I have been thinking for a while now in regards to what emotions are. The most basic ones we all know: joy, sadness, anger, and so on.
I’ve always been under the impression that there are many more feelings than that though, and I think this is because of how we think of the word. Emotions are very broad, and if we think of a word like “sad” for example, we tend to think of a very negative feeling. If we think of a word like “happy” we tend to think of a feeling of happiness.
The problem is that emotions are not so broad, but rather how we think of them. If we think of a feeling as a state of being, we tend to think of them as things that happen and that you can feel. Of course, feelings can also be described as thoughts, emotions, ideas, or whatever is most comfortable for you. While this is true, there are many other ways that emotions can be described with words, and they are much more common and familiar.
“Anxiety” is one of the more common ways I’ve been taught to describe how we feel. This is because we tend to talk about feelings as if they are something physical, like a headache, or something you feel when you have a fever. As it turns out though, emotions actually have many different meanings. I think it’s important to keep this in mind when talking about emotions.
The good news is that when we say that we are “feeling anxious” that’s not actually true. We’re just feeling a certain way, and that way can be quite different from what you might normally describe as “anxiety.” What really happens is that our brain is making a connection between an emotion (like stress or anger) and our nervous system.
The connection is actually quite a useful one. If you catch yourself saying to yourself “I’m just feeling really stressed,” that’s actually a powerful way of getting our body to slow down and relax. This is why you might find yourself having a panic attack (which is often the first warning sign that your brain is out of sync and is reacting to an emotion that you are not properly able to control).
This is the good news. The bad news is that when your brain is out of sync, it can go haywire all by itself. This is called “physiological arousal,” and it’s the result of a variety of things: stress, adrenaline, and cortisol. These three factors all contribute to the end result that we feel upset or stressed. But, all of these things have a tendency to get out of balance. This is how we become emotionally confused.
We all get upset when we’re not sure how to handle situations. Whether it’s a car that starts to skid or a friend who doesn’t take your feelings into account. Sometimes we’re just not able to understand what’s happening to us, or why, or how to handle it. This is why a lot of people go through periods of depression, and anxiety, and stress.
As a matter of fact, a lot of people don’t get through a time period of depression which is why it’s often called “post-traumatic stress disorder”. And they also don’t get past anxiety. When you are not sure what’s going to happen, and you are going through a period where you feel not really sure what’s going to happen, you can become emotionally confused.
The emotional confusion is exactly what the game is attempting to prevent. But that doesnt mean the emotional confusion has to be a permanent state that lasts for the rest of your life. The emotional confusion can also be a temporary state where you feel like your whole life has been a waste of time. You can feel like a complete idiot, and then you can go right back to normal.
