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Marcus Huggins Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 September 26, 2013

Emotions: How much control do we actually have over them?

Splat. The boy watched as his oreo ice creamhis favoriteslowly fell to the ground after being bumped by a passing stranger. A strong feeling of displeasure, also known as anger, builds within the boy. This feeling of anger is one of the many emotions that people can experience. However, what if another person were in the same situation, but they didnt have a strong taste for oreo ice cream? Would it have the same effect on them? With this in mind, emotion is defined as a mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effortoften accompanied by physiological changes. In other words, emotions are specific reactions to a particular event that are usually of fairly short duration. Looking at the two instances described above, emotions are dependent to the specific individual. With that being said, can we not choose how to react to that certain situation? What, if instead of moping around all day and feeling anger about the ice cream, the boy decides to go play his favorite sport and feel enjoyment? This leads me to ask myself Do we have control over our emotions? If so, how much control do we actually have over our emotions? The human mind is one of the most complex phenomenon in existence. It never ceases to amaze me how unpredictable and unique the mind is. One aspect in particular that interests me is human emotion. Psychologists define emotions as a combination of cognitions, feelings, and actions. This means what we think of as "emotions" includes not only how we feel, but also how

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we process and respond to those feelings. The cortex is the part of the brain that controls conscious thought, which is where people experience thought and feeling. Between each of the ten billion neurons in the brain, there are neurotransmitterschemical messengersthat transmit thought from one cell to the next. This communication of brain cells is how people experience emotion and feelings. After any event, the brain processes this event and decides what emotion to generate in response to that event using neurotransmitters in the brain. How people feel and experience emotion is dictated by the amount of specific neurotransmitters that are in the brain at that moment. For example, if a car sped through a red light, nearly hitting you, the brain would process this event and generate fear neurotransmitters in response. The types of transmitters change regularly between cells in your brain to meet the needs of your current circumstance, but factors such as stress and certain genetic disorders can cause neurotransmitter depletion. This depletion can lead to negative emotions such as depression, irritability, anxiety, etc. With this in mind, why cant a counter-event be used to counteract the event that caused the initial emotion? In all actuality, counteracting emotions is actually possible. To counteract your emotions, or gain control, a person must first understand how they typically would respond to a certain situation. Understanding your emotions will allow you to understand what actions or events that could be conducted in order to nullify or control the certain emotion. Furthermore, by changing your emotions at a certain instance can ultimately change your mood, or long-term emotions. After a certain event, begin by ask yourself why you are feeling that certain way and accept that youre feeling this way. Then, with an understanding of your emotions, create an event or do something that would counteract this emotion. For example, say that I failed a test and was extremely angry afterwards. To begin counteracting this emotion, I first begin by

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realizing that Im mad and asking myself Why do I feel so angry? After understanding it is because I did not study for the test I can then counteract this emotion of anger by doing something that would create an emotion of happiness or enjoyment. So, I tell myself that I will study hard for the next test, and go play basketball outside because that is one of my favorite sports. This ultimately changes my initial emotion of anger into enjoyment. Understanding what caused my emotion and coming up with a counter-event lead to altering, or in some sense, controlling how I was feeling. Other factors that have an effect on emotions, which cause neurotransmitter depletion, include genetics, stress, and an insufficient diet. Genetics can have an effect on the amount of neurotransmitters in the brain if a persons genetic makeup is responsible for low, high, or balanced levels of transmitters from birth. Stress also plays a big part in neurotransmitter depletion by depleting positive emotion neurotransmitters. Diet is also an important aspect of depletion in which neurotransmitters are created by certain amino acids. If these certain amino acids arent sufficient, it becomes difficult, or nearly impossible for the brain to restore neurotransmitter amounts to the proper level. So does this mean we have control, in some aspects, of our emotions? Although people may not be able to fully control their emotions, peoples emotions can be controlled, or altered, using certain methods and by maintaining a substantial diet. By understanding ones emotions and creating counter-events to counteract that emotion, people can change their initial emotion.