Emotions and Mental Health

Emotions and Mental Health
Chapter 8

Breckenridge and Vincent(1981) said that the emotional well-being is a primary factor in a child’s mental and personality development. A child inherits not only physical structure but also the psychological structures of emotional and mental potentiality called PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTITUTION.

This world is a complex place to live in. The tempo of change is fast and sometimes drastic. Changes may be in terms of technology, population explosion, politics, educational growth, or moral values. The emotional coping mechanisms of people toward change need a high degree of resiliency and tolerance. As there is the constant need for the coping skill; it is in this regard that the psychological constitution of a man is put to the test.

Abraham Sperling, (1976) defines an emotion as a “state of agitation,” “distribution of equlibrium,” “an intense, random and disorganized response to a stimulus.”

A person without emotional stress is calm and serene. Emotional stimulus and instigation are but normal occurences in this excitable world. It is only when one’s feeling and emotions are excessive that emotions become detrimental. Negative and positive emotions must be in moderation if they are to influence and pervade our behavior, health, and personality.

John B. Watson, the behaviorist, claimed that fear, rage, and love are the three basic emotions around which complex adult emotions were evolved. A child is born with emotions of fear for noise, strange men, animals, dark places, and high places. The inborn reactions of rage respond to a particular stimuli of unpleasantness in the environment.

The infant’s response to hunger , pain, restraint, or falling is called anger or rage. The pleasant stroking of the mother, the family’s smiles and kisses and giving of comfort develop the love instincts of the child. All through the years of caring, attachment between the family and the child develops.

Basically, emotions are instincts. The instincts to live and to survive lead the new-born baby to grope for his food from yhe mother’s breast even if no one teaches him. He will suck anything put into his mouth in order to live. From his crib, he will show contentment when physiologically satisfied; anger overwhelms him when his needs and wants are not met. In a young child, jealousy may take the form of bed-wetting , pretense of illness, refusal to eat, sucking of the thumb, or ignoring others. In an older child, the negative effects of jealousy are quarreling, teasing, gossiping, boasting, ridicule, and sarcasm. Each child utilizes the method that gives him the greatest satisfaction. During childhood when his toys are lost or destroyed, he will show hatred toward his playmates but he can display appreciation, admiration, and love to people who are kind to him.

Adolescence is the stage when he experiences the first taste of love. Sometimes it is devastating to someone when love becomes an experience of bitterness.

The importance of play to children cannot be underestimated. They are the vehicles for releasing tensions. When a child plays, he is given the opportunity to release fear, resentment, and frustrations resulting from parental prohibitions and control.

Are facial expressions accurate indicators of emotions? Although there are facial expressions for each kind of emotion, they are not however dependable indicators of emotions. Some people are so happy that tears flow from their eyes, while some people, in spite of internal grief during the burial of a love one, cannot cry. Some magnify their emotions by exaggerating their reactions through facial expressions, while others hide their emotions by inhibiting their feelings.

Emotions and Feelings Differentiated

Feelings and emotions are moving powers of human beings. Anxieties, enthusiasm, apprehension, desires, and the pleasantness and unpleasantness of life experiences elicit the powers of emotion. Positive emotions result in the effectiveness and efficiency of individuals. Negative emotions result in the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of individuals.

Can you imagine what this world would be like if people did not have emotions? If people had uniform reactions, this world would be dull, and without challenge and variety at all.

Emotions are stronger than feelings. While feelings concern the external sensations of pain and pleasure through the external senses of the body, emotions ae strong intense, integrated, and focused on the object of the emotions. They are so internalized that they integrate body and mind.

Feelings are the simple pleasurable or painful aspects of mental process or bodily conditions. In the James-Lange theory, emotions are caused by percieved objects or situations, penetrate the organized system of the body, then consolidated into reactins as a consequence of the interwoven impact of various external senses. They intensify and physiologically manifest themselves in the individuals.

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Strong emotions can block the learning process. Unmanageable strong emotions can retard growth and development of the mind. It can thwart the learner’s acquisition of knowledge. However, pleasant emotions like love, joy, happiness, and satisfaction can arouse the enthusiasm of persons, accelerate the learning process, and may result in the fulfillment of the person.

