SET 2020 MINDandBODY

ENGLISH LANGUAGE III

2020
THE MIND AND THE BODY:
Putting the Puzzle Together
The Human Mind and the Body
In-class and out-of-class course materials 1

THE MAIN LANGUAGE SKILLS:

INTEGRATED PRACTICE
FEARS AND PHOBIAS
WARM-UP PRE-READING ACTIVITY: Analysing the implications

of cartoons. Get in small groups to examine the following humorous
situations and discuss these questions:
❖ Which one(s) do you find the funniest? Why?

❖ Do you feel identified with any of the characters? Why (not)?
❖ Have you ever been in a situation like the ones depicted here?
❖ What do the cartoons have in common?
❖ Can you make any generalisations about fear on the basis of these cartoons?
And so the evil ogres decided to descend

from the hill and make their home under the
beds of kids. The end. Good night, honey.
Sweet dreams!
I’m sorry if I’m not myself

today. I tend to fall to pieces
at job interviews.

Calm down, dear! I’m sure

it’s just a cute little spider.
Sorry, Miss Ann, but you must know that I sweat

bullets during oral tests.
DISCUSSION: Matching concepts and specific words.

Examine the following pictures which represent commonly feared objects or
situations. Find specific names for them:
Draw words from the word box below:
astraphobia photophobia frigophobia arachnophobia

claustrophobia technophobia ophidiophobia acrophobia
hematophobia sociophobia

RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Doing research into technical

terminology. Use dictionaries to discover the meaning of the words you did
not use in the previous exercise and find the right words for the fears or
phobias you did not have a name for.
PRE-READING ACTIVITY: Answer the following questions before reading

the article “The Complexity of Fear: Are you experiencing anxiety, or is it
fear?” (Find it in the Complementary Materials):
➢ Answer the following questions:
1. Do you think experiencing fear is something natural? Why is fear usually

associated with cowardice?
2. What are you afraid of? How do you realise you are afraid of
something? You may describe the way you FEEL when you experience
fear and what happens to your mind and your body in general.
3. Can you think of situations or examples whereby fears may become
harmful?
4. Has fear ever prevented you from doing something you needed to do or
liked doing? Did you do something about the situation? If so, what?
READING: Scanning an article for specific information. Read

the article so as to complete the tasks below:
➢ Find the lexical item or expression to which the following concept

responds:
The expanded version of the fight or flight response which

scientists have come up with to cover a wide scope of fear
responses:
➢ Explain both ambiguous and unambiguous distinctions between

fear and anxiety:
➢ Discover the name given to individuals who have personality traits

dominated by fear:

➢ Uncover the name of the phenomenon that explains why an individual,

in the event of totally safe present conditions, would experience
symptoms which are similar to the ones connected to a past trauma:
LISTENING TASK ONLINE: Taking notes. Listen to the

call-in radio program “Fears and Phobias,” available from NPR (National
Public Radio). Be ready to provide a summary of the inquiries and concerns
presented by the callers, as well as the enlightening answers provided by the
host of the program and the guest psychologist. Complete the following
table with specific information related to the five callers (notice that the
first person who speaks about her experience is in the studio and is
therefore not a caller):
INFO. CALLER 1 CALLER 2 CALLER 3 CALLER 4 CALLER 5
Main aspects
of the caller’s
experience
Treatment
received

Guest
psychologist’s
main
conclusions
about the
case reported
INTENSIVE LISTENING AND FOCUS ON

LANGUAGE: Listening for specific items. Write the words/expressions
used which match these definitions:
▪ unreasonable, unlikely to happen

▪ it started suddenly and struck hard
▪ appear unexpectedly
▪ specify; pinpoint
▪ out of proportion to sth.
▪ trigger; cause
▪ fully developed; having all the characteristics of a
specific state
▪ a factor that directly leads to the development of sth.
▪ to gather/pluck up (courage)
▪ to be consistently present in (almost) all the members of
a family
WRITING TASK: Expanding basic notions with the help of

information contained in diagrams and other visual and verbal clues. The
notion of “fight-or-flight-response” has been introduced in the previous
material. Write a paragraph completing your understanding of the

concept after examining the following diagrams:

THE HUMAN BRAIN
PITUITARY GLAND:
Produces thyrotropin and
adrenocorticotropin, calling the thyroid and
adrenal system into action.
HIPPOCAMPUS:
Cements the response to the threat into long-
term memory.
HYPOTHALAMUS:
Incorporates signals from organs, triggers
AMYGDALA: pituitary gland and nervous system, causing the
Directs central and autonomic nervous body’s major organ systems to prepare for
system to trigger an all-systems action.
alarm; also stores memory of threat.

PUPILS: Dilate, ready to relay LUNGS: Bronchioles

signals of danger to the visual dilate, taking in more
thalamus. oxygen. Breathing
becomes fast and
shallow as a result of
SALIVA: Decreases as
hyperventilation.
digestive system slows.
Mouth goes dry.
HEART: Blood pressure and
THYROID GLAND: Raises heart rate spike, infusing
resting metabolic rate. brain and muscles with ready
fuel. Heart pumps faster,
SKIN AND HAIR: Vessels causing chest pains and
constrict, causing chills and palpitations.
sweat. Hair stands on end.
SPLEEN: Contracts,
pumping out white blood
STOMACH AND cells and platelets in
GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT: preparation for possible
Vessels constrict to divert physical injury.
blood to muscles.
LIVER: Begins to break

down glycogen for
instant energy to keep
up with higher
metabolic rate.
ADRENAL MEDULLA: Floods bloodstream

with adrenaline and noradrenaline,
increasing the level of blood sugar and
constricting the blood vessels.
BLADDER AND COLON: Prepare to void their

contents in preparation for violent action and
possible injury. Sphincters close, then relax.
Within seconds of perceived threat, the primitive amygdala sounds a general alarm. The adrenal system
promptly floods the body with adrenaline and stress hormones. Nonessential physiological processes
switch off. Digestion stops, skin chills, and blood is diverted into muscles in preparation for a burst of
emergency action. Breathing quickens, the heart races, and blood pressure skyrockets, infusing the
body with oxygen while the liver releases glucose for quick fuel. The entire body is suddenly in a state
of high alert, ready for fight or flight.

POST-READING FOCUS ON VOCABULARY:
➢ The previous text contains some verbs which share the basic
meaning of increasing. With some other verbs, which are not
present in the text, build a semantic field to improve your
understanding, retrieval and use of these words. Try completing
the following grid, entering a tick in each of the corresponding
boxes:
SKYROCKET BOOST SPIKE SOAR

The action denoted takes
place suddenly and steeply
The verb is transitive and it
requires the use of an object
The word is usually used as
a noun, rather than as a
verb
The verb is considered
informal
The verb can be applied to
objects such as “spirits” and
“ego”
This verb means rising
sharply to a high level. It
can be used with the
preposition “to” to indicate
such high level.
➢ For each of the verbs in the chart above, collect four or five
examples of further collocates.
➢ The previous text also contains some verbs used with specific
prepositions to indicate change or direction. Complete the chart by

supplying suitable prepositions and objects:
VERBS PREPOSITIONS AND OBJECTS

To divert (blood)
To flood (the body/bloodstream)
To pump
To infuse (the brain/muscles)

➢ Now use the items practiced in this section in sentences of your own.
PRE-READING: Speculating on the meaning and causes of a cultural

phenomenon. In pairs, discuss what you understand by the concept of “the
culture of fear.”
Frank Furedi has written extensively about this phenomenon. Here is a

quote from his article “The only thing we have to fear is the ‘culture of
fear’ itself.” Analyse the quote and discuss possible implications with a
partner:
“The intensity of fear is not directly proportional to the objective character of the specific
threat. Adversity, acts of misfortune and threats to personal security do not directly
produce fear. Rather, our responses to specific circumstances are mediated through
cultural norms, which inform people of what is expected of them when they are confronted
with a threat; how they should respond, how they should feel.”
READING: Recognising strong language. Read Frank Furedi’s

article “What swine flu reveals about the culture of fear “and be prepared
to carry out the following activities:
➢ Find words in the text to refer to people who make a manipulative

and exploitative use of fear:
➢ Identify words and expressions which provide the author’s language

with a strong argumentative edge:
➢ Now identify structures which perform the same function:
➢ Detect the use of humour and irony put to the service of critique:
➢ Now complete the following statements about each of the “actors

in the dramatisation of fear”:

❖ Religious moral entrepreneurs

Historically, religion has often warned about ………
Religious moral entrepreneurs have been in the forefront of …….
Their favourite word: ….
❖ Secular moral entrepreneurs

Many high-profile advocacy organisations have devoted themselves to ….
Secular moral entrepreneurs frequently flag up the gravity of a certain threat by using
………
Their favourite phrase: …..
❖ Experts
Experts’ dire predictions about …..
Experts claim to have insights that ……
Their favourite phrase: …..
❖ Health activists
They preach the message that ….
And they have been extraordinarily successful in …
Their favourite expression: …….
❖ Environmentalists
Their message is straightforward and devastatingly simple: unless we …
Their pessimistic visions exercise a fundamentally important influence on …
Their favourite words: ……..
❖ Relationship professionals
Relationship professionals tend to …
Relationship professionals continually remind us …
Their favourite diagnosis: ….
❖ Law-and-order moral entrepreneurs

Historically, governments and officials have been in the forefront of this kind of
scaremongering. Many governments ...
Like others in this list, law-and-order scaremongers are always looking for …
Their favourite incantation: ….
❖ The health and pharmaceutical industry

Fear entrepreneurs are very inventive when it comes to …
They can turn a normal problem into …
Their favourite claim: ….

Source: The previous statements have been quoted from Frank Furedi’s article “What swine flu reveals
about the culture of fear,” available from
http://www.frankfuredi.com/article/what_swine_flu_reveals_about_the_culture_of_fear
VOCABULARY WORK: Complete the exercises that follow:
➢ Check on the meaning and usage of the following expressions. Then

choose five items and use them in sentences of your own to refer to
personal situations:
▪ To get goosebumps
▪ To have/get butterflies in one’s stomach
▪ To give someone the creeps
▪ To make someone’s flesh creep
▪ To give someone the sqeeby-jeebies/the heebie-jeebies
▪ To give someone the willies
▪ To give someone the jitters
▪ To have/get the jitters
▪ To get the wind up
▪ To shudder
▪ To shiver
▪ To send shivers (up and) down the spine
▪ To give someone the shivers
▪ To chill the spine
▪ To feel one’s blood run cold/freeze
▪ To be as white as a sheet
▪ To set someone’s teeth on edge
▪ To make one’s teeth chatter
▪ To make someone’s hair stand on end
▪ To put the fear of God into someone
▪ To be scared stiff/silly/ (half) to death/out of one’s wits
▪ To be frightened out of one’s wits/to death
➢ Here is a list of adjectives which can collocate with the noun

“fear.” Do some dictionary work and add six of your own:
▪ realistic ▪ exacerbated
▪ imaginary ▪ formless
▪ abnormal ▪ nameless
▪ irrational

➢ Think of some other verbs which can appear in passive constructions

in the context of fears. Choose five from the list and with a partner
discuss in what circumstances you would apply them:
▪ To be traumatized
▪ To be intimidated
▪ To be harassed
▪ To be threatened
▪ To be menaced by fears
▪ To be overwhelmed
▪ To be obsessed
▪ To be undermined
▪ To be crippled
➢ Think of some other verb collocates which can take part in active
voice constructions:
▪ To give in to
▪ To bring (fears) out into the open
▪ To cope with
▪ To face
▪ To meet
▪ To endure one’s fears
▪ To confront
▪ To overcome
▪ To defeat
▪ To tough out
▪ To conquer
▪ To eliminate
➢ What is the difference in meaning and/or usage between the following

words?
▪ fearful ▪ fearless
▪ fearsome ▪ feared
➢ The following list includes words which can be considered to be

antonyms of the word “fearless.” In what situations could they be
used?
▪ risky ▪ bold
▪ daring ▪ plucky
▪ audacious ▪ courageous

▪ brave ▪ venturesome
▪ reckless
WATCHING AND CRITICAL THINKING: Watch the movie

Bowling for Columbine (2002) directed by Michael Moore and be ready to reflect
critically on the following:
❖ Does the film have a central thesis?

❖ What kind of questions does the film ask about why Americans seem to be so afraid
that they need the reassurance of guns?
❖ Does the film provide any answers?
❖ What is Marilyn Manson’s main argument about the culture of fear?
❖ What connections does the film establish between fear and the right to bear
guns?
EXAM TIP: The L3 syllabus includes literary and filmic texts, in addition to other resources.
Even though groups of students generally prepare oral presentations to discuss the contents of
such texts in class, it is also a good idea to establish meaningful connections with the various
subtopics studied in each unit. One way to make such connections is to explain the way in
which a specific event, character, situation, or any other relevant feature serves to illustrate a
principle or theory discussed in the main background material. Another way of establishing
meaningful connections consists in using such texts to draw up arguments to buttress or
discredit a point of view. Many exam writing instructions specifically ask you to illustrate or
support a point of view on the basis of the literary and filmic texts examined. Anticipation can
thus work in your best interest! Proceed to isolate abstract concepts and general principles
from the various storylines.
LISTENING: Barry Glassner is a professor of sociology

and author of many books, among them the best-selling classic The
Culture of Fear. In this book, Glassner puts forward his central theory
that most of Americans’ worries and fears are largely unfounded. Do
some research on the web (he has been interviewed many times) and
take note of some of the strategies which are used to spread
unwarranted fear. One example has been provided for you below. Can
you explain what the statement means? Or think of examples to
illustrate its validity?

❖ The christening of isolated incidents as trends
EMOTIONAL LITERACY AND ANGER
PRE-READING DISCUSSION: Participating in a spontaneous

debate. Take sides in relation to the following claims:
❖ “Anger is always good.”

❖ “You don’t get what you want unless you show you can get really angry.”
❖ “Anger is a destructive and sinful emotion.”
❖ “Anger makes the world go round.”
❖ “Anger can kill.”
❖ “It pays off to learn how to control your anger.”
❖ “It is silly to suppress your anger.”
❖ “If you feel really angry, it’s better to get it off your chest.”
❖ “Anger is always irrational.”
❖ “Anger can be rational.”
❖ “Anger cannot be important if it is only a secondary emotion.”
❖ “Anger is a form of hate because you blame others for your difficulties when you
decide to hate them.”
After this debate, you should have a personal point of view in relation to the
emotion of anger. Jot down a few statements as a way of spelling out your
point of view:
Would you consider the following terms synonyms for the emotion of anger?
Would you establish any distinctions? What is the relationship between anger
and each of the following emotional states:
➢ annoyance ➢ agitation
➢ irritation ➢ frustration
➢ aggravation
When you are angry, do you feel
➢ peeved ➢ annoyed

➢ miffed ➢ pissed/pissed off?

