Having Emotional Reactions to Your Emotions
by Matthew Tull, PhD, About.com PTSD blog
People with PTSD often experience strong emotional reactions. For example, a person with PTSD may experience sadness, anger, and/or anxiety as a result of being reminded of their traumatic event or simply just as a part of going through daily life. Sometimes, however, these emotional reactions may occur in response to the experience of other emotions. For example, a person with PTSD may feel shame because he is experiencing anxiety or sadness. Likewise, a person with PTSD my become anxious when he experiences anger. Sometimes a person may even become anxious as a result of feeling anxious. This type of emotional reaction is called a secondary emotion.
What Is a Secondary Emotion?
Before we can understand what secondary emotions are, we first need to learn what primary emotions are. We can broadly divide emotions into two types: primary emotions and secondary emotions.
Primary emotions are those that occur as a direct result of encountering some kind of cue.
For example, if someone cuts you off in traffic, you will likely experience anger or irritation. Anger and irritation, in this case, would be considered a primary emotion because the emotion occurred as a direct consequence of encountering some kind of event (being cut off in traffic). Likewise, if you have a memory come up about losing someone you care about, the primary emotion that will likely come up is sadness.
Primary emotions are generally "fast-acting." That is, they occur in close proximity to the event that brought them on. Primary emotions are important because they provide us with information about our current situation and get us ready or motivated to act in some way.
Secondary emotions, on the other hand, are less useful. Secondary emotions are the emotions we have in response to a primary emotion.
Let's go back to the example of someone cutting you off in traffic. You have the primary emotional response of anger. However, let's say that you were brought up to believe that it is not OK to be angry, or when you feel anger, you think you are going to lose control and do something impulsive. If you evaluate your primary emotional response of anger in this way, you are likely going to feel shame or anxiety in response to being angry.
Secondary emotions don't pass that quickly. They tend to stick around for a long time. They don't provide us with useful information. In addition, secondary emotions are problematic in that they interfere with us getting information from our primary emotional responses and acting on those emotions in healthy ways. Instead, they simply tell us that we aren't willing to have our valid, primary emotional responses. As a result, they often lead us to try to avoid our emotions.
Where Do Secondary Emotions Come From?
Secondary emotions can come from a number of places. As stated earlier, we may learn from an early age that it is not OK to express certain emotions. For example, many men are brought up to believe that they should not feel anxious or sad because this is a supposed sign of weakness. Similarly, women are often brought up to believe that it is not appropriate to experience and express anger. As a result, when men and women brought up around these beliefs feel these emotions, they may begin to feel ashamed or embarrassed.
People with PTSD may begin to connect the experience of certain emotions with traumatic memories or thoughts (because these experiences often occur together). As a result, they may begin to fear the experience of fear or anxiety. Of course, this only increases the severity of a person's fear, potentially leading to unhealthy attempts to escape that emotion (through drug or alcohol use, for example).
What Can Be Done?
The first step in reducing your secondary emotional responses is to increase your awareness of your emotions. This can be done through self-monitoring exercises. In these exercises, identify your emotional responses to a situation, as well as how you evaluate those emotional responses. Try to capture what kind of thoughts your primary emotions bring about, as well as how you feel as a result of those thoughts.
Next, practice responding to your thoughts in a different way. You can challenge your thoughts or be more mindful of your thoughts. That is, practice not taking your thoughts at face value or as truth, but simply as a thought you are having only because you have had that thought before -- it is a habit.
Practicing these steps will help prevent the occurrence of secondary emotions and increase the extent to which you can get in touch with your primary emotional experiences.
[SUB]
Source: [/SUB]
Greenberg, L. S. and Safran, J. D. (1987). Emotion in Psychotherapy. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
by Matthew Tull, PhD, About.com PTSD blog
People with PTSD often experience strong emotional reactions. For example, a person with PTSD may experience sadness, anger, and/or anxiety as a result of being reminded of their traumatic event or simply just as a part of going through daily life. Sometimes, however, these emotional reactions may occur in response to the experience of other emotions. For example, a person with PTSD may feel shame because he is experiencing anxiety or sadness. Likewise, a person with PTSD my become anxious when he experiences anger. Sometimes a person may even become anxious as a result of feeling anxious. This type of emotional reaction is called a secondary emotion.
What Is a Secondary Emotion?
Before we can understand what secondary emotions are, we first need to learn what primary emotions are. We can broadly divide emotions into two types: primary emotions and secondary emotions.
Primary emotions are those that occur as a direct result of encountering some kind of cue.
For example, if someone cuts you off in traffic, you will likely experience anger or irritation. Anger and irritation, in this case, would be considered a primary emotion because the emotion occurred as a direct consequence of encountering some kind of event (being cut off in traffic). Likewise, if you have a memory come up about losing someone you care about, the primary emotion that will likely come up is sadness.
Primary emotions are generally "fast-acting." That is, they occur in close proximity to the event that brought them on. Primary emotions are important because they provide us with information about our current situation and get us ready or motivated to act in some way.
Secondary emotions, on the other hand, are less useful. Secondary emotions are the emotions we have in response to a primary emotion.
Let's go back to the example of someone cutting you off in traffic. You have the primary emotional response of anger. However, let's say that you were brought up to believe that it is not OK to be angry, or when you feel anger, you think you are going to lose control and do something impulsive. If you evaluate your primary emotional response of anger in this way, you are likely going to feel shame or anxiety in response to being angry.
Secondary emotions don't pass that quickly. They tend to stick around for a long time. They don't provide us with useful information. In addition, secondary emotions are problematic in that they interfere with us getting information from our primary emotional responses and acting on those emotions in healthy ways. Instead, they simply tell us that we aren't willing to have our valid, primary emotional responses. As a result, they often lead us to try to avoid our emotions.
Where Do Secondary Emotions Come From?
Secondary emotions can come from a number of places. As stated earlier, we may learn from an early age that it is not OK to express certain emotions. For example, many men are brought up to believe that they should not feel anxious or sad because this is a supposed sign of weakness. Similarly, women are often brought up to believe that it is not appropriate to experience and express anger. As a result, when men and women brought up around these beliefs feel these emotions, they may begin to feel ashamed or embarrassed.
People with PTSD may begin to connect the experience of certain emotions with traumatic memories or thoughts (because these experiences often occur together). As a result, they may begin to fear the experience of fear or anxiety. Of course, this only increases the severity of a person's fear, potentially leading to unhealthy attempts to escape that emotion (through drug or alcohol use, for example).
What Can Be Done?
The first step in reducing your secondary emotional responses is to increase your awareness of your emotions. This can be done through self-monitoring exercises. In these exercises, identify your emotional responses to a situation, as well as how you evaluate those emotional responses. Try to capture what kind of thoughts your primary emotions bring about, as well as how you feel as a result of those thoughts.
Next, practice responding to your thoughts in a different way. You can challenge your thoughts or be more mindful of your thoughts. That is, practice not taking your thoughts at face value or as truth, but simply as a thought you are having only because you have had that thought before -- it is a habit.
Practicing these steps will help prevent the occurrence of secondary emotions and increase the extent to which you can get in touch with your primary emotional experiences.
[SUB]
Source: [/SUB]
Greenberg, L. S. and Safran, J. D. (1987). Emotion in Psychotherapy. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
