Though you may feel many emotions throughout the day and in life, there are actually only five basic emotions that we generally react with. Have you seen the Disney movie Inside Out? If not, I strongly suggest it for a light-hearted way to learn more about our five basic emotions, and if so, well, I knew I always liked you! These emotions were constructed by Paul Ekman in the 20th century and are the ones that we react with most instinctively.

Joy

Joy is a sense of contentment and happiness. It comes from feeling a state of well-being. Joy can come from several things such as pleasurable sensations (externally or internally), amusement, excitement, lacking life problems, etc. The emotions of joy can be felt in short periods of time or for longer amounts of time. When feeling joyful, there is less physical and emotional tension in the body making it easier to rest the mind and relax the body.

There are slight differences between joy, happiness, pleasure, and other positive emotions but they are all usually placed under the net of feeling joy. Dopamine and serotonin are released when joy is felt which reduces depression and anxiety. When the feeling of joy comes to the body, it is easier to breathe and blood flows better through the body because the body is trying to catch up with the excitement of the mind. There are more science details to this, but you get the point.

What feeling joy does for the body:

– Boosts the immune system
– Releases stress and tension in the body
– Leads to a longer, happier life
– Increases physical health
– Your brain releases a positive hormone in the body, allowing the feeling to continue

What provokes joy:

– Smiling (it can trick your brain to release hormones)
– Exercising
– Finding hobbies that you enjoy
– Surrounding yourself with positive people
– Doing things that you love

Fear

Fear is the sense of feeling scared due to threats and danger. It comes from things that have yet to happen but could, therefore it’s based on the future. The purpose of fear is to ensure that we don’t get hurt though people can feel fear too easily or not much at all. Fear comes from the chance of feeling other of the more negative emotions such as sadness, embarrassment, loneliness, etc. Excessive fear can be classified as anxiety and irrational fear can be classified as phobias.

Once fear is felt, we generally react through to fighting, fleeing, or freezing in response to our body’s signals. Fear releases adrenaline and cortisol which then circulates through the bloodstream. Adrenaline increases your heart and breathing rate and opens the blood vessels, lungs, and muscles to allow for the flight or fight response. Cortisol increases blood sugar levels to boost energy (in order to put up a fight or to run away from the situation).

What fear does to the body:

– Prevents comfort
– Disrupts sleep
– Disturbs memory
– Slows brain processing
– Suppresses the immune system

What provokes fear:

– Physical treats (car accidents, shootings, etc.)
– Loss (death, being fired, etc.)
– Causing pain to others (coming off as rude, running into someone)
– Emotional threats (toxic people, break-ups)
– Impostor syndrome (not feeling good enough)

Anger

Anger is the feeling of rage and frustration in the body and comes out when there is an unfair threat appears. It is an emotion that occurs after an event. This emotion can be used as motivation to work towards change but can also have negative outcomes when not controlled. Aggressiveness and anger are not the same things, though they are often linked to each other. Feeling anger is an inward feeling whereas aggression in outward behavior. Often when anger is felt, there is a loss of empathy, mindfulness, and rational towards the world.

Anger is usually sparked from unfair treatment to themselves or others. When this takes place, the body produces more adrenaline and noradrenaline. These hormones bring alertness to the inner body, increasing heart rate and blood pressure. This makes people want to act out with rage and frustration, making someone have to control themselves with their outward expression. There is a common tendency to blame others when the emotion of anger is present.

What anger does to the body:

– Reduces cognitive ability
– Urge to react
– Reduces stress hormones
– Increases testosterone production
– Stimulation of the left brain

What provokes anger:

– Unfair/unjust treatment
– Hearing criticism
– Boredom
– Offensive language and behaviors
– Physical attacks

Disgust

Disgust is the feeling of repulsiveness and the need for rejection of things that could contaminate you. It mostly comes from taste though can come from anything that seems unpleasant through smell, touch, or sight. The goal of disgust is to keep us away from harmful material that could infect or kill us. A lot of the behaviors that trigger disgust are learned through cultures and lifestyles though some are instinctive. Most triggers of disgust are physical matters, but some can be emotional, also known as “moral disgust”.

There are autonomic responses with disgust such as lowered heart rate and blood pressure. The skin also has decreased conductance with disgust in order to prevent your body from continuing the potentially toxic activity. Disgust primarily comes from the immune system to prevent the consumption of objects and/or pathogens that could impact health. There are usually physical responses with disgust such as facial expression and body movements.

What disgust does to the body:

– Lowers heart rate
– Urge to reject objects/substances
– Reactions to get away from pathogen
– Gag reflexes
– Upset stomach

What provokes disgust:

– Spoiled food
– Dead animals
– Harmful substances
– Body matter (blood, urine, spit, etc.)
– Poor hygiene

Sadness

Sadness is the feeling of loss, sorrow, disappointment, and/or grief. The concept is that everything we gain, we will at some point lose and sadness comes in when we lose those things. This can come from physical or emotional things. Sadness comes after something happens and can last for a while or quickly pass. There isn’t one way to express sadness r to heal from it. Longer periods of sadness that is preventing people from going about their normal lives and activities can be classified as depression.

Feeling sadness slows down the body and leads to feeling lethargic. There is no need or want for excitement. Drops of serotonin in the body cause sadness and vice versa. Lack of the hormone serotonin leads to increased sadness and even depression. The body becomes very tired and weak in moments of sadness and can even lead to fatigue and lack of arousal. This can impact memory making and can be difficult to pull out of at times.

What sadness does to the body:

– Withdrawal from arousal
– Impacts sleep (either too much or too little)
– Frequent episodes of crying
– Lowered energy levels
– Feelings of exhaustion and fatigue

What provokes sadness:

– Loss
– Genetics
– Dissatisfaction of life
– Imbalances hormones
– Lack of exercise and nutrition