All animals seek to survive, adapt to their environment and generate survival strategies that are taught and even inherited to new generations. In the case of the human being, this has also happened, for example, fear is the body’s signal to activate the production of adrenaline, a hormone and neurotransmitter that increases the heart rate and improves the ability to fight or flee.
According to the study Maps of subjective feelings, published by the National Academy of Sciences, each emotion generates different types of physical sensations. Thanks to this study that included 1,026 participants, it was possible to map the physical sensations of 100 emotions – both negative and positive – and cognitions.
Participants were asked about the intensity, sensations, and where in the body each emotion was felt. Among the most important conclusions, it was found that emotions are expressed in the same way for most people and that there is a directly proportional relationship between the intensity of each emotion and the intensity of the physical sensation.
These are some of the sensations and physical reactions that emotions produce:
- Ira: adrenaline production increases, breathing speeds up and blood pressure increases. Physical sensation is located in the head, hands and chest.
- Sadness: the consumption of energy and oxygen is increased, which generates a feeling of exhaustion. In addition, the production of serotonin and dopamine is reduced, this in the long term can cause lack of appetite and insomnia. Physical sensation is located in the head, stomach, and chest.
- Shame: As in anger, there is a release of adrenaline, only to a lesser extent, this causes the dilation of blood vessels and increases the heart rate. The physical sensation is located in the head.
- Happiness: the production of serotonin, endorphin, dopamine and oxytocin is increased, the four neurotransmitters that reduce pain and increase the level of relaxation. In this state there is no need to resort to the fight or flight mechanism. The physical sensation is located in the head and in the heart.
If an emotion is constant, so is its corresponding physical sensation, and this can have long-term repercussions on physical and mental health. For example, if a person is in a constant state of stress, his tension will be high for a longer period of time and this can lead to heart disease, stroke and even repercussions on organs such as the liver or the eyes.
For this reason, learning to regulate emotions generates an improvement in physical health and The faster you can identify what is causing a reaction in your body, the easier it is to find a solution.. Additionally, being aware that emotions bring repercussions that are related to health can help to look for positive emotions, since these bring with them the endorphins that reduce the level of pain.
In fact, people who maintain positive thinking and experience more emotions such as happiness have been shown to have lower blood pressure and are more prepared to deal with different stressful situations. This says the study Positive Thinking in Coping with Stress and Health Outcomeswhich also explains that positive thinking has an improving effect on the self-perception of happiness, success and personal value. Even positive thinking has been linked to longer life expectancy.