Emotions make life colorful. Time is short and its passing unnoticed when people are in love. Positive emotions motivate a man into action when he is happy over success. The span of life is shortened because of negative emotions. As the bible has put it, “Envy and anger shorten one’s life, worrying brings on premature old age.” (Sirach 31:24)

Control of Emotions

Self-control is the differnce between man and the brute creation. Man is capable of controlling emotions since he is endowed with the intellect and the will. Self control is the ability to regulate oneself in every situation. It is the ability to do an act with a balanced mind. A person having this quality thinks well before he speaks. When he speaks, he uses his reasoning so as not to say mean words. Unlike animals, man must be able to overcome any impulse. This can be done by self-control.

There are certain practices that need to be followed in order to have poise and self-control. Rivera at. Al. (1973) offer the following advice:

1. Refrain from gambling and other vices. 2. Avoid unwholesome habits such as drinking liquor, smoking, overeating, etc. 3. Control your temper and language. 4. Take criticisms calmly and good-naturedly. 5. Cultivate the habit of denying yourself some of the luxuries of life. 6. Shun all forms of vice, and endeavor to help in checking and eliminating them.

Mental Health

Everyone wants a sound, healthy mind as he wants a sound healthy body. Mental health results when an individual balances his needs, desires and aspirations against realities in the environment. To be able to do this, he must have an objective assessment of himself as a social being, as a professional or whatever calling he has and in whatever status he is in. He must then plan a program of action calculated to improve his personal adjustment, to modify his habits, his self-concept and his emotional reactions, and to improve his social interactions. Frequently the roots of all human problems are so deeply imbedded in the past that a person sometimes needs help to make the causes surface, or else, his efficiency and performance in life are seriously impaired.

In one’s life span, various forms of problems, such as an adolescent’s problem, choice of a career, choice of a mate, occupational problems, marital problems, adjustment with in-laws, and financial problems pose such a threat and insecurity that only a person with strong self-confidence can overcome them. These multifaceted forms of problems need the thorough deliberations of a mentally and emotionally mature individual before some forms of acceptance, adaptations, and decision-making can be achieved.

Human adjustment as an aspect of mental health is a continuous and unending process. A solid and strong family foundation and back-up for any person are a source of support in time of life crises.

A. In Employment. There are several situations in an employment setting where mental health should be present. Immediate adjustment can promote good mental health. Supervisors are cognizant of the problem of adjustment for newly selected employees. There are always over powering feelings of fears, insecurities, and tension of new employees. Other employess in the same organization should offer acceptance, belongingness, and positive forms of treatening the new employess in order to dispel the fears associated with the new jobs.

In the same way, new employees should take every opportunity to learn the intricacies of the new job and the responsibilities they assume. They should show a positive attitude toward work and those people with whom they will have a working relationship.

A briefing for the new employees regarding the physical facilities, regulations, policies, and administrative personnel is considered a gain for the company in the long run.

B. In Social Life.One of the greatest blessings we have is the love and friendship of other people. This forms of happiness makes our life truly worth living. There are times when we need compassion, tenderness, and love from another human being to stimulate our dormant compassion and love.

Give others a chance to see your excellent qualities. Instill in their minds all your positive qualities, because people easily form lasting impressions. The sound of your voice, your thoughts, your gesture will be recorded in the minds of those you meet. It is therefore important to steal the spotlight. Mentally healthy individuals are always positive in outlook and this optimism will be a plus factor in their social adjustments.

C. What is a Balanced Life? Balance means moderation in everything. It means that one does not spend all of his time in work or all of his time in play. Balance means one does not have to wrap his entire life around one person or thing exclusively. One can never depend on a single source of support and still expect to survive.

One should never lose balance by attempting to please everyone, or feel devastated when he is criticized. Remember, the first sign of success is shown when one begins to be criticized. Criticism is usually a sign that one is alive and doing things. Fruit-bearing trees are usually stoned. When a person is achieving above par, he is noticed and becomes the source of envy for others.

D. What is Satisfying Work? Satisfying work has a very strong and positive influence on mental hygiene. Satisfying work fulfills one’s innermost needs and gives strong outlets for one’s ego needs and gives strong outlets for one’s ego needs and creative interest. It is the source of one’s own happiness.

It is not just a sound mind in a sound body, but it is a state that is intimately realted to the whole of human existence. It is the condition of the whole personality characterized by one’s ability to face reality in both defeat and victory and to function effectively in a dynamic society.

Adjustment and Frustrations

Adjustment is a process and not an end in itself. It is a happy and comfortable relationship between one’s self and one’s environment. There is no prescribed situation to match a certain personality and environment and the resiliency and adaptability of the individual until he reaches the stage of satisfaction and ultimately, happiness. As the wisdom of a philosopher says, “God, give me the courage to vhange the things which I can change, the serenity to accept the things which I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

An individual is likely to become well-adjusted by changing his environment to meet his individuality and also by submitting to the reasonable demands of the situations in which he finds himself. On the other hand, he can avoid situations and people he feels uneasy with. He can create settings where he can progress and stand out.