➢ offended
➢ bitter
➢ outraged
Are the following components of anger? Why (not)?
➢ indignation ➢ resentment
➢ exasperation ➢ wrath
➢ spite ➢ rage
➢ vengefulness ➢ fury
Is anger the same as self-righteous anger or indignation?
What kind of anger is sulking?
READING ACTIVITY: Reading to compare definitions. Three

different authors have been quoted on the subject of anger. Be ready to
point out what the definitions have in common and how they vary from one
another. Once you have completed this task, read the complete articles and
choose ideas that may help you prove your point of view about the topic.
Definition 1:
Kim Pratt has argued:
Everybody feels anger at different times, to varying degrees. It’s simply part of
the human experience. Feelings of anger can arise in many different contexts.
Experiencing unjust treatment; hearing a criticism; or simply not getting what
you want are but a few of the potential triggers. The experience of anger can
range from mild irritation, to frustration, all the way up to seething rage. As a
matter of fact, even boredom is a mild version of anger in the form of

dissatisfaction with what is happening. (…) Why is anger good sometimes?
Without feelings of anger, we wouldn’t take a stand against unfairness or
injustice. Anger is an internal alarm that tells us something is not quite right.
Unfortunately, however, far too often, the anger humans feel is being triggered
by far less consequential factors than serious wrongdoing.
Source: Pratt.K. (2014). Psychology Tools: What is Anger? A Secondary Emotion.

HealthPsych. Available at: https://healthypsych.com/psychology-tools-what-is-anger-a-
secondary-emotion/

Definition 2:
Quoting Steven Stosny, Leon Seltzer has argued the following:
In effect, whether individuals are confronted with physical or psychological pain (or
the threat of such pain), the internal activation of the anger response will precipitate
the release of a chemical expressly designed to numb it. This is why I've long viewed
anger as a double-edged sword: terribly detrimental to relationships but
nonetheless crucial in enabling many vulnerable people to emotionally survive in
them.
As Stosny describes it, symptomatic anger covers up the pain of our "core hurts."
These key distressful emotions include feeling ignored, unimportant,
accused, guilty, untrustworthy, devalued, rejected, powerless, unlovable—or even
unfit for human contact (cf. John Bradshaw's "shame-based identity"). It is,
therefore, only reasonable that if the self-elicitation of anger can successfully fend
off such hurtful or unbearable feelings, one might eventually become dependent on
the emotion to the point of addiction.
Source: Seltzer, L. (2008). What Your Anger May Be Hiding. Reflections on the most seductive—and
addictive—of human emotions. Psychology Today. Available at
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/200807/what-your-anger-may-be-hiding.
Definition 3:
Jeanne Segal and Melinda Smith, from helpguide.org, define anger in this way:
Anger is a normal, healthy emotion. (…). The emotion of anger is neither good nor
bad. Like any emotion, it’s conveying a message, telling you that a situation is
upsetting, or unjust, or threatening. If your kneejerk reaction to anger is to explode,
however, that message never has a chance to be conveyed. So, while it’s perfectly
normal to feel angry when you’ve been mistreated or wronged, anger becomes a
problem when you express it in a way that harms yourself or others.
Source: Segal, J. and Smith, M. (2019). Anger Management. Tips and Techniques for Getting Anger
Under Control. HelpGuide. Available at https://www.helpguide.org/articles /relationships-
communication/anger-management.htm.
POST-READING FOCUS ON LANGUAGE: Understanding

figurative language. Use the literal meaning of each of the words
underlined in the previous texts and relevant contextual clues to
understand the figurative use of the same words. Do research and
complete the chart:

LITERAL GENERAL CONTEXT FIGURATIVE USAGE

MEANING AND/OR
OBJECTS/ACTIONS
ASSOCIATED WITH
THE WORDS
Fuel
Seethe/Seething
Surge
Ingrained
Blow
Under siege
Knee jerk
Shield/shielding
Double-edged
sword
To bolster
Flare (up)
To tame (the
beast)
To push sb’s
buttons
To erode
Scar

To boil
To drain
Rift
Walking on
eggshells
Now choose two of the words researched and write sentences of your own
conveying figurative meanings.
Reread the articles and find a noun collocate for each of the following
verbs. Then think of two other noun collocates:
▪ To ward off
▪ To impair
▪ To suppress
▪ To release
VOCABULARY WORK: Integrating knowledge. Think of word

domains you have studied and try to remember words for various ways
of speaking, moving, walking, and looking which might be associated

with the emotion of anger. Use the following picture to retrieve words
about:
THE LOOK OF ANGER

WAYS OF FACIAL
LOOKING EXPRESSIONS
WAYS OF HAND AND

SPEAKING/SHO BODY
UTING WAYS OF MOVEMENTS
WALKING
The following are words used in expressions showing that somebody feels
angry or very nervous. With the help of a dictionary, find out the complete
expressions and arrange them in groups in a way which might contribute to
the understanding and/or retrieval of the new language:
huff temper fuse outburst handle
roof red bull

POST-READING WATCHING ACTIVITY: Listening for

specific information. Listen to Ryan Martin’s TED talk “The Upside of
Anger.”
As you listen to the anger researcher, complete the chart:

ADVANTAGES TYPICAL INGREDIENTS PRIMARY SOME OF THE

OF BEING AN SITUATIONS IN A RECIPE THOUGHTS INFINITE WAYS
ANGER PEOPLE FIND FOR ANGER ASSOCIATED PEOPLE CAN
RESEARCHER IRRITATING WITH EXPRESS THEIR
CHRONIC ANGER
ANGER
CRITICAL THINKING: Matching visual representations and

abstract concepts. Examine the images [shown on the classroom screen
or printed in the complementary material] and be ready to answer the
questions that follow:
❖ Which of the preceding images would you choose as being representative of

your personal understanding of emotional literacy? On what grounds?
❖ What characteristics, gestures, visual clues do you detect in the images which
you can connect meaningfully with emotional literacy?

❖ How is emotional illiteracy visually represented? Why?
❖ Which of the following statements, in your opinion, would help complete this
sentence?
An emotionally literate person……….
✓ can experience a heartfelt sense of empathy

✓ can notice and name the emotions they are feeling but not the ones in others
✓ can understand the message a given emotion is aiming to communicate
✓ can be at ease talking about their emotions and working through them only
with a limited number of people they trust
✓ can handle their emotions in ways that directly contribute to empowering
themselves at the expense of others
✓ can accept emotions as a normal part of life but will usually find them
confusing or misleading
✓ can soothe themselves easily when they are upset
✓ has mindsets that will set the stage for future success in school and life
✓ can harness their emotions and apply them to tasks like problem solving
✓ fails to tap into their inner reservoir of motivation and engagement because
they tune into others’ feelings
RESEARCH TASK: Visit a variety of authoritative websites and

collect information which might enable you to answer the following
questions:
❖ How can emotional literacy be defined?

❖ What is the difference between emotional literacy and emotional intelligence?
❖ Can emotional literacy be taught?
❖ The habits of Wellbeing website defines emotional literacy. The site quotes
Claude Steiner as arguing that emotional literacy “is not a mere unleashing of
the emotions, it is learning to understand, manage and control them.” Why do
you think the distinction is relevant?

❖ The quote also introduces the topic by means of an epigraph, which is a
comment made by Helen Keller: “The best and most beautiful things in the
world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” Who
was Helen Keller? Do you think the site made a good choice by quoting her?
READING: Understanding metaphoric language in context. Read

the article “The Foundation of Performance: Emotional Literacy &

Intelligence” and be prepared to explain the meaning of the following

expressions:
▪ To lay the groundwork

▪ To shore up
▪ To grease the wheels
▪ Full-fledged
▪ Scaffold
Notice that most of these expressions are related, in their literal meanings,
to the field of construction or machinery. What makes them appropriate to
deal with the topic of emotional literacy?
DICTIONARY WORK: Do some research exploring the following

lexical items related to the semantic field of CRYING:
▪ To break down in tears

▪ To weep openly and tug at the world’s heartstrings
▪ To feel a tear come to one’s eyes
▪ To shed public tears
▪ To let the tears flow
▪ To have an overbrimming lake of tears ever ready to flow just
under the surface
▪ To do one’s best to never let tears come out
▪ To fight/hold/choke back tears
▪ tears well up and flood over (the most trivial situations)
▪ (of tears) to well up in sb’s eyes
▪ Somebody’s eyes fill with tears
▪ To be in tears/in floods of tears
▪ To be on the verge of tears
▪ To have teary eyes
▪ Tears are streaming/rolling/running down sb’s face
▪ To bring tears to sb’s eyes
▪ To reduce sb to tears
▪ To be moved to tears
▪ To burst into tears
▪ To cry one’s eyes/heart out
▪ To cry oneself to sleep
DOING RESEARCH INTO A WORD DOMAIN: Do dictionary work with

the following items. Sort out the words and expressions, along with the
previous ones, into different groups so as to account for their differences
in meaning, connotation, register, structure, and any other criteria you
consider relevant:

▪ sob ▪ whimper
▪ weep ▪ whine
▪ bawl ▪ blubber
▪ wail
WORD DOMAINS: Correct the following incorrect lexical choices. Notice

that there may be more than one available option:
1. For the first time after the pilot declared the state of emergency, the
pregnant woman began to cry. Convulsing, shoulder-heaving wails
upon the reality that she would never see her own relatives again nor
would her soon to be born child ever meet his father.
2. All the passengers were paralysed when they saw the highjackers pull
out their automatic weapons. But when one of the terrorists pressed
the tip of his gun to the air hostess’s knee and began to poke it inside
her skirt, she recoiled in fear and started to weep. She then uttered a
scarcely audible plea: “Please don’t kill us.”
3. It was a mistake for Frank to have gone to the candy store with his two
young jealous daughters. No sooner had he paid for Tania’s chocolate
bar than Fiona started to bawl: “How come Tania gets to have
chocolate and I’m stuck with this yucky stuff?”
4. Finally, the day the Johnsons had been waiting for arrived. Their son
Patrick was going to be released from jail after serving 85% of his
sentence. When Patrick’s parents hugged him, a flood of emotions
filled his heart and he began to whine.
5. The little girl suddenly tripped over a loose flagstone and badly
skinned her knee when she fell. She was whimpering so loudly in
the Headmistress’s office where she was getting her wound
disinfected that two forth graders passing by the office just came
back to gawk and try to listen to what she was trying to say.
6. Even though Charles was convinced that a car seat was just another
marketing toy like bicycle helmets and vaccines, he strapped 2-year-
old Aaron in before driving off. Aaron immediately began to sob in
the backseat, so Charles put on a CD to calm him down because he
did not want the child to look all red and puffy by the time they
arrived at the child care center.

7. The public mood in our country is sour and dissatisfaction with the
present government extraordinarily high. But to be frank, white collar
workers have nothing to bawl about, being the one sector that escaped
the financial crisis relatively unscathed.
8. David’s flight arrived late into New York, so he had to run to make his
connecting flight to Montreal. Nearing the gate, he heard the jet
engines actually begin to weep and, thundered down the carpet and
almost collided with the ticket agent when he showed her his passport.
9. Gary’s only concern was that he had been so long since he had last
had any physical contact with a human being that he was afraid he
would begin to wail at the first touch, like a poor little puppy
abandoned in the streets.
10. There are countries in the world where girls have to spend time
learning about mourning traditions, such as the correct way to
blubber for the death of a renowned king.
11. The baby had been whimpering so hard that the neighbours rang our
doorbell at two o’clock in the morning, offering their help, which we
obviously took as a hint that the baby was keeping them awake.
12. She was making considerable effort not to get sentimental over the
little lump lying at the footsteps of the hospital. When she moved away
and turned to go, the little thing, feeling the withdrawal of the woman’s
warm presence, began to bawl softly. In an instant, she had drawn the
baby into her arms and pressed him to her bosom.
13. More volunteer firefighters arrived on the scene as the siren

continued to weep. Two of them hauled one of the fire hoses into
position and aimed a steady stream of water at the blaze from the
burning building.
14. On our way back, we passed through a shantytown of lean-tos

cluttered with all kinds of rubbish. As we approached them, we
could hear the mosquitoes whimpering in an unpleasant way.
15. Overwhelmed with bitter sorrow, she began to bawl in a manner

that conveyed the great depths into which her emotions had fallen.

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
WARM-UP ORAL DISCUSSION: Thinking in inductive

ways. Get together in small groups and analyse different types of
situations which might help explain the nature of the connection
between the human mind and the body. Discuss your examples so as to
produce a few generalisations about the topic. Use the following
examples to guide you:
“I believe you can actually control the

physical world, with the power of your brain.
Some people can move objects like that. I
think it’s called telekinesis.”
“I know that doctors sometimes
administer placebo substances to
“People who are stressed out or patients, and their pain is
revved up all the time continue to alleviated because their minds do
work and function, but their the trick.”
immune systems are weakened and
they develop infections and begin
to suffer from a variety of
“When people get in a good physical shape
diseases.”
and improve their overall physical health
and look better, they experience an increase
in their self-esteem and their outlook on
life becomes more positive.”

