by Marie Monroe

Created on: August 29, 2008

E-motion=Energy in Motion

Emotions are like weather. And, we have about as much control over emotion as we do the weather unless we educate ourselves and/or medicate ourselves. Even then, emotions rise like the sun or moon in their own time and with their own physics. We do well to learn about them.
This is not to say that an emotional state cannot be altered or that emotional triggers cannot be extinguished. Rather, emotions can be re-programmed' with awareness, hard work and practice. Sometimes medications such as mood stabilizers' or antidepressants' are necessary because some emotional states are so purely biological that hard work simply bashes its head against a very hard wall.

How do we know the difference between what can be changed with rethinking and new behavior and what requires medication? There are some indications. First, family history is important. Are there primary relatives (mother, father, grandparent, and sibling) who have had a significant, chronic or recurring emotional problem? Many of these types of problems are genetic, biologically-based problems and will cluster around family ties. However, this is not definitive because families also teach' their members how to express and handle emotions. Families also teach their members a belief system that will trigger certain emotional responses. For example, one can learn that others want to set me up and I must fight them to be safe. Convoluted thinking? For most of us, yes, we'd say that's no way to conduct a life. Not everyone you encounter is that malicious, but in some families, at some particular time in their history, perhaps this belief was true. Perhaps all family members were so distressed that this is how they behaved. Then, at that time, in that particular family, in that particular situation, it was appropriate to feel these things, to express such things and behave accordingly. However, such learned patterns often continue outside the appropriate time and place. These are the types of questions we have to ask ourselves: have I learned this emotional reaction? Where? Why? Can I replace the beliefs that drive these emotional states?

Does replacing the thoughts behind my emotions actually change them? If biology is creating emotionality then the answers are sometimes "maybe" and mostly "no".

Mood stabilizers are non-addictive medicines that take an emotional rollercoaster and chop it down to a management emotional size. They don't, in the proper dose, flatten us, rendering us incapable

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