Emotions in Health and Health Care

Catalog description

Pre-req: Completion of the Core Curriculum Research & Professional Writing requirement. Historically, emotions have been viewed as biological, psychological, or even instinctual aspects of human experience. In the past half century however, an increasing recognition of the social nature of emotions acknowledges how they are manipulated by ourselves and others to achieve particular social goals. In situations ranging from prayer to therapy and addiction to advertising, emotions play a key role in shaping our behavior. It is no surprise, therefore, that emotions are also now recognized as key contributors to health. This course will explore how emotions affect health and mental health both directly (e.g., “stress”) and indirectly through the reactions of others (e.g., health care providers)-as well as through the efforts of others to generate emotional reactions in us to suit their own purposes. Students will learn to recognize emotion management by both self and others and discover the potential of emotion as an interactional tool for both health and health care.