PRE-READING ACTIVITY: Understanding definitions. Try to think of

the word to which each of the following definitions might apply:
A method of stopping pain and curing diseases

by putting needles into certain parts of the
body.
A Chinese method of arranging things inside

your home, in order to bring good luck,
wealth, good health, and happiness.
The prevention and treatment of ill health with

the use of particular plants known for their
medicinal properties.
Disease is treated by giving very small amounts

of a substance which, in larger amounts, would
usually produce an illness.
The method of treating back, joint, and muscle

pain by feeling and pressing the bones,
especially those of the back and neck.
READING TASK: Selecting useful information and

arranging arguments according to a hierarchy. Scan through the three
articles on the topic of alternative medicine (Complementary Set) and
complete the chart so as to express your personal assessment of the
various arguments and ideas:
THE FIVE MOST THE SIX WAYS OF THE THREE MOST

IMPORTANT STRONGEST DEFENDING IMPORTANT WAYS
BENEFITS OF ARGUMENTS THREE OF THE OF DEFENDING
ALTERNATIVE AGAINST SIX STRONGEST ALTERNATIVE
MEDICINE OVER ALTERNATIVE ARGUMENTS THERAPIES AS
TRADITIONAL THERAPIES AGAINST COMPLEMENTARY
MEDICINE ALTERNATIVE TO ORTHODOX
MEDICINE MEDICINE

POST-READING PRACTICE WITH STRUCTRES: Combine the

following two ideas making use of the connective devices listed below:
Herbal preparations are widely used as self-medication for acute

conditions.
Practitioners of herbal medicine tend to concentrate on treating

chronic conditions.
▪ Although
▪ Even when
▪ In spite of

▪ However
▪ While
▪ Unlike
▪ Despite
▪ Irrespective/regardless
PRE-READING DISCUSSION: Activating knowledge. In pairs, try to

answer the following questions:
❖ Do you think it is serious to claim that you can laugh your health problems away?
❖ What kinds of feelings do you experience when you encounter yourself in a situation
in which laugher causes you to bend over, spit out your food, or any other similar
reaction?
❖ Is there any connection between a person’s health and their good nature/mood?
READING ACTIVITY: Reading to condense information. Read the

two articles on laughter therapy in your complementary set and extract their
main ideas. Express them in sentences of your own:
POST-READING FOCUS ON LANGUAGE: Increasing one’s

collocational competence. Complete the following activities making use of
the content-specific language employed in the articles you have just read, as
required in each case:
➢ Making use of specific verbs, complete the various benefits of

laughing:
blood pressure
stress hormones
muscle flexion
immune function
Laughing levels of infection-fighting cells

the release of endorphins
a general sense of well-being
positive emotions
conventional treatments
the healing process
➢ Search for suitable objects to form idiomatic collocates as answers to

the following questions:

What can we succumb to?

What can laughter foster?
What can humour buffer?
What can reach a crescendo of
activity and then crest?
DICTIONARY WORK: Do some research exploring the following

lexical items related to the semantic field of LAUGHING:
▪ be in hysterics
▪ laugh heartily/uproariously/hysterically
▪ burst out laughing
▪ laugh your head off
▪ to get/to have a belly laugh
▪ to let go with the kind of laughter that has us clutching our
bellies and gasping for air
▪ what tickles one’s funny bone
▪ a barrel/bundle of laughs
▪ to split one’s sides
▪ to crack up a joke
▪ to explode/bellow/hoot/gurgle/snort/roar/shriek/scream/
howl/whoop/rock/shake with laughter
▪ a roar/howl of laughter
▪ to give a gurgle of laughter
▪ a burst of laughter/to burst into laughter
▪ gales/fits/peals/ripples of laughter
▪ to wipe the smile off somebody’s face
POST-READING WORK ON A WORD DOMAIN: Look up

the following words and expressions associated with laughing and classify
the lexical items according to semantic criteria or usage to maximise
retrieval:
▪ to giggle (also get the ▪ to cackle

giggles) ▪ to beam
▪ to titter ▪ to jeer
▪ to chuckle ▪ to snigger (also snicker)
▪ to chortle ▪ to sneer

▪ to smirk ▪ to grin
▪ to leer ▪ to grimace
WORD DOMAINS:
1. The defendant admitted, after the prosecution counsel’s effective

sequence of well crafted questions, that he had committed perjury on
at least one occasion, which caused the attorney to
grimace/smirk/jeer triumphantly.
2. The tourists insisted on trekking up to the top of the hill. As they kept
tripping over stones in terribly clumsy ways, the local guides found it
hard to suppress a leer/beam/snigger.
3. He had a despicable reputation for leering/chortling/snickering at
the youngest female members of the staff. No wonder Alice divorced
him as soon as their eldest child got married and left the family house.
4. When someone is tickling you and you make a snorting sound as you
laugh in a breathy and joyful way, this is an example of a time when
you beam/grin/chortle.
5. When the former President, who is facing charges of fraud and money
laundering, claimed that she was suffering “political persecution”, a
few derisory sniggers/titters/chuckles from opposing legislators
could be heard.
6. I just hated the way she grinned/cackled/smirked: she made the
terribly shrill, broken vocal sounds of a hen.
7. Have you noticed how adolescents, who have become completely
dependent on their cell phones, keep adopting strange facial gestures
as they read and type? I find it funny when they
giggle/cackle/chuckle over their WhatsApp messages.
8. The current generation of digital natives will not put up with outmoded
technology. People who are older have found a way to
grin/beam/snigger and bear it, but the company should begin to
seriously consider updating their inventory management systems.
9. The experienced trekker managed to reset his fellow trekker’s shoulder
after his bad fall, and the latter gave out a scarcely audible thanks
trying not to grin/grimace/leer at the throbbing pain in his shoulder.
10. When Margaret saw the handsome young man with blue
eyes, blue as the sea and sky, raise one gloved hand and wave at
her, she felt a sparkling excitement flutter deep inside her, and
she wanted to beam/giggle/chortle like some silly schoolgirl.
11. The royal horsemen dragged the prisoner strapped to a
wooden litter. As they cut him loose and led him to the execution
platform, the crowd began to leer/jeer/grin and throw bottles
and rocks at him.
12. Everything had been arranged for the wedding ceremony
with the utmost care and attention had been paid to the smallest
detail. And when the bride came in beaming/grinning/tittering
with such great joy, the guests all gasped for breath out of sheer
delight.

POST-DISCUSSION AND POST-READING WRITING TASK: Write

an opinion essay arguing either for or against the thought contained in the
following quote:
“Before the twentieth century, natural medicines were the only medicines
recognised as such. When science took off after the development of the
European Enlightenment, this view of natural medicines changed
drastically. Within the last hundred years, natural medicines and
vitamins were abandoned in favour of new “miracle” drugs. Such wonder
substances, when first introduced, were truly revolutionary and were
hailed as magical solutions to previously incurable health problems or
intolerable conditions. Antibiotics, anti-inflammatories such as cortisol,
and other drugs were obtained in laboratories. Along with such drugs, a
new thought emerged: science will eventually develop a cure for all
diseases, making natural remedies obsolete. But at the close of the
twentieth century, the failing of many miracle medicines spurred a search
for alternative treatments. This failure and only this can explain the new
popularity gained by alternative medicine.”

STRESS
ORAL DISCUSSION: Describing gestures and postures

and attaching meaning to them. Look at the following pictures and
describe fully what is going on. [The images are found in the complementary
material] Which would you choose as the most representative picture of
stress? Why?
PRE-READING DISCUSSION: Weighing up the advantages and

disadvantages of a situation. Given the nature of the pictures above, would
you say stress is good for a person? Make a list of circumstances in which
stress could turn out to be good:
❖ At the workplace:
❖ At home:
❖ At school:
❖ In life:
❖ When confronting a dangerous situation, a dilemma, or a crisis:
READING ACTIVITY: Reading for organisation. Read Mary

Charmichael’s article “Who Says Stress is Bad for You?” and do reverse
outlining so as to account for the article’s main progression and organisation
of ideas.
POST-READING ACTIVITY: Rewrite each of the following sentences,

which have been quoted from the previous article, so that it means the
same as the original sentence. Use the word given, without changing it:
a) If you aren't already paralyzed with stress from reading the

financial news, here's a sure way to achieve that grim state.
PROVIDED
…………………………………………………………………………………….
b) We've blamed stress for a wide variety of problems, from slight
memory lapses to full-on dementia.
CULPRIT
…………………………………………………………………………………….……

c) Hans Selye, who laid the foundations of stress science in the 1930s,
believed so strongly in good stress that he coined a word, "eustress,"
for it.
SUCH
…………………………………………………………………………………….……
d) As soon as the rat's brain registers danger, it pumps itself up on
hormones—first adrenaline, then cortisol.
NO SOONER
…………………………………………………………………………………….……
e) For all of the science's shortfalls, there's animal research that suggests
why something that should lower stress can actually cause stress if it's
done in the wrong spirit.
DESPITE
…………………………………………………………………………………….……
f) He could not determine his own "workout" schedule, so he didn't
perceive it as exercise. Instead, he experienced it as a literal rat race.
RATHER (Use only ONE sentence)
…………………………………………………………………………………….
POST-READING FOCUS ON LANGUAGE: The following

paragraph appears in the passage above:
A lot of us tend to flip the stress-hormone switch to "on" and leave it there. At some point,
the neurons get tired of being primed, and positive effects become negative ones. As a
result, neurons shrivel and stop communicating with each other, and brain tissue shrinks in
the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, which play roles in learning, memory and rational
thought. Chronically, it impairs our mental flexibility.
Source: The previous sentences and paragraph have been quoted from: Charmichael, M. Who Says
Stress is Bad for You? Newsweek. Feb. 23, 2009. Available at https://www.newsweek.com/health-why-
stress-may-be-good-you-82765
DICTIONARY WORK: Find out the meanings and patterns of the

two words which appear in bold. There are other verbs in English which
convey the general notion of becoming less or being reduced. Do special
dictionary work with them and be ready to complete the following
collocational grid:

SHRIVEL SHRINK WILT WITHER DWINDLE

(UP)
leaves
plants
enthusiasm
energy
savings
clothes
population
resources
flowers
courage
love
unwatered
roses
Answer the following questions:
1. What has happened to somebody’s fortune if it has dwindled

away?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
2. What has happened to a river which has dwindled to a trickle?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
3. What happens to a company’s staff if it begins to shrink?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
4. What can inflation do to the buying power of the dollar?
…………………………………………………………………………………….

5. What can a heat wave do to the grapes in a vineyard?
……………………………………………………………………………………
6. Why would you worry if your shirt shrinks?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
7. Is it good news if a treatment shrinks a tumor?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
8. What happens to someone’s enthusiasm if it shrivels as a

project wears on?
……………………………………………………………………………………
9. What will probably happen to a project or scheme if it has

been predicted that it will wither like a dead flower?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
FOCUS ON LANGUAGE: Answering questions focusing on

the meaning of certain expressions. Answer the following questions so
as to explain the meaning of the words in italics:
1. What kind of things can prey on a person’s mind if they are under
stress?
2. What nouns would you combine with the word niggling to suggest
something that continues to worry a person even though they refuse to
think about it?
3. On what grounds would you attribute a specific state of mind to the
stresses and strains of life?
4. What are common or frequent stressors in your life?
5. How could you tell that someone is stress-ridden?
6. What can be stress-ridden?
7. What can be good examples of efficacious stress relievers?

8. In what circumstances would you be a bundle of nerves? And a
nervous wreck?
9. What are the implications of saying that someone is at the end of
their tether (Br.) or at the end of their rope (Am.)?
10. Is it the same to be stressed out as to be burnt out?
11. Which of the following work-related expressions would you
associate with stress? Why?
To work like a Trojan horse Burn the candle at both ends

Wear oneself to a shadow Burn the midnight oil

12. What is the specific context in which the expression shell-shocked is

typically used?
VOCABULARY WORK: Associating meanings. Decide which of the

following words and expressions are related to stress and drop them into the box.
Explain on what grounds you would leave out the rest:
STRESS

POST-READING WATCHING ACTIVITY: watch Kelly McGonigal’s

TED talk “How to Make Stress your Friend” and compare the information
provided by her with the information contained in the article you read. Then
carry out the activities that follow:
➢ Mark the statements below either true or false:

1. Your blood pressure increases because your heart is pumping extra blood, oxygen
and sugar to your organs.
2. Your blood vessels expand so as to prevent blockages in the circulation of blood.
3. Under stress, your body cannot extract the nourishment it needs due to the sharp
increase in sugar supplies.
4. Weight gain is a direct result of stomach acidity problems.
5. The opposite of chest breathing is diaphragmatic breathing.
6. Internal damage may result from perspiring excessively.
7. There is a link between higher blood sugar levels and anti-aging growth
hormones.
8. Adrenalin is the most important stress-related hormone.
9. There is a connection between the level of cortisol in the blood and belly
fat.
➢ Fill the gap in each of the sentences below with the correct item:
1. Your body responds as though you are really under attack, whether it is real,
just a perceived threat, or you are just feeling the pressure and tension from
your modern day _____________________ life.
2. Your blood will ______________________ regardless of whether or not you
are really injured.
3. The body _____________________ or slows down any systems that aren’t
absolutely necessary to deal with the immediate threat.
4. Your body will _________________________ your immune system.
5. Anxiety and panic attacks can also accompany ___________________

breathing.
6. More blood ____________________ to your muscles giving them a
_________________ of temporary strength.
7. The muscles haven’t been trained to actually handle the excess
_______________________.
8. Stress hormones activate various body systems to temporarily
__________________ energy supplies.

