Science Of Emotions

 August 24, 2009

Interview with Norman Rosenthal, M.D., author of The Emotional Revolution: Harnessing The Power Of Your Emotions For A More Positive Life
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Mike Carruthers:
Your emotions - there's a fascinating topic. Do we create our own emotions or are we subject to them? Maybe both.

Norman Rosenthal, M.D.:
If we, for example, gamble away our money we're going to be pretty unhappy about that. But that isn't something that happened to us, that's something we actually made happen.

 
Psychiatrist Dr. Norman Rosenthal, author of the book The Emotional Revolution…

But with all that having been said there are lots of things that do happen that we have no control over. And the other thing we don't have control over is our temperament - that some people are just set, it's called a set-point. Some people just have a much happier,  happiness set-point than others.

When you deal with difficult emotions Dr. Rosenthal says one of the best things you can do is take a break and walk away, then come back to the problem later.

Because when you walk away and let go of it, your unconscious mind works on the problem. Sometimes when you put your eyes right up against the problem it's like you can't see the forest through the trees. So some distance enables you to get clarity on a problem.

A common piece of advice for people dealing with difficult emotions is to write down their feelings and Dr. Rosenthal says it has been proven to be very powerful.

It's been shown to have huge effects both on mood and on decision-making and on physical health as well.

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here.