The physiology of emotions and psychology of feelings significantly impact your health and wellbeing

When you think about your health, diet and exercise are probably the first things that come to mind. But what if I told you that emotions and feelings are just as important as diet and exercise? In fact, the physiology of emotions and psychology of feelings significantly impact your health and wellbeing.

Emotions live in the body

Emotions are physical reactions that occur in response to your environment. When you sense a life-threatening situation, this triggers the fight-or-flight response. Let us take the classic example from our prehistoric ancestors of running into a saber-toothed tiger: the heart races, the breath quickens, the eyes grow wide… all so that you can escape the tiger. This innate reaction is thanks to the amygdala, the primitive region of the brain that registers emotions like fear and anger. It is hardwired to identify threats. In fact, you are programmed to recognize negative stimuli three times more often than positive stimuli. This bias towards negativity is a survival mechanism, and it occurs automatically without you even being aware of it.

Feelings live in the mind

Feelings are mental processes that occur as a result of emotions. After the initial threat has passed (i.e. you escape the saber-toothed tiger), the mind interprets what has just happened. These thoughts are what give rise to feelings. In other words, you experience the emotion of fear when you see the tiger, but you develop the feeling of horror once you escape. Feelings then give rise to behaviors (i.e. you hide in your cave). You think, then feel, then do.

Negative emotions and feelings have consequences

Modern day threats are different beasts. Instead of isolated life-or-death events, you battle constant stressors like unread emails, urgent deadlines, and long commutes. But the brain’s natural instinct is to perceive these stressors as dangerous, so you still experience negative emotions, have negative thoughts, develop negative feelings, and perform negative behaviors. This chronic stress keeps the body and mind in a sustained state of alarm. The resulting damage (increased blood pressure, increased blood sugar, increased inflammation, etc.) leads to serious complications like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. The only remedy is to restore the balance between physiology and psychology, between body and mind.