LEXICAL COMPETENCE: FURTHER

DEVELOPMENT AND CONSOLIDATION
Do the following exercises:
 Study the following nouns and then provide self explanatory sentences to illustrate the
differences in meaning, usage and collocational range:
Meaning and
Example
usage
I’ve been trying to overcome my fearof

fear
flying.
The child cried in fright after seeing

fright
the black spider on the floor.
It's normal to feel a little apprehension

apprehension
before starting a new job.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
 Complete the following chart:

Noun Adjective Verb

assert
anxious
fear
dread
fright
scare
worry
terror
panic
risk

 Complete the following sentences using an appropriate word from the previous activity.
Use the words only ONCE.
a) The government is trying to ease ……………. of a recession.
b) Getting her own apartment was the first step in the ……………. of her
independence.
c) During the last earthquake, there were many brave citizens who
……………. being killed to help others.
d) At the scene of the crime, his eyes widened in …………….. .
e) Children normally feel a lot of ……………. about their first day at

school.
f) He was a cruel dictator who was ……………. and hated by most of his
subjects.
g) Don’t jump out of the window like that. You gave me quite a
…………….. .
h) There was a look of sheer …………….. on her face, but nobody had the
courage to ask her what had happened.
i) If you want people to listen to your opinions, you'll need to learn to be

more …………….. .
j) Despite living in a less prejudiced society, he still lives with a constant

…………….. of rejection.
k) The sound of gunfire …………….. the crowd that gathered outside the
town hall.
l) As he was falling off from the roof, he let out a …………….. scream.
 Choose one or two appropriate words to fill each gap:

a) He's usually a sensible and calm person but last night he sounded
…………............. on the phone.
panic-stricken petrified grief-stricken
b) After the pilot’s announcement of a possible mechanical problem in

one of the engines, the passengers were .....………… stiff.
panic scared frightened

c) You ......………… me such a fright turning the lights off like that as I
was watching a horror movie.
caused gave created
d) Sorry, I must apologize for opening the door so suddenly and noisily. I
didn't mean to ......………… you.
scare shudder startle
e) As the troops invaded the city, she was ..................... for their safety.
afraid fearful frightened
f) After watching the news, she had a ............................ look on her

face.
spooky scary scared
g) Whenever they went camping, he loved telling his kids ...........…………

-chilling ghost stories.
spine hair nerve
h) The climber has not returned to the Alps for a long time. Some
........………… fear makes his heart ......………… and his cheeks
......………… every time he remembers the episode with the ropes.
growing crippling abnormal
beat thump plump
flush blush become reddish
i) Inflationary policies and a poor control of the budget ..........…………

fears that there would be another relapse in the overall economy.
dispelled fuelled caused
j) The danger of an epidemic had subsided; there was now no reason to

be .............………… with fear.
triggered fraught confronted
k) Terror ...........………… our hearts when we are away from our parents
in an unknown place.
conquers strikes grips
 Complete the gaps in the following text using suitable content-specific words:
The first time I boarded a plane I thought it would be quite a
pleasurable activity. I was thrilled at the idea of regarding the surface of the
earth from high above, as I had watched lots of people do in films. But real
life is rather different, and when the plane took off I realised I was in for
some suffering. To start with, I started shivering and I felt
(1)………………………. While my hands were sweaty, my mouth was
completely dry and I felt sicker and sicker. My mum said that was normal,
and that I should not make a fuss of it. I was so nervous I just

(2)……………………………. on to her, speechless. After her arm had got red

from my firm grip, my mum realised this was not a joke and I was definitely
having a hard time. I had faced dangerous situations in the past, and my
usual response had been a (3)………………………. of anxiety which she would
always gently talk me out of. But this was different: I was seemingly
paralysed while my insides were in complete turmoil. I was not able to utter
a single word during the 6-hour flight, and my mum only noticed the sweat
and the tears rhythmically (4) ....................down my cheeks.
By the time we eventually both saw a psychiatrist, I was not surprised
my fear of flying had a scientific name: it was called (5)
..........................and it was literally an (6)…………………………… one. In
fact, it (7)………………………… me from travelling long distances for the
following twenty years. I was, in my late thirties, faced with a tricky
situation: my best friend was getting married in the US and the only way to
get to her wedding was to fly. The mere thought of it sent (8)................down
my spine and made me feel instantly sick. I decided I should face the
(9)..................... and (10)………………………………… the discomfort that
flying had initially caused me. Unluckily, as a young, rebellious teenager I
had refused to (11)..........................therapy to overcome this phobia. There
was no time for me to (12)……………………………..up to my fear now: I had to
face it head on. I had an appointment with my old psychiatrist and he
suggested I should -for the time being only- be prescribed tranquillisers so
that I could quickly deal with some of the symptoms. I agreed to take up
therapy upon my return home. When the day finally came for me to fly, I
experienced the (13) ......................... symptoms at the airport, before I had
actually boarded the plane. While on the plane, the fear slowly
(14)………………………………… and I felt fine for a while, although I was sick
and the vomiting made it all come back again. The flight back also had its
ups and downs, but I learned the lesson: I had to take it easy and use a
(15)…………………………… approach to (16) ......................... out my fears in
the future. I was definitely not allowing any fear to be a
(16)……………………………to progress in life.
 The following sentences contain pairs of words printed in bold. Choose the correct
item in each case:
a. Since the publication of his controversial book, the author has lived in
constant / long-lasting fear of assassination. Unfortunately, the

evidence recently found confirms the officers’ sudden / worst fear.
b. Some old people have a deep / rooted fear of being abandoned by

their families, which seems to be abated / fuelled by the lack of
attention they get by the members of their families, in particular, by
youngsters.
c. They stood at the edge of the cliff. It had been raining the night before
and the river looked dangerous. They were fearful / afraid for their
safety, but they still dared to jump into the water. "Nobody can say

that we aren't plucky / fearsome boys," one of them said. "We need to
show the rest that we are cowardless / fearless."
d. She feels a bit afraid / uneasy about asking him to do her such a big
favor.
e. He gazed in fearful / fierce wonder. He had never climbed a mountain

before and he could not find the words to describe what he was feeling
then.
 Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with derivatives of the words in bold:
fear wake
a) He was not ……………. to all the possibilities the landlord was giving
her and she finally left feeling that she was doomed.
b) Having failed to meet the deadlines, he spends all his ………….. hours
working on the premises.
c) The children’ shouts …… us …… our afternoon sleep.
d) On that ……… night he confessed he had tried to tell me the hard

truth without ever succeeding in doing so.
e) He was unable to answer the police officer’s questions about that night
since he was ……………. after taking some pills.
f) He gazed in ……….. wonder. He had never climbed a mountain before

and he could not find the words to describe what he was feeling then.
g) He gave them their honest opinion, ……........……of the consequences

his words would cause.
h) The children were a …………....... sight after their war games.
 Rewrite each of the following sentences so that it means the same as the original, using
the shaded wordsin block letters without changing them in any way:
a) Don't shout like that! You made me very frightened.

WITS
............................................................................................................
b) This old house makes me feel frightened and nervous.
CREEPS
............................................................................................................

c) The bus was lying on one side of the road. There were people inside
and we could hear them shouting; they were extremely afraid.
CURDLING
............................................................................................................
d) The prospect of becoming a mother in the near future worries me.

FILLS
............................................................................................................
e) Everyone admires those heroes that fought for our freedom and
independence.
STAND
............................................................................................................
f) Such paralyzing fear would finally destroy his life and he would lose
whatever he had fought for.
WREAK
............................................................................................................
g) The child stepped away from me every time I showed him the new
puppet I had bought, with an expression of fear on his face.
CRINGED
............................................................................................................
 Fill in each of the gaps in the following passages with ONE appropriate word:
So what just happened exactly? You had a panic (1)………….........
Phrases like; "You made me jump!" or; "You frightened the (2) ………….
out of me!" spring readily to mind. They're rather apt, and I wonder... could
those same phrases aptly describe what you may feel in that situation?
In that instant your heart pounded, your muscles (3) …....……, you (4)
…………., you were confused and disoriented, you were frozen with (5)
…………. – for that split second you experienced all the symptoms of a panic
(6) …………..
But realising it was only me, and I am really quite harmless, you
quickly realised there was no imminent (7) …………., and those intense
feelings (8) ………..…. as rapidly as they manifested themselves. If on the
other hand the situation did pose a (9) ..…………., your body would now be
primed ready to take action – probably fleeing, occasionally fighting. Again,
the situation would be short lived and your body, having dealt with the
threat, would quickly revert back to its earlier state of relative calm.
Source: The passage used as a basis for the previous exercise has been quoted from:
http://www.psychology-solution.com/self-help/panic-anxiety/panic-intro.html

The sound of his voice and the gloomy atmosphere sent

..........................down her spine.
She could sense that a tragic event could take place. She had a sense
of ......................... that the news would be bad.
I would just like to state that there is no evidence to prove the

..........................allegations concerning my takeover of that particular
community. They are only rumours.
 Form meaningful sentences with the following key ideas. Add any necessary words and
put the verbs in their correct forms:
a) He /pretend /deaf / fear /guests /ask /questions.
.....................................................................................................
b) I/ dread/ speak/ public/ that/ I/ begin/ shake/ tremble.
.....................................................................................................
c) I/ shudder/ think/ amount/ money/ pay/ so/ repair/ roof.
.....................................................................................................
d) Fill/ awe/ gaze/ ruins/ ancient/ temple.
.....................................................................................................
e) Situation /overwhelm /[connector]/he/give [phrasal]/ fears/

pressures/ authorities
.....................................................................................................
f) Therapies/ help/ tough (v) /fear/ [connector]/ steady(v) / sb / face /

unbridled
.....................................................................................................
 Each of the following statements contains a pair of underlined words. Decide which is
the correct option. Identify the sentences in which both options are possible:
a) A sudden gust of inflation made the prices soar/skyrocket and the

subsidies for the publishing industry plummet. As a result, editors'
and proofreaders’ salaries froze.

b) Unless there’s an unpopular spike/skyrocket in tax revenues,

chopping the federal deficit will mean having to cut back on services
people like and count on.
c) There are 39,000 wild horses on the range, they reproduce at 22

percent a year, and Congress wants people to keep horses as pets.
However, the economy is such that with the price of hay, the
spike/soar in fuel prices, and shrinking/withering budgets, the
problem of wild horses is difficult to solve.
d) To try to soar/boost their appeal, some adult club dancers have

embraced Facebook, Twitter and other social media, a move that
appears to be paying off. The strategy is to entice customers to stay
connected and return to the club on the next business trip.
e) For much of the 1990s, the country rode the crest of a wave of
economic prosperity that caused both domestic living standards and
national pride to boost/soar.
f) Listen to the symphony, get lost in the feelings evoked by those

sublime flutes and cellos, and just let your imagination spike/soar.
g) This new Low-Fat Yogurt contains healthy bacteria which have been
claimed to boost/skyrocket immunity and aid digestion. Because it
has less sugar than the average yogurt, you may want to add a drizzle
of honey for sweetness, or a bit of maple syrup so it won't make your
child's blood sugar-and energy level- spike/boost and then crash
soon after.
h) In the short term, climatic change will destroy agriculture in regions

which are becoming too dry to support crops, thus causing food prices
to skyrocket/spike.
i) The computer company lets customers customize their own computers

on their website. Buyers select how much memory and disk space
they desire and the resulting computer is manufactured and shipped
to them. The approach has helped the computer company see

skyrocket/boosting growth in their profits.
 What is the difference in meaning between the items in the following pairs?
o Pandemic/ epidemic
o Perilous/hazardous
o Treatment/treatise
o To mushroom/ to subdue
o To get goose flesh/to chill the spine

 Write self-explanatory sentences using the expressions below:

o Plucky
o Brave
o Bold
o To engulf
o Sink or swim sailing technique
o To be unduly alarmist
 Fill in the blanks in the following passage with suitable words and expressions:
No one at the office even suspected that Mr.Moorsday, the new
Head of the Printing Department, was such an old
(1).............................................................. On Monday morning,
Lina went into his office because she had come up with a suggestion
about how to print the new labels the company had designed. As an
answer, Mr.Moorsday gave her just a (2) ................................ and(3)
........................................... something to himself. When a few
minutes later, the new office boy accidentally spilt coffee on the floor,
right next to his desk, Mr.Moorsday(4)
....................................................................handle: he started (5)
..............................................................at the poor boy, as he
repeatedly banged his desk with a (6) .................................. fist.
Although the boy looked at Mr.Moorsday apologetically, the old man
continued to (7) .............................................. at the young man,
(8)......................................... his anger (9) .............................him.
However, we were yet to see the most violent (10)
........................................... of Mr.Moorsday’s anger later that
morning when one of the secretaries from the Packaging Department
came to his office with a perfectly reasonable request, which he
considered inappropriate. This harmless action was like (11)
.......................................................................... : this time,
Mr.Moorsday was in (12) ....................................................... He
looked straight at the secretary and his dark green eyes (13)
............................................................... He shouted a string of
abuse, but his words were scarcely intelligible because he was (14)
............................... his teeth and (15)

...............................................his feet. In this extraordinary(16)
............................................of anger, he (17)
................................................................. in the wall and (18)
...........................................................out of his office,
(19)................................................. the door shut.
 Correct the mistakes in the following idioms related to “anger:” Use the expressions or
idioms only once:

a) The boss flew the fuse when the secretary didn’t type the letter in time.
He tends to blow the handle when people don’t obey him.
b) Surprisingly, she hit him in a fit of anger. She really hit the collar
when she found out he had sold the new car. She'll fly off and puff for
a while, but she'll eventually calm down. She typically loses sight and
seethes with upset when things like this happen. However, when she
realized that her boyfriend made the right decision, she apologized for
her burst out of anger.
 Find out some other idioms related to the field of “anger”. Match the first part of the
idiom with the second part:
to rub sb a piece of mind

to give sb on speaking terms
to give sb (up) the wrong way
not to be an earful
Complete the following sentences with one of the previous idiomatic expression:
a. My neighbors stopped making so much noise after he went over

there and …………………………………..
b. Even though she meant to be helpful and give me a hand with the
problem, her suggestion really …………………………………..
c. It seemed that things were going better between them, but now they
………… no longer …………………………………...
d. He couldn't put up with the situation any longer, and the other day,
he ………………………………….. about being late so often.
 Decide if the underlined items make sense in the following contexts. If not, change the
phrase for an appropriate lexical item related to the field of "crying":
a) Women tend to sob when they watch a romantic movie.

b) Pam accidentally broke a vase and she’s cried her eyes out for
several days.
c) A child is more likely to shed tears than an adult.
d) Tom blubbers if he hits his head but doesn’t want to show that he is
in pain.
e) Children may whimper if it is a bright sunny day and they got a
good grade on a Math test. And they tend to burst into tears when
their parents tell them they can’t have a new toy.

f) If I win the lottery, I would start bawling.

g) Some people wail when they are very distressed.
 Choose the correct item(s) in each case:

a) The bank robber wasn’t afraid of anything. When the police officer
told him he’d probably have to go to jail for ten years, the robber
didn’t make a sound. He just ___________ at the police. He knew
his friends would help him escape. (giggled / chuckled / sneered)
b) The children in the school play were not well-prepared. When they
forgot their lines, the audience ____________ with embarrassment.
(tittered/ howled with laughter / chuckled)
c) “This is an exam and you have to keep silent. So if you can't stop
____________ you'll have to leave the room.” (giggling/ beaming /
chuckling)
d) The word breast caused some of the children to ____________,
quickly putting their hands over their mouths to stifle the sound.
(roar/ crack up / get the giggles)
e) In the horror movies, the crazy murderer ____________ when he
decided who he was going to murder next. His laugh was so high
that the neighbors heard him. (sniggering/ tittering/ chortled)
old woman.
Think of possible contexts for the words or phrases in bold that have not been used and
write sentences of your own.
 Rewrite the following sentences using the words in bold type and following any
instructions given. Do not change the meaning of the original sentence:
a) Although her therapist insists that she tries, she still cannot force
herself to think about the tragedy since it is too painful.
BRING
............................................................................................................
b) There is no need for you to express so much pessimism about the

situation.
UNDULY
............................................................................................................
c) At last she managed to discover the hidden truth which the family
had felt ashamed of for generations.
OUT
............................................................................................................

d) The present difficulty in the design of the reactor is the result of our
failure to deal with the problem when it first arose.
FROM
............................................................................................................
e) For over the last few months, chaos has reigned in the entire
region.
ENGULF
............................................................................................................
f) What apparently was an insignificant misunderstanding developed

into a conflict with all the characteristics of a major dispute, which
ended up in one of the members’ resignation.
SCALE
............................................................................................................
g) At this moment of crisis, politicians have to dispel the fears they

have about their negative public image and face the challenges that
confront them.
SLOUGH
............................................................................................................
h) I’ve stopped having illusions about getting a scholarship.

