Emotions 101 - YLAM230001

SPEAKER A This programme presents ways to optimise health and well being when considering lifestyle changes. Please consult with your healthcare provider to ensure they are suitable for you. SPEAKER B Hello and welcome. I'm Kaysie Vokurka. All of us have emotions, but have you ever wondered what emotions actually are? Let's find out more as we look at the topic emotions 101. SPEAKER A This is your lifestyle as medicine, a production of 3ABN Australia television. SPEAKER B It's so good to have you with us on this programme. We explore ways that you can shape your lifestyle as medicine. What we will look at today and in the next few episodes is something that has a huge effect on our quality of life, our emotions. I am delighted to introduce our special guest who will take us through this subject, Jenifer Skues. Jenifer is a health psychologist. Welcome to the programme, Jenifer. SPEAKER C Thank you, Kaysie. It's great to be here. SPEAKER B Thank you for joining us. We are so happy that you are with us to share from your experience and I'm very interested in your profession. You're a health psychologist. How is that different to just a regular psychologist? SPEAKER C Health psychologist works a lot more with the whole structure of the system. We work with behaviours, health behaviours particularly so people who've had some sort of disease disorder, accident, stress related disorders, trauma related disorders. So we cover a broad range of people, has similarities to the clinical psychologists, but I guess I'm more a hands on, practical person and I like to work with the whole system, which is the body, soul and spirit. Everything, all our emotions, everything. SPEAKER B Wow, that's so important. And, yeah, the fact that you are dealing with the whole person, so often different factors of people's life all feed in together and affect other parts. And so it sounds like you would have quite a comprehensive sort of approach to people's needs and their circumstances there. SPEAKER C I do. And one of the things I did, because I've done a lot of training, I also decided I needed to work with the nutritional side, particularly for the brain, because a lot of people at IC, literally their brains are starving. So what I did, I did a course on nutritional medicine for mental health, the postgrad diploma. So that gave me the skills to give advice to help the system, because you can't easily work with a brain that isn't functioning well. SPEAKER B Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I mean, it's like we fuel up a car to make it go. Surely we need to fuel up our bodies properly for them to work properly. So that's really important. Yeah. So that's excellent. I'm glad that you are able to minister to people through that method and help them with their well being. So we are talking today about emotions. And I had an interesting experience looking up the definition of emotions. And to me, there was such a huge variety of definitions out there on emotions. And I'm just wondering, from your perspective and your experience, is there a definition of emotions that to you is most accurate or makes most sense? SPEAKER C Okay. There's been a lot of recent research into emotions and trying to find a definition, and they've found that you couldn't easily define it because it cuts across cultures. And they also found that the visual, like the facial image, someone might be feeling a certain emotion, and their face expresses it differently to the next person. So they couldn't really easily define it. And I found the best definition that I've looked at, which has been developed by a group that look at the heart brain connection over quite a few decades. And they talk about emotions as energy in motion. So I find that's probably the closest you can get to understanding emotions. SPEAKER B That's very interesting, and I like how that's very shortened to the point. It's easy to remember that one, and certainly it relates to our experience as well, because when we have an emotion, we can feel something almost moving and swirling around inside of us. And I think that it captures that kind of an idea and that thought there. So in terms of emotions, what actually is happening in our physiology when we experience an emotion? SPEAKER C There's a lot happening in the brain. And there are a couple of different models that have been developed, and one of them is on which I used initially, is called the triune brain, which is a three part brain, and it works with the thinking brain, the emotional brain, and what we call a survival brain. And even though the survival brain is in different parts of the brain, it was like three separate brains working together. And I did see as adaptive and integrative, but more recently, they've said, no, that's not right. It's more of an adaptive model. So there are quite a few parts of the brain that actually connect when it comes to emotions. And so I've sort of researched it a bit differently, but it's an integrative, independent network that actually adapts and works with all the brain that works well, even though we know that parts of the brain action for survival, parts of the brain, action for emotions, it's not one single structure. And of course, we have the parts of the brain that conscious reasoning parts of the brain. SPEAKER B Okay, so you're saying that all the different parts of the brain are kind of working together, adapting together for making us feel these emotions. And it probably changes depending on the situation and the emotion we are feeling, as opposed to this part of the brain only deals with emotion here, this part only deals with something else. It's all connected. SPEAKER C It is. It's an interconnected system, and the brain has about 100 billion nerve cells, they estimate. So that means there's constant activity because you remember the brain, it's like a computer that is constantly on 24 hours a day, whether we're awake or asleep. So this means that we're actually constantly working the brain. Even when we sleep, it's not resting, it's busy, and it's a system that actually the cells can die and grow. So it is constantly changing. I don't think we realise. They used to think that we had a set number of cells when we were born and they would die out. And by the time we die, we've lost a lot of them. And that's not true. The brain actually grows and we can change the brain at any time. And that can be from, certainly from birth through to the day we die. We can do anything we like with the brain. We can rework it, we can reprogram it. And that's what I do with people. I help them reprogram the brain. SPEAKER B Yeah. And that's probably having that understanding is such a wonderful, I think, message, because when people realise that what I am today doesn't have to be what I am tomorrow, there's things we can do to change that, to improve what we are and how we function, that can give people a lot of hope. SPEAKER C It does, because you can change anything you want to, as long as you know what to change, what changes you want and how to change. Well, I help people identify what to change and then we look at how can you change it? And that's where things like nutrition come into it. Also, what we visually take in, what we're doing in our life, our experiences, it all counts. But we can improve. We can constantly improve and grow the brain. SPEAKER B Yeah, very interesting. So, in terms of emotions, we've talked about how different parts of the brain actually work to create them, but in terms of what they actually are, is it chemicals cascading through our body? Is it neuron or neural impulses working together or all of the above? SPEAKER C Yes, it is. These cells or neurons do work together. And I work with models of the brain and have a look at how that works, because I think understanding the brain is really helpful, but we actually have a free wave of information every time we have an experience it creates neuronal connections that cause this free wave of information. The more we use it, the more powerful it gets. The less we use it. It is a use or lose it principle. So this is where that the brain growing is constant. If we have a pathway, or I call it a freeway that isn't working well, I help people find the exit road to get off the freeway. So that's some of probably what we'll explore as we go. SPEAKER B Sounds very good. Yeah. So how do emotions actually develop as we develop? So, like, in our everyday life? SPEAKER C Okay, maybe looking at the actual structure of the brain would be helpful here, because that's very important. I do have a model that you can see, and that model you can see the front of it is you've got your left and right brain, and that is the computer. It's that third of the brain that operates everything. It's our conscious awareness. It's where all the processing happens and it sends signals to other parts of the brain. So that's very, very important. And there is a structure between the two parts of the brain here called the corpus colossum. And I've got a. There you go. That's what it looks like. And it sits in there, and it's a bundle of nerves that connect left and right brain. And in the front of the brain here is the conscience, just behind the actual forehead. And that corpus colossa runs through there, but also the will runs along that line there as well. So we have the conscience and the will that work together. And they're actually physical parts of the brain that they have found are very good in responding. So they can actually measure the will, they can actually measure the conscience as to a good or bad decision, whereas that's more recent, which is pretty powerful. So it's not like, oh, yeah, you're imagining the conscience. What's that? It is a real physical part of the brain, which is pretty amazing. SPEAKER B That is incredible. SPEAKER C But that just gives an idea of, I'll put that back down there of what the brain looks like. So I think it's important. I encourage people to go and look it up. There's a lot of good stuff online that people can research and look at, because the more we understand the brain, science has found that the more you know about your brain, the smarter it works. It really is a principle of studying and learning and knowing how your brain works. So that's partly what we're looking at now. And there is a model that we were going to look at that a slide that just gives us that's it. Some more of the brain function. And you can see we're not going to talk about all of those parts. But at the bottom of the brain, you've got two features that are highly important. First one on the bottom left is the amygdala, and it's an almond shaped area in the brain at the base of the brain. This is part of the emotional brain, and it actually stores emotions. It is the part of the brain that responds emotionally. And the more we it can actually change and grow. There are two parts that are neuroplastic, that change and grow. That's one of them, the amygdala. And then there's another section there called the hippocampus. But the amygdala stores emotional memories primarily, but in the five senses. So we store information in sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. It's a five sense around video recorder that we actually operate. So when we have an emotional memory, it's connected to all the five senses, which, again, we're going to look at. What does that mean in our daily life as we go. Okay. The second one in that diagram is called the hippocampus. So if you have a look at that, you can just see it. It's at the base of the brain again. And the hippocampus is the part that it's responsible for processing emotions, but it is able to transfer memories from short term memory to long term memory. So it's a bit like a memory bank or a computer that actually