1. EMOTIONS/STRESS/HEALTH

2. EMOTION  An emotion is defined as a response of the whole organism, involving 1) physiological arousal 2) expressive behaviors, and 3) conscious experience  Your autonomic nervous system controls physiological arousal Examples: Eyes) Pupils dilate and contract Salivation) increases and decreases Skin) perspires and dries Respiration) increases and decreases Heart) Accelerates and slows Digestion) Inhibits and activates Adrenal Glands) secrete stress hormones and decrease secretion of stress hormones

3. COGNITION AND EMOTION  One’s cognition can define your emotion which leads to physiological responses  Polygraph Test – a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion (such as perspiration and cardiovascular and breathing changes)

4. CULTURE AND EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION  The meanings of gestures within cultures can mean various things  Example: Nixon and the A-OK sign in Brazil, North Koreans and the middle finger, thumbs up in India  Some expressions are the same throughout the world – a smile is a smile, anger is anger, etc.

5. DO FACIAL EXPRESSIONS IMPACT OUR EMOTIONS?  Studies have shown that if you sit cheerfully, smile more, or try to have more energy you may be happier.  Our facial expressions can cause our cognitive state to influence our emotions

6. FEAR  The amygdala in the brain can associate various situations with fear  A phobia is a severe fear of something

7. HAPPINESS AND ANGER  The feel-good, do-good phenomenon says people tend to be helpful when already in a good mood.  Your subjective-well being is your self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life.  Anger involves emotional release called catharsis in which this hypothesis maintains that releasing aggressive energy relieves aggressive urges.

8. WHAT IS STRESS?  Stress is the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging  People tackle stress by a general adaptation syndrome which is the concept of a body’s adaptive response to stress in three states – alarm, resistance, exhaustion  Stress can lead to having elevated blood pressure which can cause heart disease.  Psychophysiological illness is a “mind body” illness; any stress related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches

9. HOW TO HANDLE STRESS  Coping is alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods  Emotion-focused coping: attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring the stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one’s stress reaction  Problem-focused coping: attempting to alleviate stress directly – by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor  Aerobic exercise: sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety