Does distancing your emotions have any negatives effects?

**Posts:** 1 · by **ignorant** » Mon Jan 10, 2022 12:03 pm

Hello I am new here.

The title does not give me enough space to describe the topic.

I have learned that if I see myself as system 2 and some of my feelings as system 1 it helps me a lot in dealing with some of my desires and emotions.

E.g. I sit and contemplate about certain feelings and reflect upon the fact that they are created by my brain and they are not my own. Some of those feelings are irrational (e.g. irrational fear of something) and it really helps me. I say to myself that feeling is created by my brain and it's not me that feels that way. It's a kind of distancing.

But I have to ask if those feeling are produced by the unconscious processes then why should I not think the same about all feelings?

E.g. when I eat food that I find tasty I have to ask should I be enjoying this? It seems like in order to solve one problem I am creating others. By being mindful for negative emotions my brain is now starting to treat positive emotions as unworthy like it did to negative ones.

Has there been any research on this done? Do any of you have any ideas that you can help me with?

**Posts:** 1123 · by **davidbanner99@** » Tue Jan 11, 2022 2:12 am

I find that the less intelligent use emotions far more, although that's not cut and dry. Generally children react by emotion far more.
As to adults, I know people personally whose behaviour is infantile. A couple who publically yell, shout and scream at each other over trivia. There's a lack of control (the type you'd expect in a ten year old). The sources of the public displays boil down to trivial causes. It strikes me as a pointless waste of time and energy and an irritant to those who have it pushed into their space.
I think more intelligent people over-ride their emotions with constructive thinking. We all have emotions or outbursts but the less intelligent lose all control. Freud wrote that normal people are directed by instincts but some are less controlled by them than others. The classic example by Freud was "penis envy". Female executive yells at male staff but the instinctive stimulus is the phallic factor - which symbolises hierarchy. Or Freud will look at family rivalries and sexual undertones.

Does distancing your emotions have any negatives effects?

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