registers our memories, and it helps to stop us forgetting. It stores them in a way that we can recall that memory if we want to. And this is where people say, I have no memory, or I can't remember that. It's not because you don't have. It's because you actually can't remember it, because the conscious mind doesn't want to know it. If it's a painful memory, the conscious mind says, no, don't want to go there. The amygdala is an interesting one. I've got a little diag. It's actually the bit from that, the brain map I showed you, and it's a rather strange looking object, but that's the amygdala, and it means seahorse, because it resembles the seahorse, which is an interesting. That's how they termed it. But that's where all our stored memories are, in the hippocampus, whereas the amygdala, which is that almond shaped section that stores the emotional memories, both of them work in the five senses. So our memory video bank, emotionally and visually, is connected to the five senses, which is important when you start to look at how do you treat bad memories? Why do we have a good memory? Because it's connected to the five senses. The other one, if we can just see that model again at the top right hand, is called the thalamus. And it's almost like a microphone shaped area in the centre of the brain, because we're looking at a cross section of the brain that is a receiving station. Just like we have towers to receive information, that's our receiving station, and it absorbs information. And the thalamus works with four of the senses, sight, sound, touch, taste. But it doesn't work with smell. Smell actually goes through the nose into the olfactory bulbs and goes to the back of the brain and into the brain that way. Whereas these emotions, the thalamus is picking them up as we experience things, and then it sends it to the area of the brain that is relevant. So if it's something emotional and we looked at the left right brain, it'll send it to the right brain, because that's where the emotions are actually connected to that right brain. And the right brain is more the sensual side of the brain. It's more intuitive, creative, but it's also where it connects to the emotional memory bank. So if we're working too much with the right brain, we're working too much on our emotions. Okay, then we go left brain. So if it's something relevant to a visual memory that it's taking in, or maybe a sound or something, then it will send it to the left brain, because that's a thinking processing brain that will then help us to sequence things. It looks at linear thinking, mathematics, logic, things like that. So the actual amygdala will send it to either part of the brain where that is important. SPEAKER B Wow, that's so interesting, all of that. And I find it fascinating how you're explaining that the senses have so much to do with our emotions and our memories. Because I know, for example, whenever I experience a memory or I'll get, like, a visual picture come in my mind of what it was. Or you might be walking along the street and you smell something, and all this flood of memories comes back about something that was connected with that smell. So it's interesting how the brain puts all of those things together and connects them, and how you're explaining from the physiology, the different parts that are working together to create that in us, which is so fascinating. SPEAKER C Yeah, it's interesting because it was quite a few years ago I watched a video on the brain itself. And when they operate on the brain, and when surgeons have to operate on the brain, they keep the person conscious because there are no pain receptors in the brain, so they're not going to feel pain, but they need to probe areas of the brain to make sure when they operate on it that they're not going to damage or sever the wrong part. And so the person can't see what's going on, they put a screen up, but what they do is remove the area of the skull, and then they go in with a little electric probe. And they found that when they touch certain parts of the brain, people could smell flowers that weren't in the room, they could hear music that wasn't playing. They could smell smells. So it was most interesting. So they found these different parts of the brain that store these and activate these memories. So when you go, say, you said, I smell roses, there are multiple connections, so it's not just the smell. The smell ignites the memories connected to the roses that we've stored in different parts of the brain, but particularly the hippocampus. So you can see how those parts of the brain is activated. And it's like the five sense around video is what we operate with. So that means any experience you have can really be elevated by the senses. And the other part is when we have a memory. Like, if I have an emotional memory and it's not one I want, but what it's done, it's triggered by one of the senses. Mel is the most subtle because of the way it goes into the brain. So you might think, oh, that's not good. I don't like the look of that food. And then you think, oh, I can remember the smell of that. When whatever happened, so often there's a delayed response and we might not even connect it. And when we can't connect the emotional memory that's charged in the present, because all the senses of that memory are now coming into play all at once, then that's where trauma comes into it. We struggle, because why am I feeling so intensely about that? It was only a silly little thing. So this is where the brain then goes into overload. And because we can't connect the dots, basically, we can't go, oh, that's because of the way the person touched me, or that's because of this or that. Okay, so that helps me to know how to deal with people's memories and trauma when I'm dealing with them. SPEAKER B Interesting. So when we have a memory, obviously, as you go throughout life, we have all these different experiences, and