HARBOR
............................................................................................................
i) The skeptical mother had to make a great effort to let her daughter
be treated with prescribed medicines together with aromatherapy.
[Prepositional phrase with] IN
............................................................................................................
j) Fortunately, the wound was treated before an infection started.

IN [Adverb particle]
............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................
 Re-read the previous sentences and take note of possible collocates for the noun
“stress”. Collect further items that can be used with this word.

 Exploring easily confused words: RAISE, RISE AROUSE and ARISE

 Look at the following sentences –some of which were taken from the reading material
in this handout- and answer the questions:
❖ If they're surrounded by loved ones when a stressor arises, she says,

"there's some evidence they don't even show as much of the initial
hormonal response.
❖ When Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organisation, raised

the pandemic threat alert from four to five […]
❖ Organisations such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty

to Children (NSPCC) continually use alarmist messages about the scale of
child abuse in order to raise funds […] .
❖ When he saw us arrive, he attempted to rise but couldn’t quite make it.
❖ Since shops have raised their prices in the last months, sales have not
risen as expected.
❖ Two young men wearing sun glasses aroused the policeman's suspicion.
• Can you provide a synonym for the expressions in bold type?

• Is the verb in bold regular or irregular? Is it transitive or intransitive?
• What nouns do these verbs usually collocate with?
 Complete the following blanks with one of the following verbs: raise, rise, arouse, and
arise(in their corresponding tense and form).
a) Politicians often _______ people’s expectations with false promises.

b) Carlos Menen_____ to power in the 90s.
c) We could claim that the problem _______ because of the lack of
communication between the two groups.

d) As the speaker didn't show up, I _______ to the occasion and made
the speech.
e) The people decided to _______ up against the new government
politics.
f) Our community _______ money for the victims of the earthquake.
g) In the last few weeks, the new advertising campaign _______ a lot of
interest.
h) Susan hoped that her salary would ______ as well.

i) Although they tend to ______ our indignation and anger, we let them
give their opinions and participate in the project.
j) If I were you, I’d _____ the issue of publicity and its cost again.
k) The rebels quickly _____ an army and after their first victory, their
leader said, "I’ll _____ hell if the government doesn't comply with our
demands."
l) He was highly criticized because he was considered to be a
politician who _____ to fame very quickly.
m) At present, this college _____ its standards for admission.
n) His spirits _____ when he heard the good news.
o) It cannot be denied that such conflict _____ because of a political
misunderstanding.
p) This new discovery _____ the possibility of a cure for such a dreadful
disease.
q) She _____ above the prejudice of her time so as to become a great
civil rights leader.
r) Should the need _____, he can defend himself.
s) No matter what the government has promised, people _____ hell
about the new law.
t) The report released by the health care committee _____ a great deal
of public debate.
u) As the baby is sleeping, try not to _____ your voice.
v) In the last decade, the world population _____ sharply.
 The following lexical items are related to the adjective “risky”. Match the adjectives
with their most frequent contexts of use.
risky people, places, conditions

hazardous people, an undertaking or a journey
perilous a plan, a proposal, or business
venturesome an occupation, an undertaking or a journey
treacherous
journey (used in literature or in journalistic jargon)
 Use adjectives from the previous exercise to fill in the gaps in the sentences below:
a) Outlook reporters warned drivers about ................ weather conditions
in the afternoon, due to heavy snow and rain.
b) It turned out to be a .............. business investment which started a
series of long negotiations between the merging companies.
c) It is right and proper that children should be .........................., but it
is also right and proper that they should be restrained when they do
something dangerous.

d) “Men wanted for ...................... journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long
hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and
recognition in event of success.”
e) The aim of the government is the review of the overall approach to the
classification of .................... locations with particular reference to the
possible future attacks.
A The following idiomatic expressions are formed with the verb JUMP. Match them with their
meanings and do the exercise that follows.

▪ To jump the gun to refuse bluntly – to be told to go away

▪ To jump out of your to be extremely surprised or startled
skin
to take action too soon or before the proper time
▪ To jump in at the
deep end to start doing sth. new or difficult without help or
▪ To take a running preparation
jump to react angrily to sth. that sb. says or does
▪ To jump down
somebody’s throat
a) I nearly ........................... when I saw the snake under my bed.

b) I know he’s a suspect, but isn’t it ........................... a bit to arrest him
immediately?
c) My friend got terribly upset and could not put up with the situation, so
that when I suggested a different plan, he ........................... .
d) You’ll be ......................................................... if you decide to perform
solo at the local Jazz Club. The people who tend to gather there can be
truly demanding.
e) And you came all the way here just to tell me you have not collected
enough money to pay off your debts. Oh come on! Why don’t you just
.................................................................?
GIVE
 Read the following sentence and infer the meaning of the underlined phrasal verb.
Provide a definition in the space provided below. Then do the matching exercise that
follows
▪ You are probably already aware of any phobias you may have,
since such intense fears are marked by panic attacks and alarm
reactions. But inhale deeply and be very frank with yourself.
You’ll soon be able to understand the damage you may be doing
by giving in to your fears if you measure your list against your
personal and professional goals—both short- and long-term.
Definition:
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................

▪ give away to allow (oneself) to be completely controlled (by an

emotion)
▪ give off
▪ give sth/sb over to
to finally agree to what sb. wants after refusing for some
sb time
▪ give in to give the responsibility for sth/sb. to somebody else.
▪ give oneself up to to send out; to emit
sth
to betray somebody by providing information
B. Fill in the gaps with the most suitable phrasal verb in the correct form:
a) It was clear the woman had not done her job properly. The bedrooms were
still filthy, and the eggs and the meat were ................... ......... a bad
smell.
b) After the terrible ordeal she had been through, she ....... herself ........ to
despair.
c) Don’t go on dropping hints, or else you’ll .................................... our
surprise.
d) It was then announced on the radio that the building would be
............................ to the youth club.
e) Only when he saw the acts of atrocity with his own eyes did he decide to
................... himself ................... to working for the cause.
 Multi-word verbs. Study the following situation and answer the questions:
BREAK
Both the employer and the secretary wanted to break out of the
traditional male and female roles.
▪ Have they changed their minds about traditional male and

female roles?
▪ Do they accept them or do they want to change them?
(A) According to the definition of the multi-word verb given, fill in the missing preposition or
adverb that makes up the right verb:
▪ break ……. to begin happening suddenly

▪ break ……. to fail because of problems or disagreements
▪ break ……. to interrupt someone or something

▪ break ……. to separate or become separate from a larger group, country, etc
▪ break ……. to lose or cause (someone) to lose strength or the ability to resist or fight
to find a way of dealing with a problem or a situation that limits what you
▪ break …….
can do
▪ break ……. to suddenly start doing something
▪ break ……. to do something different from what you usually do
▪ break ……. to stop being part of a group or stop supporting someone
(B) Fill in the gaps with the most suitable phrasal verb in the correct form:
a) The government's argument _____________ completely when new

evidence came to light.
b) The organization is totally committed to _____________ the barriers of

poverty.
c) After thirty years of bitter civil war, the southern region _____________
from the north.
d) A number of people have _____________ the church over the issue on

abortion.
e) Societies have to _____________ from the traditions of the past in order

to develop.
f) I was listening to my favorite radio program when a reporter

_____________ with news about a storm.
g) Mary read the letter and her face _____________ a smile.
h) The prisoner finally _____________ under intensive questioning.

i) Three prisoners were killed when a riot _____________ in the prison.
 REVISION: Use the following picture to practice retrieving a variety of words and
expressions you have learned in connection with the experiences of anger, fear, and
stress:

 Each of the following statements should elicit a remark on your part, in which you make
proper use of the word(s) given:
Example: One day, the bird watchers stopped by a bend in

the river and saw an eagle with a glinting fish gripped in its
left talon. SOAR
The eagle was probably soaring back to its nest to feed its
young.
a) She thought she was already a superstar, but life didn’t work
that way. Three years later, she was on a smaller label and
performing live in unknown places.
AMBITION -SOAR
.............................................................................................
b) The nation’s population is expected to grow by 50 million over

the next two decades.
DEMAND – HOUSING – SKYROCKET
.............................................................................................
c) The Kunar mountains were the location of two deadly attacks by

the terrorist militants.
SOAR – THOUSANDS OF FEET – GOOD COVER
.............................................................................................
d) The company is investing in technicians who can spot

weaknesses in the design of the turbines and improve general
safety.
BOOST – RELIABILITY

.............................................................................................
e) Millions of people cannot get affordable health insurance.

WORRY – BILLS – SOAR
.............................................................................................
 Fill each of the gaps in the following sentences with a suitable word from the word box
below:
wilt wither shrink dwindle shrivel
a) The productivity improvements have ………………………….. our

costs by an amazing 30%.
b) When the tribe’s old leader finally died, all hope of obtaining
freedom ……………………… away.
c) According to the recipe, we should roast the tomatoes until they
……………………… and soften.
d) The country’s volume of trade is expected to …………………… by
10% this year.
e) You may continue to discard the proposals which have been
submitted if you consider they are not sound. But I must warn
you that the options are ……………………………..
f) With the current mediocrity and lack of variety in the offer of
entertainment programmes, audiences continue to
………………………
g) The room was filled with the cloying stench of unwatered roses
left to ………………….. in a forgotten room.
h) If the berries are not picked exactly as they reach maturity, they
will ……………………….. on the vine.
i) Religion is bound to …………………………… as modernity
advances.
j) Your skin, especially the tips of your fingers, ………………………..
when you stay too long in a bathtub.
k) As jobs begin to …………………………., young people flock to big

cities.
l) Many Russian writers were said to ………………………. from
nostalgia when they were in exile.
m) Unfortunately, it is a very delicate plant. The edges of the leaves
bruise easily and turn brown, and too much sun causes them to
……………………… in a pathetic way.
n) Due to the alarming crisis, school officials are trying hard to
……………………….. their budgets.
o) Her funds are already ………………………... and she only gets
occasional short-term contracts.
p) Remember to avoid placing flower arrangements next to fresh

fruit, which emits ethylene gas as it ripens, causing flowers to

……………………….
 In the following sentences, identify the incorrect word and substitute the correct item.
Not all sentences contain an incorrect word:
a) His income as a house painter has soared due to the current real
estate slump.
b) Classes shrink dramatically from the first to the second year.
Students find their studies too difficult and decide to drop out.
c) Insufficient water makes plants boost.
d) The new director transformed the mining company into a very
successful venture just before the price of metals and other raw
materials began to boost.
e) There was a significant spike of activity at the Bioresearch
laboratory after the positive results of the first experiments were
confirmed.
f) Under these unfavourable economic conditions, exports might
wither and lead to food shortages.
g) Confronted with unprecedented levels of antagonism on the part
of local residents, the developers soon lost their enthusiasm and
their efforts shrank.
h) It is quite common for populations of animal species living
isolated on islands to wilt in response to limited food resources.
i) The developers’ plan is to renovate the theatre and convert part
of it into condominiums, but their opponents might stall their
plan on the grounds that rents will skyrocket.
j) The old writer’s brain was already dwindling from mental
weariness.
k) As unemployment continued to skyrocket, the government
unveiled a plan to help people with mortgage problems and to
soar real estate investment.
l) Desk computer sales withered dramatically as a result of the
increasing popularity of laptop computers.
 SENTENCE BUILDING: Combine the structures on the left with TWO of the lexical items
on the right so as to form grammatically correct, stylistically appropriate, and logically

meaningful sentences.

Start your sentence using • ayurveda

“had” • tandem
• loosen up
…………………………………………………………………………………...............
…………………………………………………………………………………………...
Start your sentence with • out of proportion

“however + adjective” • outbreak
• powered
…………………………………………………………………………………...............
…………………………………………………………………………………………...
LEARNER AUTONOMY: You have been practicing sentence building exercises in every unit.
One of the purposes of bringing a collection of structures to your attention is for you to
develop an awareness of the importance of varying sentence type in your writing. Texts
which rely on the same repetitive structures can turn out to be monotonous and fail to
engage the reader’s interest. Draw up a list of structures from transformation and
sentence building activities and save for future use. When you have written the final
draft of your next essay, examine it for variety of sentence structure and try to improve
it by resorting to your bank of structures.

