Activity . Culture and Emotional Labeling Basic emotions also vary in the extent of elaboration and categorical labels. The Tahitian language includes labels for the English word anger . When asked to label such as anxiety, depression etc.
Anxiety is a condition that an individual develops in case of failure to adopt an appropriate ego defense. For example, if the individual fails to adhere to a defense of rationalisation for his immoral act (like cheating or stealing), he may develop intense apprehension about the outcomes of such an act. Anxious individuals find it difficult to concentrate or to make decisions even for trivial matters. The state of depression affects an individual’s ability to think rationally, feel realistically, and work effectively.
The condition overwhelms the mood state of the individual. Because of its enduring nature, the individual who suffers from depression develops a variety of symptoms like difficulty in falling asleep, increased level of psychomotor agitation or retardation, decreased ability to think or concentrate, and loss of interest in personal or social activities, etc. In daily life, we are often faced with conflicting situations. Under demanding and stressful conditions, a lot of negative emotions like fear, anxiety, disgust, etc.
develop in an individual to a considerable extent. Such negative emotions, if allowed to prevail for a long time, are likely to affect adversely the person’s psychological and physical health. This is the reason why most of the stress management programmes emphasise emotion management as an integral part of stress management. The major focus of emotion management techniques is the reduction of negative emotions and enhancing positive emotions.
Though most researchers focus their attention only on negative emotions like anger, fear, anxiety, etc., recently the field of ‘Positive Psychology’ has gained much prominence. As the name suggests, positive psychology concerns itself with the study of features that enrich life like, hope, happiness, creativity, courage, optimism, cheerfulness, etc. Effective emotion management is the key to effective social functioning in modern times. The following tips might prove useful to you for achieving the desired balance of emotions : Enhance self-awareness : Be aware of your own emotions and feelings.
Try to gain insight into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of your feelings. Appraise the situation objectively : It has been proposed that emotion is preceded by evaluation of the event. If the event is experienced as disturbing, your sympathetic nervous system is activated and you feel stressed. If you do not experience the event as disturbing, then there is no stress.
Hence, it is you who decides whether to feel sad and anxious or happy and relaxed. Do some self-monitoring : This involves constant or periodic evaluation of your past accomplishments, emotional and physical states, real and vicarious experiences. A positive appraisal would enhance your A disaster produces serious disruption of the functioning of human society, resulting in widespread material or environmental loss, which cannot be dealt with immediately with the existing resources. Disaster may be natural (like earthquake/cyclone/tsunami) or man-made (like war).
The trauma an individual experiences during a disaster may range from mere perception of such an event to actually encountering it, which may be life threatening. .