Artemii Lebedev
Humanity

Humanity is about emotions, about the struggle with our fears and our own selves. It charts the way we act on our feelings or suppress them. What defines our emotions? Are they shaped by our past experience and private background – or merely triggered by changes in our blood hormones and brain chemicals? Can feelings be forced on us against our will? Finally, what’s the use of emotions anyway?

Emotions can be mysterious. After all, who wasn’t swept by a sudden rage completely disproportionate to its cause or hasn’t sulked for no apparent reason?

We foster certain perceptions about our emotions – regardless of whether they are a positive and manageable force in our lives or unwelcome intruders harming our psyche. These sensations can be unconscious, most likely based on our own experience or explicit and implicit messages we get from our environment, friends, and loved ones.

All this raises the question: can we change the way we perceive emotions?

Scientific research shows that mental impulses – ‘positive’ or ‘negative,’ ‘controllable’ or ‘uncontrollable’ alike – have a fundamental impact on us. It is generally believed that experiencing emotions is good for you, but in difficult situations people can alter them to better recover from emotional distress.

The ability to handle complex emotions – usually referred to as ‘emotional self-regulation’ in academic writing – helps improve our mental health and memory and aids in making informed decisions.