The “Big 5” Emotions
March 16, 2022
The Big 5 Emotions
We human beings are complex creatures. Studies have shown that we have at least 60 different emotions! So it’s no wonder that we have communication problems and a wide assortment of relationship issues. In this article I want to address what I call the Big 5 Emotions. They are Anger, Sadness, Fear, Hurt, and Guilt. These emotions are very powerful and can cause a lot of problems. Left unresolved, they can affect a person’s physical health, mental health, social health, and just about every aspect of a persons’ life. Worst of all, they rarely (if ever) resolve themselves. A lot of people go to their graves without ever getting over some experience that left them with one or more of the “Big 5” emotional issues. So let’s take a closer look at them.
The Big 5 Emotions – Anger
So let’s begin with Anger. What exactly is anger and how does it affect us? Anger is an emotional response to something or someone who has hurt us in some way. That “hurt” will usually include a violation of something we believe. For example, when we see someone abusing an animal… and we believe that animal abuse is wrong, it hurts us. This hurt feeling then, triggers the emotional response of anger. There are times when anger is justifiable and quite effective, and quite frankly, a reasonable response to an injustice of some sort. The downside is that anger also has a dark side.
For people with serious anger issues, anger is their favorite, habitual response to most everything, and ends up causing more problems than it solves. Such people frequently fail at relationships with others because their anger prevents them from communicating in a more flexible manner. Being inflexible literally prevents them from seeing different, and possibly better points of view… no matter how much sense they make. When someone challenges their anger, they respond with even more anger. Theirs is a sad, bitter life… as well as for those who live around them.
Sadness
Our next big emotion, is Sadness. This emotion is typically associated with a loss or a failure of some sort. Sadness, like Anger, is a very powerful emotion. When we lose someone or something that we are emotionally attached to, it leaves a big empty space inside us. That feeling of emptiness can eventually spiral downward into full-blown depression. The loss can be that of a spouse, a friend, a pet, or a relationship of some sort; either way it can be extremely painful.
The other source of Sadness can also come from failure. For example, when we fail to reach a goal of some sort, we may feel sad. We put a lot of effort and work into achieving that goal, but for some reason, it just didn’t work out. The profound disappointment can also lead to feelings of depression, or feelings of being a failure. Left unresolved, sadness can last a lifetime and deprive the person of a lot of potential happiness… both in their personal life and/or their occupation.
The Big 5 Emotions – Fear
Next on our list, is Fear. Fear is one of the most powerful emotions we can experience. Generally speaking, fear is our internal warning system. Its job is to help us to survive. Fear can be caused by something external, or internal. An example of external fear would be something like having a bad car wreck and being afraid to drive anymore. Or it could be from virtually any external threat to our overall health and well-being. On the other hand, Internal fear is commonly caused by our thoughts.
When we feel fearful, it affects our physiology. This is commonly referred to as the “Fight or Flight” mode. It’s our body’s way of preparing us to run away from something, or to stand and fight. When this happens, our adrenal glands pump adrenaline and cortisol into our blood stream. These chemicals increase our heartrate, make us breath shallowly, make our body channel the blood away from our internal organs, and send it to our arms and legs in preparation for running or fighting. When a body remains in this hyper-vigilant state for a long period of time, serious potential problems can develop.
Hurt
The emotion of hurt is more serious than many people realize. It generally results from someone violating a belief, standard, or expectation of ours. When some person fails to live up to our beliefs, standards or expectations… we feel hurt. The feeling of Hurt commonly triggers other emotions, such as Anger and/or Sadness. Now it becomes a three-pronged problem, making it much more complex. This opens the door to even more potential emotions such as disappointment, regret, confusion, lack of trust and more. Not a pleasant situation.
Hurt can also be caused by the loss of a loved one, either by way of death, or by a breakup in a relationship of some sort. These types of losses can be extremely traumatic, especially because they can happen without warning. They’re also very “close to the heart” in nature. When we lose someone who we’re close to, it leaves a big emptiness inside. Getting over this type of hurt can take months or even years to get over without proper treatment.
The Big 5 Emotions – Guilt
Guilt arises when we do or say something to someone else, and later realize that it was the wrong thing to have said or done. Or it can arise from NOT saying or doing something for someone when we realize that we should have. Guilt makes us feel like a failure. It can gnaw at us until we correct our “error” – if possible. But sometimes, unfortunately it is not possible. If the one we offended has passed away before we can make amends, we must find another way to make up for our offence. For those with a healthy conscience, it may take a bit of creativity to find a reliable way to make amends, but it will be worth the effort. For those who lack a healthy conscience, odds are they never experience guilt, and won’t read this anyway.
The Big 5 Emotions
So those are the Big 5 Emotions. As mentioned above, there are dozens of other emotions, but they’re well beyond the scope of this post. So what’s common to all these emotions? They can all be successfully treated with the appropriate methods such as hypnotherapy and NLP. Our emotions are how we respond to our environment, both internal and external. For the most part, they serve a vital function. They can literally make the difference between life and death.
Unfortunately, in our fast-paced world, we often don’t take the time to acknowledge – much less analyze or address our feelings and emotions. And the proof of this is the skyrocketing increase in anxiety, depression, autoimmune disorders and much more. Plus, the use of alcohol and drugs, which only tend to dampen and suppress one’s feelings and emotions, never really resolve anything. Very unfortunate. There IS a better way.
Emotions (feelings), are generated by our thoughts. First, we have the thought… then we feel an emotion. This all happens in a split second. One of the presuppositions of NLP says that “When you change the way you look at something, the thing you’re looking at changes.” And when the thing you’re looking at changes, the way you feel changes accordingly. This is the essence of how our emotions come about.
Altering ones’ perspective or “point of view” is often the key. When you learn how to recognize how a certain emotion came about, it empowers you to change how you feel. Hypnotherapy and NLP are the two fastest, easiest, and most effective ways to change the way you think at the sub-conscious level. And when you make desired changes at the sub-conscious level, those changes are permanent.