Neither do conformity and rebellion represent adjustment or maladjustment. One can be harmonized with a situation and events without sacrificing his own values and principles.

How to Live With Oneself

The whole drama of life springs out of our basic “I want,” Dr. Murray D. Bars states this isone of his speeches deliverd more than 5,000 times.

Here they are: 1. I want to live. “how long?” “Forever.” A person will normally preserve himself. It is the most basic instinct and tendency. If it is a question of saving one out of two, between himself and a freind, between himself and a brother, himself and a mother, still it is himself who will win. Self-preservation is an innate tendency which nobody can question. 2. I want a feeling of importance. The ego of the person is flaterred when it is being fed with importance, recognition, and feeling of being useful and needed. This is the most sensitive part of the individual. One will always go a long way if his ego is bolstered and elevated. 3. I want a mate. An old maid who claims that she is truly happy is telling a lie. A woman is born to a man and a man to a woman. Persons of opposite sex always attract each other. It is most fulfilling to have a mate when both minds meet and when the man stands as the father, husband, playmate, and co-worker at the appropiate time. Both husbands and wife should therefore be properly attuned in growth, professionally, physically, spritually, socially, and morally. Each one chould support the other. 4. I want a little variety/change. Life is boring without variety or change. A monotonous life kills
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And act insoite of it. Fear of failure keeps us from risking but willingness to risk is a measure of our consciousness of prosperity.

4.) Creative boost. The following are seeds of creativity:

a. Productivity. Most productive people are creative. In the process of working and being productive, one has the opportunity to become creative. b. Analytical thinking. Unconsciously, this breaks down concepts and ideas into their component parts. To understand something thoroughly, one has to see beyond its surface structure. c. Independent thinking. Be an independent thinker. Information is collected, analyzed, and stored in order that one can render an independent judgement. d. Unconventionality. What make unconventional people differnt from others are their ideas and not the clothes that they wear.

5.)What can one do when he wants to change but doesn’t know how:

a. Dare to love yourself in a world that gives no guarantee. b. Pay attention to what you feel. c. Nobody can really tell you the answer to life’s problems. d. If what you are doing is not getting you what you want, try something different. e. When you are considering a specific change, make a list of all possible things that could happen.
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Recipes – anyone of these helps one overcome black moods.

7. Don’t panic. Time is a great healer. It will allow situational problems to settle by themselves. To panic will cause more harm than good.
A child having a high fever becomes worse when the panicky mother administers some cuticle remover instead of an appropriate remedy. 8. Involve yourself with life. No matter who gets hurt, no matter how serious the problem is, this world should continue to go around. Better do the best youcan. Live it to the brim.
A monotonous environment is repressive nd therefore dangerous to mental health and to the development of initiative and zest for living.

How Frustration and Conflicts influence our Lives

Frustration is experienced by an individual when his action meets some form of interference which prevents or delays its completion.

It is an individual experience because it is a relative matter. What may be frustrating to one may not be frustrating to another person. Barriers which are the prime sources of frustration exist everywhere.

Factors of Frustration

1. Physical factors a. Poor health b. Physical defects such as obesity, shortness in height or excessive height, being ugly, and speech defects. 2. Intellectual factors a. Lack of ability to achieve a certain goal b. Possession of abilities way beyond the requirements of a task 3. Socio-economic factors a. “Keeping up with the Joneses” b. Financial constraint in attaining one’s ambition like taking up medicine c. Social discrimination due to financial difficulty in falling within a social group. 4. Interruption and disturbances a. Frustration due to minor disturbances like noise while reading newspapers. b. Changes in one’s usual way of life 5. Cultural origins

To live happily in this world means abiding by certain unwritten standards which pervade the cultural groups – customs, traditions, system, and habitat of certain cultural groups. The aetas, the mangyans, the Manobos, and the Igorots have their respective cultural systems.

The Symptoms of Failing Adjustments

Kaplan and Baron (1961) list some warning signs of personality failures. 1. Physical symptoms a. Lack of muscular control like hands shaking, tremors b. General feeling of weakness, fatigue without apparent reasons, stammering, speech block, frequent urination c. Hypochondriasis- playing sick to avoid disagreeable situations 2. Emotional symptoms a. Insomnia- can’t muster sleep, restlessness