Emotions are a huge part of what makes human! However, they can be very confusing and become overwhelming when not handled properly. Hopefully the information we've gathered can help!

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The amygdala sends more neural projections up to cortex than it receives back, which makes it easier for our feelings to hijack our thinking. Because of this , some of our emotional reactions involve no deliberate thinking.  Psychologist William James said we can control emotions by going “through the outward movements” of any emotion we want to experience. For example, violent gestures increase rage. These results are explained by the facial feedback effect, which is the tendency of facial movements to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, and happiness. James proposed that these facial expressions can enhance positive feelings, similar to a positive feedback loop. It was found that depressed patients felt better after the injection of Botox, which caused paralysis of their frowning muscles. This slowed their reading of sadness or anger related sentences and emotion-related brain circuits. Charles Darwin echoed this by studying how outward actions intensify emotions.

 

Similarly, the behavior feedback effect is the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions. Going through certain motions can awaken emotions. For example, taking long strides and swinging arms increases positivity.

 

Emotions are best understood not only as biological and cognitive phenomenon, but also as a social-cultural one, and cultures differ in the amount of emotion they express. Acting as others helps us feel what they feel, or helps us empathize in other words. Close relationships give us an opportunity for “open heart therapy” - a chance to confide painful feelings. People who are able to self-disclose or confide stressful events tend to have improved health. Sexually abused women, especially those who suppressed and kept traumatic experiences to themselves reported more headaches and stomach ailments. The benefits of self expression are also shown through the fact that writing therapy was as effective as psychotherapy in reducing psychological trauma. People can deal with their experiences this way and work through pain instead of trying to block it.

Something else essential to working with emotions is mindfulness. Mindfulness calms brain activation in emotional situation. Emotionally unpleasant images trigger weaker electrical brain responses in mindful ppl than their less mindful counterpart, since the mindful brain is strong, reflective, and calm.

 

Additionally, it's important to be aware of reciprocal determinism in emotions, which is the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment. As there are multiple factors to emotions,
social-emotional intelligence, which is the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions is key. The different aspects of emotional intelligence are:
- Perceiving emotions: recognizing them in faces, music, stories,  and identifying one’s emotions
- Understanding emotions: predicting them and how they may change and blend
- Managing emotions: knowing how to express them in varied situations, and how to manage others’ emotions
- Using emotions: utilizing feelings to facilitate adaptive or creative thinking
 

On the contrary, the cognitive dissonance theory is a theory by Leon Festinger that says we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance/tension) we feel when two of our thoughts, or cognitions, are inconsistent. When we become aware that our attitudes and actions clash, we can reduce the dissonance by changing our attitudes. Experiencing more dissonance makes us more motivated to find and project consistency such as changing attitudes to help justify the act. Although we cannot directly control all our feelings, we can influence them by altering behavior