GalacticCactus Forum
Forums => English & Linguistics => Topic started by: pooka on June 21, 2007, 08:32:26 AM
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Naming feelings inhibits emotion (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070621/sc_nm/brain_feelings_dc)
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Interesting.
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It is. However, I am unconvinced that the study tests what the article claims that it does. OTOH, there is other research with similar findings, so it's not that I think they're entirely wrong. It's just the usual issue with finding ways to test psychological subjects in ways that are ethical, practical, and actually measure what you want -- all at the same time.
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I think there is good theoretical basis for this, though, in that pre-frontal cortex activity has long been thought (well, 1991) to govern the emotional activity in the amygdala.
Of course, this involves naming emotions generated by other stimuli. If someone is not in an emotional state, naming emotions could in my view evoke them. It's also interesting to consider the possibility that some peoples emotions are over-regulated, as with rage disorder, where the dam bursts every now and then. It's obviously quite complex.
I was trying to write someone an email the other day and it got to the point where I realized I was complaining about every darn thing, just to be complaining.