Study: Putting Feelings Into Words Makes Sadness and Anger "Less Intense"; Buddhists and bartenders not surprised

In a finding that explains why talking to a therapist -- or even a sympathetic bartender -- often makes people feel better, researchers at University of California Los Angeles believe that talking about negative feelings activates a part of the brain responsible for impulse control, reports Reuters Health.

"[Attaching words] seems to dampen down the response in these basic emotional circuits in the brain -- in this case the amygdala," [UCLA researcher Matthew] Lieberman said. "This region of the brain seems to be involved in putting on the brakes."

The results may alter the traditional view of why talking about feelings helps.

"I think we all believe that by talking about our feelings, we reach deep new insights, and that understanding is what transforms us," he said.

"What we see is something that at first blush is far more trivial. By simply putting the name to an emotion, the person doesn't feel like they've come to any new insight. And yet we see this dampening response anyway."

The study appears in the journal Psychological Science.

Lieberman said while there likely are benefits to gaining enhanced understanding, talking about feelings may do something more basic. In fact, according to Pysch Central the findings may support the practice of "mindfulness meditation."

Mindfulness is a technique in which one pays attention to his or her present emotions, thoughts and body sensations, such as breathing, without passing judgment or reacting. An individual simply releases his thoughts and “lets it go.”

“One way to practice mindfulness meditation and pay attention to present-moment experiences is to label your emotions by saying, for example, ‘I’m feeling angry right now’ or ‘I’m feeling a lot of stress right now’ or ‘this is joy’ or whatever the emotion is,” said Creswell, lead author of the study, which will be featured in an upcoming issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, a leading international medical journal for health psychology research.

Lieberman has now shown in a series of studies that simply labeling emotions turns down the amygdala alarm center response in the brain that triggers negative feelings. This latest study may show how the ancient practice of mindless meditation might help mood and health.

Here is a quick how-to practice mindfulness meditation:

1. Meditate in a place that is not too noisy or disturbing.
2. Sit in an upright, erect posture.
3. Have a downward focused gaze a couple of inches in front of your nose.
4. Focus on your breath.
5. No matter what kind of thought comes up, you should say to yourself, “That may be a really important issue in my life, but right now is not the time to think about it. Now I’m practicing meditation.” Then get back to your breathing.

Given the results of the UCLA study, perhaps this is worth a try.

External tags: mindfulness meditation