The “Human Emotions” and the “Perrotta Human Emotions Model” (PHEM): The new theoretical model. Historical, neurobiological and clinical profiles

Giulio Perrotta*

Starting from the models of James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Watson, Darwin, Ekman, Cowen-Keltner, Schachter-Singer and Mandler, a new model on the subject of human emotions, the "Perrotta Human Emotions Model" (PHEM), was prepared, which would take into account the need to order and distinguish, in a clearer and more functional way, the following concepts: (a) the "sensation" is the result of the interaction between the sense organ and the restitution of the content; (b) the "perception" is the reprocessing of the sensation, and can be of the first level (when the sensation is processed in the neurobiological phase) or of the second level (when the sensation processed neurobiologically passes a second evaluation screen by the person's normative content, and then is returned through behaviors); c) the "anxiety" is the feeder of the circuit, the energetic activator; d) the "emotion" is a basic modality that allows us to adapt to internal and external circumstances; e) the "sentiments (or feelings)" is an emotional-behavioral reaction or the subjective emotional experience lived by the person thanks to the interaction of basic emotions with anxiety, and/or with the combination of sentiments, always with the aim of perfecting one's adaptation; f) the "discomfort" is a state of mind, such as tension or hyperactivity or hypoactivity, which occurs when the person experiences different feelings, depending on the factual situations; g) the "affection" is a feeling of attachment to someone or something, even material, exclusively related to the basic emotion of pleasure and in particular (but not exclusively) to the friendly and loving feelings h) the "need" is the instinctive impulse that arises to satisfy a desire and presupposes a state of necessity that if not satisfied brings suffering and frustration; i) the "desire" is the object of the need; j) the "need" is the degree of importance and urgency that need goes to satisfy; k) the "instinctual drive (or impulse)", unlike the Freudian concept, is any conscious or unconscious manifestation of a need. According to this new perspective, therefore, this construct is based on the hypothesis that every action/behavior arises from a need (or instinctual drive) that seeks satisfaction, and therefore the "emotional states" (or emotions) are the basic modes that our mind knows (and "installed" by default) thanks to which we can adapt to internal and external circumstances, while the "emotional-behavioral reactions" (or sentiments) are subjective emotional experiences experienced by the person thanks to the interaction of basic emotions with anxiety. In total, there are 2 emotional states (or basic emotions: anguish, and pleasure) that give rise to 152 first (14/152), second (42/152), and third-level (96/152) emotional-behavioral reactions (or sentiments). Referring to the PICI-2 model and the role of anxiety as a natural "neutral" activator and/or enhancer (and not as a basic emotion as mistakenly believed by some), the origin of all psychopathologies is to be found, according to this model, in the dysfunctional management of emotions and sentiments, and not in anxiety: in fact, working in psychotherapy on one's own emotional alphabet allows to unlock anxiety (and not vice versa) and consequently the vicious circle that feeds the psychopathological condition, unmasking cognitive distortions and self-deception. The paradigm at the base of PHEM is therefore to work directly on the emotional alphabet of the person and on the analysis of their emotions, to intervene indirectly on the anxiety that feeds and strengthens the maladaptive, dysfunctional, toxic, or pathological pattern..

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Published on: Aug 19, 2021 Pages: 20-28

Full Text PDF Full Text HTML DOI: 10.17352/2455-5460.000062
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