EMOTIONS: Mystery or Madness

Most people are aware of powerful forces that exist within, forces which can carry them to productive heights or plunge them into destructive depths. This awareness usually occurs when our feelings seem to take over our minds and control our behavior. "I was so in love, I couldn’t think of anything or anyone but her." "My anger took over and I struck him." "I was so scared that I just ran and ran for blocks without stopping." "I felt so depressed that I couldn’t answer the phone or the doorbell." "It felt like my heart was in my throat and I was unable to say a word." Emotions that strong get our attention! But emotions are with us all the time and affect our thinking, our sensory responses, our memories, our physical reactions, and our behavior. It is possible that people become uncomfortable when they reflect on the continued and subtle presence of this affective component. We cherish our decision making abilities, our judgment, and our self-determination. We have a tendency to believe that "being emotional" interferes with reason. In later chapters, we will address more thoroughly the importance and benefit of letting feelings participate in "making up our mind."

People seem to have little knowledge about how emotions occur and the impact they can have on our thinking and our actions. Rarely do individuals step back from their feelings and carefully consider how significantly their lives are being affected. Passions (emotions) may be transient or they may be lasting, but while they are present they are not likely to come under the scrutiny of reason. Depressed persons are unable to appreciate how their mood affects their behavior. Angry people are unable to appreciate their anger while their thoughts are tainted by rage. Anxious individuals do not realize how their judgment may be temporarily impaired. Unfortunately even after significant emotional episodes most people rarely take the opportunity to review the way in which feelings fueled their behavior. We may recall rather vividly our reactions resulting from our involvement in a disturbing situation, but we are unlikely to examine the "mood" that "drove" us into the experience. Some people try to hide their feelings; most people try to hide from their feelings.

Our first chapter will clarify the position that emotions have in our psychological life. This chapter is a rather didactic discussion of sensory phenomena, feelings, memory, reason, free will, and the spirit within us. I felt it was important to set the stage by defining and integrating the role of feelings in the "working mind." We will then proceed by devoting one chapter each to children, to adolescents, to adults, and to elders. As we expose and shed light on the psychological environment of each age group, we will include examples of affective reactions that are expected and commonly occur. We will also cite case histories portraying the influence of feelings on the lives of individuals.

Surveys of the general public reveal that by far the most dreaded illness is cancer. When we note the illnesses that are listed on the questionnaires that are used, emotional illness is never among them. If it were, I believe that it would be the most feared because it is the least understood. The common view of this illness is "being crazy," "losing your mind," "going mad." The ability to think and the power to control our behavior are two of our most valuable assets, although not always respected or treasured until there is the threat of their loss. Mental health care has markedly advanced in the past 50 or 60 years. The vast majority of patients are treated in office settings. Severe illnesses requiring hospitalization are less common and usually respond quickly to modern techniques. Chapters VI and VII will consider aspects of treatment with the presentation of case histories to illustrate positive benefits associated with mental health care. The final chapter will cover the relationship of religious beliefs and mental health treatment.

One of my textbooks in graduate psychology was by Dom Thomas Verner Moore entitled "The Driving Forces of Human Nature and Their Adjustment: An Introduction to the Psychology and the Psychopathology of Emotional Behavior and Volitional Control" (New York: Grune & Stratton, 1950). Not a very catchy title! I continue to be intrigued by the first part of it, "The Driving Forces of Human Nature." But now years later, I would modify it. Yes, emotions are forces that fuel our psyche, but we cannot allow them to do the driving. They give us the power to do things, to get somewhere in life, but it is the mental function of reflection and judgment that tells us which acts we should do and which we should avoid. It is the use of reason that must control the direction in which emotions take us.

This book became a goal based on my belief that people are looking more for an understanding of mental processes than for quick answers or cryptic slogans. I believe that most of us are quite capable of managing our own lives and making appropriate decisions, if we are encouraged to do so and given basic information about our own mental functioning. There is very little in popular psychological literature that encourages people to think for themselves or even to help them believe that they can think for themselves. Before the advent of talk shows and popular advice-givers, most people survived the cares and struggles of life.

Of course, life is more complex these days. However, the mind is not more complex. It has the same make-up that was present in our ancestors for centuries past. The mental processes that were used by people to write the classics, to construct the pyramids, to build the railroads, to cross the oceans, and to travel in space are the same mental activities we use daily in our lives. We should note that human minds also bring about war and other forms of violence and seem unable to solve the problems of poverty and hunger in the world. It is important to attend to our use of these psychic functions and our grave responsibility to apply them wisely and beneficially. In final analysis, the basic processes are the same and will continue to be the same. The "flat world" of Thomas Friedman, "The World is Flat" (Farrar,Strauss and Giroux, N.Y. 2005), will not change our mental functioning or our emotional reactions. We will have more information available, but will we be wiser and more prudent? We will have more material advantages in our lives, but will our spirits be enriched? We will have increasing contact with people throughout the world, but will our relational abilities improve?