The New York Time – Sunday Review – Are You in Despair? That’s Good – Gray Matter – By Lisa Feldman Barrett – June 3, 2016
OK…so while this NYT article by Lisa Feldman Barrett has an unfortunate title, it presents a very valuable concept: that emotional granularity (that is, the capacity to differentiate between subtly different emotional states) can have a powerful impact on well-being and health.
The awareness of, for instance the difference between horror and fury, gives your brain more precise tools for handling the myriad challenges that life throws at you. Those who lump the unpleasant emotions into generalized categories of awfulness (ie, “I feel miserable”), are at a severe disadvantage as they attempt to regulate their moods.
“Are You In Despair? That’s Good” presents at its core what I believe is the tip of the iceberg of a significant mental health sea change: tuning into precise physical and emotional awareness is the key to improving physical and mental health, and more specifically, to trauma recovery.