Start with “unlike” • forefront

• demonization
• fearmongers
…………………………………………………………………………………...............
…………………………………………………………………………………………...
Start with “not until” • fervour

• to address
• environmentalists
…………………………………………………………………………………...............
…………………………………………………………………………………………...
References
Bishumba, N. (2016). When a man cries in public. The New Times. January 22. Retrieved July 2nd, 2019, from:
https://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/196316
Carmichael, M. Who Says Stress is Bad for You?Newsweek Magazine, February 23, 2009. Retrieved July 2nd, 2019, from:
https://www.newsweek.com/health-why-stress-may-be-good-you-82765
Conan, N. (Host). (2008, August 14). Fears and Phobias [Radio programme]. In Talk of the Nation. NPR. Washington.
Retrieved July 3rd, 2019, from https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=93597390
---. (2007, October 30). The Science Behind Dreams and Nightmares [Radio programme]. In Talk of the Nation. NPR.
Washington. Retrieved July 2nd, 2019, from https://www.npr.org /templates/transcript /transcript.php?
storyId=15778923
Furedi, F. The Only Thing we have to Fear is the ‘Culture of Fear’ Itself. Spiked. Posted April 4, 2007, from
https://www.spiked-online.com/2007/04/04/the-only-thing-we-have-to-fear-is-the-culture-of-fear-itself/
---. What Swine Flu Reveals about the Culture of Fear. Spiked. Posted May 5, 2009. Retrieved July 1st, 2019, from
https://www.spiked-online.com/2009/05/05/what-swine-flu-reveals-about-the-culture-of-fear/
How to Deal with Chronic Fear and Anxiety. University of Minnesota. Taking Charge of your health and Wellbeing.
Retrieved June 29, 2019, from: https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/how-deal-chronic-fear-and-anxiety
McGonigal, K. (June 2013). How to make stress your friend [TED talk video file]. Retrieved July 3rd, 2019, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVTAoXEU
Nerenberg, R. Daydreaming: What is it, Why Do we Do it, Can it be Dangerous? Cognifit Health, Brain and Neuroscience.
Posted Feb. 1, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://blog.cognifit.com/daydreaming/
Newman, T. Dissecting Terror: How Does Fear Work? Medical News Today. Posted Oct. 31, 2018. Retrieved July 2nd, 2019,
from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323492.php
Ostermeyer. K. (2018). Pros and Cons of Alternative Medicine, Modern Medicine, and Traditional Medicine. Elite Learning.
Retrieved July 2nd, 2019, from https://www.elitecme.com/resource-center/nursing/pros-cons-of-alternative-
medicine-modern-medicine-traditional-medicine/

Pratt.K. (2014). Psychology Tools: What is Anger? A Secondary Emotion. HealthPsych. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from:
https://healthypsych.com/psychology-tools-what-is-anger-a-secondary-emotion/
Segal, J. and Smith, M. (2019).Anger Management. Tips and Techniques for Getting Anger Under Control. HelpGuide.
Retrieved July 2nd, 2019, from: https://www.helpguide.org/articles /relationships-communication/anger-
management.htm.
Seltzer, L. (2008). What Your Anger May Be Hiding. Reflections on the most seductive—and addictive—of human
emotions. Psychology Today. Retrieved July 1st, 2019, from: https://www.psychologytoday.com
/us/blog/evolution-the-self/200807/what-your-anger-may-be-hiding
Shyness. Psychology Today. Retrieved July 1st, 2019, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/shyness
Silver. V. Alternative Therapies. Pros and Cons. Holistic Mind Body Healing. Retrieved July 2nd, 2019, from https
//www.holistic-mindbody-healing.com/alternative-therapies.html
The Complexity of Fear: Are we Experiencing Anx iety, or is it Fear? Psychology Today. Posted Dec. 15, 2011. Retrieved
June 30, 2019, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/intense-emotions-and-strong-
feelings/201112/the-complexity-fear
The Missing Piece: Emotional Literacy in Education. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from
https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/emotional-literacy-in-education/
The Psychology of Dreams. Posted Jan 6, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://owlcation.com/social-
sciences/Dreaming-Minds
Therapeutic Benefits of Laughter.(n.d.). [Electronic version] Retrieved December 21, 2010 from
http://www.holisticonline.com/Humor_Therapy/humor_therapy_benefits.htm
Thomas, J. Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternative Medicine. Health Breakthroughs. Retrieved July 1st, 2019, from
http://healthbreakthroughs.org/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-alternative-medicine/
Vickers, A., Zollman, C., and Lee, R. (2001). Herbal Medicine. West J Med. 175(2): 125–128.Retrieved July 1st, 2019, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071505/
Vine. B. Social Anxiety in the Digital Age. Psychology Today. Posted Feb. 13, 2019. Retrived July 2nd, 2019, from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-guest-room/201902/social-anxiety-in-the-digital-age The Human Mind and the Body

PICTURE-BASED EXERCISES
AND REQUIRED READING TEXTS
[COMPLEMENTARY TO THE HUMAN MIND AND THE BODY:
WEAVING THE TAPESTRY]
THE COMPLEXITY OF FEAR: ARE YOU EXPERIENCING ANXIETY, OR IS IT FEAR?
As you are walking home alone, late at night, you hear the soft, crackling sound of
someone or something stepping on dry leaves nearby. Your heart begins to race as you imagine
who or what lurks in the shadows. Are you experiencing fear or anxiety? The differences
between these emotions can be confusing. Even in the psychology literature you will frequently
find the concepts used interchangeably. Fears of the unknown, a fear of death, contamination
fear, a fear of flying, catastrophic fear, a fear of success, and a fear of failure are all commonly
noted as a "fear" yet they are actually experienced as the emotion of anxiety. Similarly, phobias
are considered to be an anxiety disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), even though
we think of a phobia in terms of something that is feared, be it insects, enclosed spaces, heights,
or contamination. Yet fear and anxiety are important to differentiate, to the extent that one can
do so. These emotions can transform into behaviors that may lead you to avoid situations or into
defense mechanisms that may obscure the recognition of reality, and consequently they have
been understood as keys to the dynamics of emotional illness (Ohman, 2010).
Fear is generally considered a reaction to something immediate that threatens your
security or safety, such as being startled by someone suddenly jumping out at you from behind a
bush. The emotion of fear is felt as a sense of dread, alerting you to the possibility that your
physical self might be harmed, which in turn motivates you to protect yourself. Thus, the notion
of "fight or flight" is considered a fear response and describes the behavior of various animals
when they are threatened--either hanging around and fighting, or taking off in order to escape
danger. Yet it has also been recognized that animals and people have other responses to a threat:
a person or animal might play dead or just "freeze" in response to being threatened; yell or
scream as a fighting response rather than get physical; or, isolate as a flight response. As a result,
some researchers suggest an expanded version of the fight-or-flight response, namely, "freeze,
flight, fight, or fright" (Bracha, Ralston, Matsunaga, Williams, & Bracha, 2004). Others have
suggested that "tend-and-befriend" responses should also be considered, such as turning to

others for help or social support, or making a situation less tense, dangerous, or uncomfortable
in some way (Taylor, Klein, Lewis, Gruenewald, Gurung, & Updegraff, 2000).
In contrast to fear, anxiety is a general state of distress that is longer lasting than fear and
usually is triggered by something that is not specific, even though it produces physiological
arousal, such as nervousness and apprehension (Lang et al., 2000). Yet both fear and anxiety
emotions are triggered in response to threat. Some researchers distinguish between fear and
anxiety by determining whether or not avoidance behaviors are present (Sylvers et al., 2011), or
if the intended outcome has to do with avoidance or escape (Lang, et al., 2000). Thus, the
presence of avoidance behaviors would indicate fear, in contrast to anxiety where a person may
be very much on the alert but does not avoid the situation. However, this can be confusing since
in certain anxiety disorders, particularly in phobias, the focus is specific and avoidance
behaviors are present. Perhaps better clarifying the difference is the notion that where anxiety is

foreboding and puts you on alert to a future threat, fear immediately leads to an urge to defend
yourself with escape from an impending disaster (Ohman, 2010).
There are times when a past fear might re-emerge, even though the present situation
does not truly warrant the need to be afraid. Such is the case of post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), where the consequence of a prior situation where you actually were in danger
is re-lived in the present when those emotional memories are triggered. Although you may
intellectually know that you are safe, your brain automatically prepares you for the worst to
happen--a situation that it recognizes has happened before--which speaks to the power of
emotional memory. A post-traumatic response can be triggered by a situation that is similar to a
past trauma, the date in which a trauma occurred, a particular thought, or by a relationship that
brings up an issue that is similar to a trauma that you have previously experienced. In a simple
example, people who have been rear-ended in a motor vehicle accident frequently describe that,
for many weeks or months, they fear being rear-ended again and, as a result, find themselves
vigilantly peering into their rear view mirror in anticipation of an impact occurring. But here we
are once again faced with confusion between fear and anxiety. Although a post-traumatic
response may have to do with a situation in which fear was the primary emotion involved, PTSD
is listed as an anxiety disorder by the American Psychiatric Association (2000). The danger is
not an actual one in PTSD, but it is anticipated or expected based on a prior experience. So where
the original trauma triggered fear, post-traumatic stress may trigger anxiety that anticipates
fear.
From an evolutionary perspective, the emotion of fear protected humans from predators
and other threats to the survival of the species. So it is no wonder that certain dangers evoke
that emotion, since fear helps protect you and is therefore adaptive, functional, and necessary.
However, there is another important aspect of emotions to consider that, in the case of fear, may
be important to decision-making as well as survival. That is, when an emotion is triggered it has
an impact on our judgments and choices in situations (Lerner and Keltner, 2001). In a study
of risk taking, participants who were fearful consistently made judgments and choices that were
relatively pessimistic and amplified their perception of risk in a given situation, in contrast to
happy or angry participants who were more likely to disregard risk by making
relatively optimistic judgments and choices (Lerner and Keltner, 2001). Similarly, individuals
who are trait fearful--those who tend to have personality characteristics that are dominated by
the emotion of fear--will avoid taking risks that are generally perceived by others as relatively
benign (Sylvers, et al., 2011). Thus, awareness of your emotions and considering how they might
influence your decision-making in a given situation is important in your approach to life, your
work, and your goals. Certainly, such is the case of fear in all of its complexity.
References
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Revised),
4th ed. Washington, DC: Author.
Bracha, H., Ralston, T. C., Matsukawa, J. M., Matsunaga, S., Williams, A. E., & Bracha, A. S. (2004). Does "fight
or flight" need updating? Psychosomatics, 45, 448-449.
Lang, P., Davis, M., & Ohman, A. (2000). Fear and anxiety: animal models and
human cognitive psychophysiology. Journal of Affective Disorders, 61, 137-159.
Lerner, J. & Keltner, D. (2001). Fear, anger, and risk. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2001.
81:1, 146-159.
Öhman, A. (2010). Fear and anxiety: Overlaps and dissociations. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L.
Feldman Barrett (Eds.). Handbook of emotions. (pp.709-729). New York: The Guilford Press.
Sylvers, P. Lilienfeld, S., & LaPrairie, J. (2011). Differences between trait fear and trait anxiety: Implications
for psychopathology. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 122-137.
Taylor, S. E., Klein, L. C., Lewis, B. P., Gruenewald, T. L.,Gurung, R. A., & Updegraff, J. A. (2000).
Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychological
Review, 107, 411-429.
Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/intense-emotions-and-strong-feelings/201112/the-
complexity-fear

WHAT SWINE FLU REVEALS ABOUT THE CULTURE OF FEAR
5 MAY 2009
When Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organisation, raised the pandemic threat
alert from four to five in response to the swine flu outbreak, she had no qualms about
using the language of fear. ‘All of humanity is under threat’, she declared.
When, in the future, historians look back on this performance of fear, and on the swine
flu panic more broadly, they will surely ask themselves: was Chan speaking as a public health
official or as a moral entrepreneur? It is striking that Chan, like most fear entrepreneurs, does
not perceive her behaviour as being in any way illegitimate or unduly alarmist. Indeed, she, like
other fearmongers, qualified her warning with a reassuring statement: ‘Don’t panic.’
This combination of fear-promotion with the rhetoric of reassurance is a key aspect of
the modern-day narrative of fear. Consider Chan’s warning that WHO is likely to raise its flu alert
to the top of its six-point scale and declare a pandemic. This time she did not talk about the
threat to ‘all of humanity’ and the danger of human extinction. ‘Level six does not mean, in any
way, that we are facing the end of the world’, she said, before noting that ‘it is important to make
this clear because [otherwise], when we announce level six, it will cause unnecessary panic’.
So Chan raised the spectre of human extinction with the elevation of the threat level from
four to five, but when it came to the possibility of raising it to level six she appeared to take a
more relaxed attitude towards the potential for global catastrophe. Of course, her very attempt
to sound reassuring was framed in the sort of rhetoric that is likely to have the opposite effect.
Informing the public that ‘we are not facing the end of the world’ implies that we might face it
some time soon, and indicates that apocalyptic thinking is no longer confined to the world of
religion. Chan’s secular version of apocalyptic thinking is powered by a contemporary cultural
script that both exaggerates health threats and also links these threats with human malevolence
more broadly. From this perspective, every virus, every disease, every new outbreak of flu, is
potentially a weapon in the armoury of Evil.
The protagonists in today’s market of fear have forcefully sought to demonise flu as a
threat to the world, as something that might even be turned into a weapon of mass destruction.
The prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology now advertises a course on ‘Pandemics
and Bioterrorism’. It claims that ‘swine flu is only the most recent of the challenges posed by
threats of bioterrorism and global pandemics’. The casual manner in which the threat of
bioterrorism is introduced into the discussion of swine flu, by one of the most respected
scientific institutions in the world, provides disturbing evidence that fearmongering has become
a respectable pastime and pursuit.
Today, fear entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes. Some are moral crusaders who
genuinely believe that the very fabric of society is threatened by evil forces. At the other end of
the spectrum are the salespeople and hustlers of the market of fear. It is useful to distinguish
between the different species of scaremonger, so here is your ‘Guide To Spotting The Different
Actors In The Dramatisation Of Fear’.
Religious moral entrepreneurs

Historically, religion has often warned about the dangers of moral transgression.
Although the influence of religion has waned in recent years, prophets of doom who foresee an
apocalypse still play an important role in society. Religious moral entrepreneurs have been in
the forefront of promoting scares about satanic ritual abuse and other wicked behaviour that
challenges the sanctity of family life. However, although religious moral entrepreneurs exercise
significant influence on specific issues, they are no longer a dominant force in society. They are
merely one group of moral entrepreneurs that is in constant competition with various other fear
marketeers.