your brain is tucking it away in those little places you showed us. When we have those memories tucked away, do they stay there pretty much indefinitely? SPEAKER C They are permanently placed. Unless there's one instance I've read of where that memory won't be put in the video. And that's when it's such excessive trauma, the person's brain can't take it in. That could be an accident. It could be some form of abuse as a child where the video shuts down, it won't take it in. So you can actually have blanks and, of course, physically damaging the brain. I found people, some people who've had ect on the brain for depression, have found they can't remember certain things. And it's possible that memory has been wiped out. But usually when we don't remember, it's because we don't want to remember. The conscious mind doesn't want to bring up the past that's negative, doesn't want to suffer. So what it does, it will selectively stop it from emerging. So that means that person is actually trying hard to remember. And it's like the conscious mind has to go in and locate the long term memory and resurface that memory. So if it's not comfortable doing that, it won't do it. SPEAKER B Wow. So it's almost like the brain is putting on a natural self protective barrier there to stop you going down that path, which is an incredible thing. I mean, we would ideally want that, especially if it's a trauma or something like that, that it just would be too terrible to relive it in our minds. It's fascinating that that is inbuilt into our mind and our system there. SPEAKER C The brain protects itself, and unless it's feeling safe, it will not bring up that memory. So one of the things that some of the trauma focused therapies work with, which I don't agree, has been that you actually get the person to locate the memory and talk about it. And science has now found that when you do that and you remember it and it's not been dealt with, then it actually retraumatizes the body, actually responds to the brain. The nervous system connects to every cell of the body. So when you remember something traumatic, it's retraumatizing the whole system. So that's one of the things when I'm working with people who've had a difficult time or a trauma in their life, I don't get them to tell me. I say, you don't have to tell me the trauma, tell me how it affects you in the present. And when we deal with what's happening in the present and they work, and this is where the brain body connection is important, that you work with the body and the brain together and you actually allow that trauma in the cellular level or the nervous system, through and through simple things like breathing, connecting the heart rate, things like that, they find that it releases that trauma memory. The brain knows it's past, but the body's still retaining it. And when you do that, you can eventually remember the trauma and it will never be a good memory, but it won't have the emotional charge that it used to have. SPEAKER B That's fascinating how that all of those things can be dealt with in an effective way for people who obviously those kind of things can terribly impact their everyday lives for many, many years. And so that's an amazing thing. I'm wondering, do thoughts have any bearing on our emotions? Is there any connections there? SPEAKER C Definitely. And this is the source of your emotion, is what you think. If I ask you to feel sad, how do you feel sad? If you're feeling good today and I say feel sad for me, what do you have to do? Think of something sad. SPEAKER B That's true. SPEAKER C Something happened, particularly a loss or something. So emotions are driven by our thoughts. Our thoughts are driven by our belief system. So this is where, if I want to get people to change something, I have to find out what do you believe about it? Because that is the programme in the brain. Get them to rewire that belief, look at a more realistic belief or challenge that belief. Then they will think in a different way and then the emotions will follow. And of course, once we feel a certain way, we then take action and feelings will drive our actions. If I feel good, I'll be smiling and elevated and do good things. And if I'm not feeling so good, then it will be reflected in my actions. SPEAKER B Yeah, that's so interesting, because, like, what you're explaining through all of this is just how closely connected everything is. We think of thoughts, usually quite separately to emotions, but then when you explain, as you did, they are very, very interrelated in terms of how they affect each other. And then you talked about emotions and then that can affect how we act and what we do. Just because we're feeling good today or we're feeling really down today or something like that, it can make such a big difference, which is so amazing. Yeah. SPEAKER C Well, this is where we're going to. In other parts of the programme, we're going to explore how do you change your brain? How do you get off of that emotional roller coaster and how can you have. SPEAKER B Yeah, very, very good. Yes. Well, thank you so much for sharing with us today, Jenifer. I really appreciate the different insights that you are bringing in about emotions and how the brain actually works. Thank you so much. We have been talking with health psychologist Jenifer Skues about emotions which are an integral part of our lives. In the next few episodes we are going to build on this as we look at how to understand our emotions and achieve emotional balance. I know these topics are going to be very helpful and practical, so be sure to join us again next time. If you have questions or comments about this programme or if there is a topic you would like us to discuss, then contact us on [email protected]. And remember to shape your lifestyle as medicine. SPEAKER A You've been listening to your lifestyle as medicine, a production of 3ABN Australia television.