emotions are "intense and fleeting mood changes, pleasant or painful that are accompanied by a certain shock somatic ”as defined by the R.A.E. Starting from this definition, we can then say that emotions are that response or

momentary reaction that we consciously have to stimuli that arise from an intense mental activity, and where we experience pleasure, or the opposite, displeasure.

Our emotions occur in the limbic system, which is the set or network of neurons that regulates the responses that people have to stimuli; In other words, it regulates our instinct based on three elements:

• The physiological elements, which are the first physical and involuntary reaction that we have, such as sweating or acceleration in our breathing and in our heartbeat.
• The cognitive elements, which is the way we process stimuli consciously or unconsciously transforming them into emotions.
• The behavioral elements, which generate expressive changes in our behavior such as facial gestures.

So, we can say that we have a group of emotions that are innate in us and that they are the first reaction or response that we have to a stimulus.

These primary emotions are happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger and disgust, and they are common in all human beings and very necessary for adaptation. It is essential that you take this into account to understand the differences between emotions and feelings.

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Let's define what feelings are

Now, let's define what feelings are about. Do you remember when we talked about emotions being the innate response we have to stimuli? Well yes our brain takes these emotions and connects them with our experiences, experiences, desires, projects in addition to our value system and our state of mind, then we will have feelings as a result.

The feelings we have are what we experience immediately after having an emotion. That is, they are the affective moods through which we go before emotions and different situations and that are also somewhat subjective and very specific to each one.

In reality, feelings are a very important part of us, as it is our subjective way of seeing the world and what drives our way of acting. The feelings clearly express the moment or state we are going through.

And even more important, it is through them we can connect with other people, communicate, express ourselves and understand the other. Hence the importance of knowing the difference between emotions and feelings.

All our feelings change their intensity according to the emotion that generates them and the situation in which we find ourselves. Some examples of feelings are love, compassion, affection, gratitude, optimism, sadness, anger, hatred, impatience, tolerance, and envy.

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Differences between emotions and feelings

It is completely normal for us to get confused and mix emotions with feelings and vice versa, because as you could see in the definitions of each one, they are completely related to each other. Being somewhat subjective concepts because the way each one feels is different, we are can complicate seeing the differences between emotions and feelings, that's why we synthesize it to continuation.

The difference between emotions and feelings is that, emotions are those innate physiological reactions or responses that we have in front of a stimulus, that they are linked to our survival and adaptation process, and that absolutely all human beings have them.

On your side, feelings are a consequence of emotions and we create them subjectively according to the narrative that we have made in our brain of our experiences, experiences, value system and state of mind, and not all of us feel the same feelings, much less the same way. In fact, the same situations in our life can change the intensity with which we experience the same feeling.

Therefore, the difference between emotions and feelings is that emotions are innate in the human being and emotions are a subjective construction what we do from emotions.