Religious moral entrepreneurs are convinced that human misfortune ultimately springs
from the activities of Satan. In the age of the internet, they often appear as digital, wired-up
Jeremiahs warning that God will punish sinners for their errant ways. Some have argued that
AIDS is God’s way of punishing immoral sexual behaviour. Big catastrophes such as 9/11 and
Hurricane Katrina have been portrayed as retribution for degenerate, sinful behaviour. One
Christian columnist described Katrina as ‘the fist of God’.
Unlike other types of scaremongers, religious moral entrepreneurs explicitly talk up the
moral corruption of society. They have also willingly embraced current anxieties about the
future of our planet. They have quite effortlessly reworked the language of environmentalism to
make it fit with their views on apocalypse, Armageddon and ‘End Times’. Only in their vision, the
triad of sin, evil and Satan replaces economic growth and carbon emissions as the main cause of
the environmental problem.
Their favourite word: Sin.
Secular moral entrepreneurs

For some time, concern about moral corruption has taken an increasingly secular form,
sometimes leaving the religious moral entrepreneurs behind. Many high-profile advocacy
organisations have devoted themselves to warning the public about a variety of perilous events.
In some areas – for example, child protection – advocacy groups have successfully, and
fundamentally, changed the way that generations interact and the way children conduct their
lives. Organisations such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
(NSPCC) continually use alarmist messages about the scale of child abuse in order to raise funds
and influence public opinion.
Unlike religious moral entrepreneurs, advocacy groups use ‘surveys’ and ‘research’,
rather than the language of good and evil, to claim that a particular problem is getting worse and
that, unless Something Is Done, it will engulf the whole of society. Secular moral entrepreneurs
embrace their causes with the dogmatic fervour of the old-time religious crusaders – only theirs
is a crusade that has no end. Advocacy groups promoting the cause of children or animals or the
homeless can never bring themselves to concede that the situation of these groups is improving;
on the contrary, they invariably claim that the problem is getting worse and worse, because that
is what guarantees their hold on the public imagination.
Secular moral entrepreneurs continually seek out new opportunities to promote their
cause, in a process described by sociologists as ‘domain expansion’: that is, expanding a widely
recognised problem to encompass new issues. For example, widespread public concern about
child abuse has encouraged secular moral entrepreneurs to use the language of abuse in relation
to other issues, too: some now campaign to prevent ‘elder abuse’, ‘animal abuse’ and what they
call ‘peer-to-peer abuse’. It is now even argued that people who are cruel to animals are likely to
be cruel to their family members as well – in other words, one form of abuse begets another.
With relentless repetition, and the support of the media, this imaginative linking together of
disparate problems can become a kind of conventional wisdom. Secular moral entrepreneurs
frequently flag up the gravity of a certain threat by using metaphors of invisibility: problems are
hidden, concealed, unacknowledged.
Their favourite phrase: ‘This is only the tip of the iceberg.’
Experts
Experts, particularly scientific experts, play a uniquely important role in today’s culture
of fear. Many of our anxieties are provoked by the statements and predictions of experts. Experts
warn about the potential devastating impact of global warming, impending food and energy
shortages, or of an asteroid striking Earth. They warn us of dangers far (or near) in the future
that cannot be seen by ordinary human beings. And their dire predictions about an impending
flu epidemic and various other ‘super bugs’ frequently capture the public’s imagination.
Expert warnings usually begin with the statement ‘research shows…’, and conclude with

a demand for resources to be devoted to the task of preventing some future dreadful scenario
from becoming a reality. Expert warnings are taken seriously because they are underpinned by
the most influential form of twenty-first century authority: the authority of science.
Consequently, the support of experts is continually sought out by other scaremongers – both
religious and secular – who want to add some moral authority to their campaigns.
In recent decades, the status of experts has increased exponentially. Experts claim to
have insights that ordinary people could never possess. Their views are looked upon as far more
important and profound than the public’s. Expert opinion is more than just an opinion: the
statement ‘an expert warns…’ now gives great force and influence to a campaigner’s claims.
Expert witnesses are, in many ways, the new demonologists: numerous children have been
taken away from their parents after expert witnesses claimed to have detected physical signs of
abuse. Fortunately, in some cases children have been returned to parents once the courts
realised that the expert’s opinion was just that: the opinion of yet another scaremonger. Yet
although experts often contradict one another, society finds it difficult to ignore what they have
to say.
Their favourite phrase: ‘Research shows…’
Health activists
Health activists often claim to be experts. Under the cover of the authority of science,
they continually raise concerns about the public’s physical and emotional wellbeing. They
constitute a distinct group of fear entrepreneurs, whose focus is people’s health. They promote
messages that prey on people’s existential fears. In recent decades, they have combined their
fearmongering with the demand that people adopt a ‘healthy lifestyle’. Indeed, health activists
self-consciously use scare tactics – what they call ‘fear appeals’ – to achieve their objectives.
They preach the message that people’s lives are becoming more and more unhealthy, and
thus we need to be ever more vigilant in order to avoid becoming diseased. Health activists
target every area of our lives – the food we eat, our emotional lives and sex lives, our
relationships – with scare stories. Probably of all the scaremongers, health activists have the
most direct and immediate impact on how people think and behave.
And they have been extraordinarily successful in ‘diseasing’ everyday life. Bit by bit, they
have expanded the meaning of health; they frequently use the term ‘wellness’: we now have ‘well
men’s clinics’ and ‘well women’s clinics’. The premise is that being well is not a natural or
normal state – instead it is something people need to work on, something to aspire to and
achieve with the help of experts and gurus. Health activists insist that, unless you follow their
prescribed patterns of behaviour, your risk of becoming ill will increase.
Their favourite expression: ‘A risk to your health.’
Environmentalists
Environmentalism is accorded an enormous amount of respect and authority today; the
predictions and warnings of green groups are taken very seriously indeed. Environmentalists
are in the forefront of contemporary doom-mongering. Environmentalists influence and shape
the language of twenty-first-century fear more than any other group in this list.
Their message is straightforward and devastatingly simple: unless we alter the way we
live, the planet will be destroyed. If anything, environmentalists have an apocalyptic vision of the
future that is even more alarming than that possessed by religious moral entrepreneurs. Unlike
the religious model of the Day of Reckoning, where at least some will be saved,
environmentalists offer an apocalypse without redemption.
Their pessimistic visions exercise a fundamentally important influence on Western
culture and behaviour today. Environmentalism provides a motif for moral regulation. It not
only resembles religion in its proclivity for talking up the coming apocalypse – it also shares
religion’s intolerance of heresy. Those who fail to accept its wisdom are denounced as ‘climate
change deniers’ and accused of being driven by a malevolent hidden agenda. Anyone who

refuses to accept the need to alter their behaviour and ‘go green’ is depicted as greedy and
irresponsible. The growth of survivalism and green lifestyles in general is testament to the
influence of this group of alarmists.
Environmentalists have made a major contribution to the general language of
fearmongering. They don’t just have one or two favourite words to incite fear amongst the
public; they have a virtual dictionary of scaremongering. ‘Extinction’, ‘ecological catastrophe’,
‘pollution’, ‘depletion’: these are just some of the terms that are now familiar even to pre-school
children.
Their favourite words: There are too many to mention, but they particularly enjoy using the
word ‘toxic’ to describe anything they don’t like.
Relationship professionals
The arena of human relationships has become an important site for promoting fear and
anxiety. Our relationships have been transformed into a territory that is fraught with danger,
and a veritable army of relationship professionals – therapists, counsellors, life coaches,
parenting gurus – continually warn us about the perils we face in our private lives.
Relationship professionals tend to frighten people about their connection with members
of their community, their neighbours, their lovers or their family members. It is striking that in
the twenty-first century, many of the most high-profile, dreaded crimes are associated with
inter-personal relationships. Rape, date rape, child abuse, elder abuse, bullying and stalking
(both online and offline): these crimes remind us to beware those who are closest to us.
Privacy was once looked upon as a haven in a heartless world. These days, intimacy and
family life are often presented as sites of violence, danger and emotional trauma. Warnings
about ‘toxic relationships’ and ‘toxic families’ (the T-word is borrowed from environmentalists)
promote a sense of fear that is as intense as the fear of terrorism or planetary destruction. Their
effect is to distance us from other people. Health warnings about relationships can have a
devastating impact on the quality of our personal lives.
Relationship professionals continually remind us not to trust ourselves or those closest
to us. They have even tried to turn the desire for affection and love into a form of addiction,
coining the term ‘love sickness’ and warning that the intensity of love can be damaging to
people’s wellbeing. Books with titles such as Women Who Love Too Much seek to distance people
from one another. The idea is that relationships are far too dangerous to be left to amateurs –
they need to be negotiated with the help of professionals.
Their favourite diagnosis: ‘You have self-esteem issues.’
Law-and-order moral entrepreneurs

Anxieties about crime and terrorism are widespread in Western societies. Alarmist
warnings about personal and community security are regularly made by the media and figures
of authority. There are also various advocacy groups that are devoted to raising concern about
threats to law and order, such as illegal immigration, paedophilia, rape or gun crime.
Historically, governments and officials have been in the forefront of this kind of
scaremongering. Many governments sought to gain the public’s acquiescence by claiming to
provide security from various threats, practising what is today called the ‘politics of fear’. Now,
raising concerns about law and order is no longer confined to politicians. There are numerous
campaigning groups that raise the alarm about issues such as school violence, gun crime,
terrorism, immigration, ‘epidemics’ of homophobia, hate crimes. Indeed, law-and-order
scaremongers constantly compete with each other, trying to out-scare other fearmongering
camps in their attempt to win public support.
Like others in this list, law-and-order scaremongers are always looking for new
opportunities, even inventing new crimes. For example, they have systematically recycled offline
crimes into online crimes: the construction of ‘cyber-crime’ – such as internet bullying, internet
paedophilia, identity theft, fraud, and general internet abuse – is testimony to this group’s

success in criminalising the virtual world as well as the real one.
Their favourite incantation: ‘There is an epidemic of crime.’
Fear-market entrepreneurs (Health and pharmaceutical industry)

Entrepreneurs regularly harness the prevailing culture of fear in order to promote their
businesses and sell their products. They habitually warn that we face all sorts of dangers to our
health, security and wellbeing. In some cases, hazards are fabricated – for example, the idea that
tap water is unsafe – leading to a transformation in how people live and behave.
The health and pharmaceutical industry – one of the most profitable sectors of the
economy – has been well-served by today’s neverending panics. Food scares have significantly
influenced our eating habits. Concerns about global warming have given rise to a new cadre of
green entrepreneurs who argue that, unless the entire economy is reorganised around green
issues, we will all be doomed. One of the consequences of this flourishing fear market is the
growth of competitive claims about what we should be most scared about today.
Fear entrepreneurs are very inventive when it comes to turning minor problems into
threats, for which they can helpfully provide a treatment or a product. For example, they can
turn a normal personal problem like shyness into a disease, relabelling it ‘social phobia’, warning
about its dangerous consequences, and then selling you a drug that can treat it. Worried parents
are one of the favourite targets of fear entrepreneurs: they frequently warn parents that unless
they purchase one of their safety products, they will bear some of the responsibility for harms
that afflict their children.
Their favourite claim: ‘Your safety is our main concern.’
We should note that, although these eight groups are conceptually distinct from one
another, their activities and interests often overlap. Health activists are sometimes associated
with fear entrepreneurs who sell various products on the market; religious moral entrepreneurs
have formed alliances with both environmentalists or therapists working as ‘relationship
professionals’. Indeed, despite their diverse interests, the work of these different groups tends to
reinforce scaremongering as a whole, as they all contribute to the construction of a climate
where promoting fear and anxiety comes to be seen as a legitimate pursuit. And as the
performance of fear around the current drama titled ‘Swine Flu Pandemic’ shows, all of these
groups are competing for a role in today’s dramatisation of doom.
Source: http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/6633#.WaySOXMX10w
Frank Furedi is author of Politics of Fear: Beyond Left and Right, published by Continuum (buy this book
from Amazon(UK)). Visit his website here. This essay is based on a talk delivered at the NY Salon debate,
‘Living in a state of fear’ at the New School on 20 March 2007.
Previously on spiked
Frank Furedi argued that fear has become a powerful force that dominates the public imagination, and
that politics has become a contest of doom-mongering. After 9/11, Dr Michael Fitzpatrick reported on
how the culture of fear spread to his health centre in east London. Rob Lyons called bird flu an infectious
panic. For a measured approach to the latest scare stories, read our Don’t Panic column. Or read more
at: spiked issue Risk.
PSYCHOLOGY TOOLS: WHAT IS ANGER? A SECONDARY EMOTION
Kim Pratt, LCSW

Photo Credit: Denis Dervisevic

This post explains how anger is a secondary emotion. By understanding the roots of anger – that
is, the primary emotions fueling it – people can more effectively address its underlying causes.
This is an important first step in addressing anger management problems.
What is Anger?
Everybody feels anger at different times, to varying degrees. It’s simply part of the
human experience. Feelings of anger can arise in many different contexts. Experiencing unjust
treatment; hearing a criticism; or simply not getting what you want are but a few of the potential
triggers. The experience of anger can range from mild irritation, to frustration, all the way up to
seething rage. As a matter of fact, even boredom is a mild version of anger in the form of
dissatisfaction with what is happening. While feeling anger is a natural part of being human, it’s
helpful to think about skillful ways to work with it that result in healthy living, rather than
feelings of regret about what you said or did. Why is anger good sometimes? Without feelings of
anger, we wouldn’t take a stand against unfairness or injustice. Anger is an internal alarm that
tells us something is not quite right. Unfortunately, however, far too often, the anger humans feel
is being triggered by far less consequential factors than serious wrongdoing.
Anger is a Secondary Emotion

What many people don’t realize is that anger is a secondary emotion. What does this
mean? Typically, one of the primary emotions, like fear or sadness, can be found underneath the
anger. Fear includes things like anxiety and worry, and sadness comes from the experience of
loss, disappointment or discouragement.
Feeling fear and sadness is quite
uncomfortable for most people; it makes you
feel vulnerable and oftentimes not in control.
Because of this, people tend to avoid these
feelings in any way they can. One way to do
this is by subconsciously shifting into anger
mode. In contrast to fear and sadness, anger
can provide a surge of energy and make you
feel more in charge, rather than feeling
vulnerable or helpless. Essentially, anger can
be a means of creating a sense of control and
power in the face of vulnerability and uncertainty.
Let’s look at a few examples. When anger arises between couples sometimes there’s a
fear of abandonment underneath. In these instances, it’s a combination of fear and anticipatory
loss that can fuel the anger. Uncertainty – when you lack ample information and things feel
amorphous – can also trigger anger. Why? Because uncertainty touches upon the “unknown,”
which tends to be scary for most people. Even boredom can generate anger or irritation because
there can be a subtle sense of loss or fear associated with the experience of not engaging in
something stimulating or productive. While having some “sense of control” is correlated with
greater emotional wellbeing, excessive desire for control only leads to suffering, as it’s
impossible to always be in control, especially of other people’s behavior.
How to Work with Anger

