Split: Primary Emotions, Ethics of Online Advice

Thread split from here...

http://forum.infjs.com/showthread.php?p=171571#post171571

There is a lot of debate in psychology about which emotions are primary and which ones are secondary/reactive. From a neurological perspective, the only primary emotions are depression, love, fear, disgust, surprise, and happiness. If you were to chart the brain during a state of anger, then you would find a mixture of the parts of the brain that represent these emotions lighting up. There is no specific center for anger, and so it is considered a secondary emotion, or an emotion which is comprised of many different primary emotions. Philosophically speaking, you could argue that anger is a primary emotion because it is virtually universal to all humans.



Love follows stages, and some people argue that it should be divided into two or three primary emotions.

 

As I said, I was speaking neurologically. Psychologists have been debating about which emotions are the primary emotions since psychology came into existence and probably will until the end of time.

Here is a list of different theorists so you can see what I mean...

http://changingminds.org/explanations/emotions/basic%20emotions.htm

From a philosophical perspective, you can argue that anger is a primary emotion, but the way the OP was describing their anger, I would define that as secondary.

Let's try not to confuse the topic. Drifting into a philosophical debate of whether or not anger constitutes a secondary emotion will not be helpful to the OP.

 

I am a social worker, and I'm not diagnosing anything. Primary and secondary emotions are arbitrary classifications not disorders listed in the DSM.

9 out of 10 doctors said in the 1960s that smoking doesn't cause cancer. It doesn't really matter the number of theorists, it really comes down to the definitions and evidence.

Psychology and neurology are entirely different fields of study. A psychologist observes behavior whereas a neurologist observes the brain. They can come to different conclusions based upon what they observe and measure.

I agree. If this were a serious anger issue that was causing disfunction in the OP's life, I would hope they would seek a professional.

 

I can't imagine how they would come to that conclusion unless they stopped reading at that sentence.

Um...I don't know why you feel its even a debate. I've simply stated that psychologists disagree on it, and that I was speaking neurologically. You can see from my original reply to you that I stated such. I even explained that philosophically, you can easily argue that anger is a primary emotion. I was the first person to suggest that such a debate is not helpful to the OP.

I have not changed any answers. You are welcome to point out in my posts where I have done so. And I'm not sure why my profession is even at issue here. I stated that anger is a reaction fueled by deeper emotions. I'm not entirely sure why you are taking issue with that point.

No offense, but I think the only person here is who muddying things is yourself. I recommend you go back and carefully reread my posts.

 

Frankly, it seems you stopped reading at the first sentence of my post.

 

Sigh...well it would help if you would explain how stating that anger is a reaction fueled by deeper emotions would lead someone to thinking "I have nothing to worry about anger is not even an emotion".

I would particularly like to know that since I also stated in that post that people could control you using your own anger, and that you may have no control over the situation due to your anger.

 

I draw the line at semantics.

I never suggested such a thing. I only argued that people are responsible for their own anger. You can choose to let it control you and let others control you through it, or you can choose to take control of it yourself.

I'm very sorry to hear that. I'm an abuse survivor as well. It certainly is not your fault that your father hurt you. It seems that my post has struck a raw nerve and I recommend that you seek out a professional to explore it. An internet forum like this is probably not the best place to discuss such issues.

 

That is the risk of communicating through this medium. In real life, approximately 70% of communication is nonverbal. That means you are losing a tremendous amount of information by communicating over this forum.

I've learned from experience not to try to provide any sort of therapy or service over the internet. I try to keep any advice I give purely intellectual, holistic, or spiritual. If I think a person needs professional advice, then I would recommend they seek a professional in real life.

 

Yes, this thread has definitely prompted me to return to the nuerological studies. It might help if I could reference exactly which parts of the brain are responsible for what primary emotions, and what sets of those are responsible for what secondary/reactive emotions.