So, next time you’re feeling anger – whether mild or strong – pause for a moment to
check in with yourself and see if you can identify the primary emotion driving the anger. If it’s
hard to notice anything but the anger, start by exploring your thoughts, as those fuel all
emotions. Keep in mind that the shift from a primary emotion like fear or sadness into anger
mode is typically quite fast and unconscious. Feeling anger may be an ingrained habit for you,
which means that it can take more time to identify the deeper thoughts and feelings that lie
underneath.
By working with the fear, sadness, or both, you will develop more skillful ways of relating
to your anger. For example, you may find that you have some unresolved grief. Or, you may

notice that you feel scared about a certain outcome. That’s good data for you to work with, as it
involves addressing a deeper need than the anger.
By identifying the primary emotion, you can more easily determine the best course of
action to resolve your problem. For example, you can figure out whether another’s actions are
truly unjust or simply a blow to your ego. Standing up for injustice, like protecting yourself or
another from being taken advantage of or harmed, is rational. But, choosing to argue with
somebody over something trivial is more about ego. Putting attention on the latter is a waste of
energy that could be spent more wisely.
In summary, working with the underlying primary emotions is a way of decreasing
habitual anger, cultivating more inner peace, and facilitating thoughtful action.
Source: Pratt.K. (2014). Psychology Tools: What is Anger? A Secondary Emotion. HealthPsych.
Available at: https://healthypsych.com/psychology-tools-what-is-anger-a-secondary-emotion/
WHAT YOUR ANGER MAY BE HIDING. REFLECTIONS ON THE MOST SEDUCTIVE –

AND ADDICTIVE – OF HUMAN EMOTIONS
Posted Jul 11, 2008
If Anger Helps You Feel in Control, No

Wonder You Can't Control Your Anger!
The heading above (which, half-

seriously, I've contemplated submitting to
various quotation dictionaries) aptly sums
up my professional experience working
with this so very problematic emotion. In
the past 20+ years I've taught well over a
hundred classes and workshops on anger management and delivered many professional
presentations on the subject.
When I first became interested in exploring this typically destructive emotion, the
clinical literature devoted to it was curiously scant. But times have changed dramatically since
then. With the increasing occurrence of such phenomena as road rage, drive-by shootings, high
school and post office killing sprees—in short, with the prevalence of violence in America
today—the attention given to acting-out, out-of-control anger may never have been greater.
Probably no fewer than 50 books on anger geared toward the layperson have emerged in the
past 15 years or so. And in 1995 a much overdue professionally-oriented book, entitled Anger
Disorders: Definition, Diagnosis, and Treatment (ed. Howard Kassinove), finally proposed a
comprehensive set of diagnostic categories to deal with anger as itself a clinical syndrome—
rather than an emotion linked to other mental disorders.
As a psychologist, however, what I've learned about anger has come as much from my efforts as
a therapist to better understand its dynamics in my clients as from examining the various
writings focused on it. In what follows, I'll try to highlight some of the insights I've gained from
trying to make coherent sense of the self-defeating behaviors I've seen in scores of challenging
cases.
Anger as Freud's Forgotten Defense

If to Freud all defense mechanisms exist to protect the personality from an intolerable
attack of anxiety when the ego is under siege, it's strange that he never considered anger as
serving this pivotal psychological function. But to regard an essential human emotion as mainly
designed to safeguard an individual from another, much more distressful emotion, is hardly a
line of reasoning. Freud might have been expected to follow. Still, in my own clinical experience,
anger is almost never a primary emotion in that even when anger seems like an instantaneous,
knee-jerk reaction to provocation, there's always some other feeling that gave rise to it. And
this particular feeling is precisely what the anger has contrived to camouflage or control.
The simplest example of my admittedly unorthodox relegation of anger to secondary,
"reactive" status might relate to the universally frustrating situation of being cut off while
driving. Virtually everyone I've ever asked has responded emphatically that their immediate
reaction to such an event is anger. But when I further inquire as to what being "cut off" typically
involves—namely, the very real threat of an accident—they realize that in the fraction of a
second before acting successfully to avert a collision, their emotion must certainly have been one
of apprehension or fear. Cycling from the heightened arousal level of fear to equally intense
anger happens with such breathtaking speed that almost no one can recollect that flash of
trepidation preceding the anger—or even rage. (And rage itself seems mostly a more potent, or
desperate, form of anger created to fend off an even more serious threat to one's ego or sense of
personal safety—whether that threat is mental, emotional, or physical.)
The internal dynamic depicted in this illustration is the same with a whole host of emotions that,
as soon as they begin to surface, can be effectively masked, squelched, or preempted through the
emergence of secondary anger. And just as other defenses hinder healthy psychological coping
(by hiding the underlying reality of anxiety that needs to be dealt with), so does anger belie the
fragility of the ego that must depend on it for shielding and support.
Anger as a Neurochemical Way of Self-Soothing

With very few exceptions, the angry people I've worked with have suffered from
significant self-image deficits. Many have been quite successful in their careers but far less so in
their relationships, where anger triggers abound. Regardless of their professional achievements,
however, almost all of them have been afflicted by an "I'm not good enough" program (and some
with an additional "I'm a fraud" script as well).
In Steven Stosny's excellent book Treating Attachment Abuse (1995), which delineates a
comprehensive model for therapeutically dealing with both physical and emotional violence in
close relationships, the author offers a chemical explanation of how anger—in the moment at
least—can act as a sort of "psychological salve." One of the hormones the brain secretes during
anger arousal is norepinephrine, experienced by the organism as an analgesic.
In effect, whether individuals are confronted with physical or psychological pain (or
the threat of such pain), the internal activation of the anger response will precipitate the release
of a chemical expressly designed to numb it. This is why I've long viewed anger as a double-
edged sword: terribly detrimental to relationships but nonetheless crucial in enabling many
vulnerable people to emotionally survive in them.
As Stosny describes it, symptomatic anger covers up the pain of our "core hurts." These
key distressful emotions include feeling ignored, unimportant, accused, guilty, untrustworthy,
devalued, rejected, powerless, unlovable—or even unfit for human contact (cf. John Bradshaw's
"shame-based identity"). It is, therefore, only reasonable that if the self-elicitation of anger can
successfully fend off such hurtful or unbearable feelings, one might eventually become
dependent on the emotion to the point of addiction. The psychological concept of self-soothing is
unquestionably relevant here. For we all need to find ways of comforting or reassuring ourselves
when our self-esteem is endangered—whether through criticism, dismissal, or any other outside
stimuli that feels invalidating and so revives old self-doubts. If we're healthy psychologically,
then we have the internal resources to self-validate: to admit to ourselves possible inadequacies
without experiencing intolerable guilt or shame. But if, deep down, we still feel bad about who
we are, our deficient sense of self simply won't be able to withstand such external threats.

The remedy in this case? Paradoxical as it may seem, anger—even though it destroys any
true peace of mind or sense of well-being—can yet help us to soothe ourselves. For our anger
potently serves to invalidate whoever or whatever led us to feel invalidated. In adamantly
disconfirming the legitimacy of the menacing external force, we self-righteously proclaim the
superiority of our own viewpoint. Thus is our critical need for emotional/mental security
restored.
Although we're hardly left in a state of inner harmony—and may actually be
experiencing substantial turmoil—our defensive anger still permits us to achieve a certain
comfort. After all, we're not wrong, or bad, or selfish, or inconsiderate; it's our spouse, our child,
our neighbor, our coworker. Granted, this desperate reaction may be self-soothing of the last
resort, but it's a kind of self-soothing nonetheless. In short, if we can't comfort ourselves through
self-validation, we'll need to do so through invalidating others. And people who suffer from
chronic depression typically have not learned how to avail themselves of this potent, though
ultimately self-defeating, defense.
Anger as the Low Road to Self-Empowerment

If anger can help us self-medicate against all sorts of psychological pain, it is equally
effective in helping ward off exasperating feelings of powerlessness. And here again, Stosny's
hormonal account of anger arousal is suggestive. Not only does our brain secrete the analgesic-
like norepinephrine when we're provoked, but it also produces the amphetamine-like hormone
epinephrine, which enables us to experience a surge of energy throughout our body—the
adrenaline rush that many of my clients have reported feeling during a sudden attack of anger.
How ironically "adaptive"!—and seductive as well. A person or situation somehow
makes us feel defeated or powerless, and reactively transforming these helpless feelings into
anger instantly provides us with a heightened sense of control. As the title of this article
suggests, if anger can make us feel powerful, if it's the "magic elixir" that seemingly is able to
address our deepest doubts about ourselves, no wonder it can end up controlling us. In a sense,
it's every bit as much a drug as alcohol or cocaine. And it's my strong belief that many, many
millions of people worldwide are addicted to anger because of its illusorily empowering aspects.
Although almost nobody appreciates their proclivities toward anger as coping strategies
calculated to disarm, denigrate, or intimidate "the enemy," I'm convinced that anger is employed
universally to bolster a diminished sense of personal power. Contrary to feeling weak or out of
control, the experience of anger can foster a sense of invulnerability—even invincibility. The
movie Raging Bull, dramatizing the life of prizefighter Jake LaMotta, is possibly one of the most
compelling examples of how anger can physically fortify an individual, powerfully compensating
for various personal deficits (particularly in the realm of relationships).
Anger as a "Safe" Way to Attach in Intimate (Read, Vulnerable) Relationships
To conclude this piece, I'd like briefly to explore--also paradoxically--anger's function in

ensuring safety in close relationships by regulating distance. It's only logical that if a child's
caretakers proved distressingly unresponsive, unreliable or untrustworthy, the "adult child" is
likely to be gun-shy, or defensively cultivate a certain emotional detachment, in intimate
relationships. While such individuals may desperately yearn for the secure attachment bond that
eluded them in childhood, they will be wary of openly expressing such needs and desires. Doing
so to a partner who might respond negatively to them could reopen ancient wounds.
The primal fear of these individuals is that if they let their guard down and made
themselves truly vulnerable—freely revealing what their heart still aches for—a disapproving or
rejecting response from their mate might lead them, almost literally, to bleed to death. And so
(however ultimately self-defeating) the protective role of anger in non-disclosure and distancing
can feel not simply necessary but absolutely essential.
Repeatedly, I've heard spouses complain that when their relationship seemed to be going
better than usual, their partner—apparently beginning to experience some trepidation about

"getting too close for comfort"—would, with little or no provocation, pick a fight. Psychologically
wounded from parental insensitivity, disregard, or worse, their profound distrust of intimate
connections would compel them to disengage through self-protective anger.
Contrariwise, anger also has the effect of pushing the other person away, of
getting them to withdraw. In my anger classes, I've many times suggested that if you want a lot
of space in your life, just be a very angry person . . . and you'll get all the space you could ever
desire. After all, if there's really been no precedent in our life for relational intimacy, getting
really close to another—or having another get really close to us—can begin to feel hazardous to
our emotional equilibrium, thereby setting off a self-insulating reaction of anger.
Yet feeling too detached from our partner can also revivify old attachment wounds and
fears, so at times the dance changes and the distancer becomes the pursuer. The main point here
is that anger, however, unconsciously, can be employed in a variety of ways to regulate
vulnerability in committed relationships. Not only can it be used to disengage from the other
when the sought-after closeness starts to create anxiety, but it can also, ironically, be a tactic
for engaging the other—but at a safe distance. To corrupt Descartes, the assumption here might
be: "We fight, therefore we exist [as a couple]."
If our attachment bond with our original caretakers was tenuous or insecure, it's only
reasonable that one of the least perilous way to "attach" to another would be through distance-
moderating anger that helped control our sense of risk about such ties. Uncomfortable about
getting too close, yet apprehensive about a total break in our attachment, our being easily
provoked by our partner may become the only viable solution to our dilemma—however
dysfunctional and unsatisfying this solution might be.
To conclude, in devising an appropriate treatment for a client's anger problems, what
I've learned to ask myself is not simply, "What anger control skills does this person need to
learn?" but rather, "What is this person's anger enabling, protecting against, or symptomatic of?"
For if there is such a thing as a tip-of-the-iceberg emotion, surely it is anger—the feeling that can
conceal so very much below it—that best fits.
Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and the author of Paradoxical Strategies in Psychotherapy.
He holds doctorates in English and Psychology. His posts have received over 33 million views.
Source: Seltzer, L. (2008). What Your Anger May Be Hiding. Reflections on the most seductive—
and addictive—of human emotions. Psychology Today. Available at
https://www.psychologytoday.com /us/blog/evolution-the-self/200807/what-your-anger-
may-be-hiding
ANGER MANAGEMENT. TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR GETTING ANGER UNDER

CONTROL
Anger is a normal, healthy emotion. But it’s unhealthy when it flares up all the time or
spirals out of control. Chronic, explosive anger has serious consequences for your relationships,
your health, and your state of mind. The good news is that getting anger under control is easier
than you think. With insight about the real reasons for your anger and these anger management
tools, you can learn to keep your temper from hijacking your life.
Why is anger something you need to control but not crush?
The emotion of anger is neither good nor bad. Like any emotion, it’s conveying a
message, telling you that a situation is upsetting, or unjust, or threatening. If your kneejerk
reaction to anger is to explode, however, that message never has a chance to be conveyed. So,
while it’s perfectly normal to feel angry when you’ve been mistreated or wronged, anger
becomes a problem when you express it in a way that harms yourself or others.
If you have a hot temper, you may feel like it’s out of your hands and there’s little you can
do to tame the beast. But you have more control over your anger than you think. You can learn to
express your emotions without hurting others.

Myths and facts about anger

Myth: I shouldn’t “hold in” my anger. It’s healthy to vent and let it out.
Fact: While it’s true that suppressing and ignoring anger is unhealthy, venting is no better.
Anger is not something you have to “let out” in an aggressive way in order to avoid blowing
up.
In fact, outbursts and tirades only fuel the fire and reinforce your anger problem.
Myth: Anger, aggression, and intimidation help me earn respect and get what I want.
Fact: Respect doesn’t come from bullying others. People may be afraid of you, but they won’t
respect
you if you can’t control yourself or handle opposing viewpoints. Others will be more willing to
listen
to you and accommodate your needs if you communicate in a respectful way.
Myth: I can’t help myself. Anger isn’t something you can control.
Fact: You can’t always control the situation you’re in or how it makes you feel, but you can
control how
you express your anger. And you can communicate your feelings without being
verbally or physically abusive. Even if someone is pushing your buttons, you
always have a choice about how to respond.
How anger management can help you
You might think that venting your anger is healthy, that the people around you are too sensitive,
that your anger is justified, or that you need to show your fury to get respect. But the truth is
that anger is much more likely to damage your relationships, impair your judgment, get in the
way of success, and have a negative impact on the way people see you. That’s where anger
management comes in.
The goal of anger management

Many people think that anger management is about learning to suppress your anger. But never
getting angry is not a healthy goal. Anger is normal, and it will come out regardless of how hard
you try to tamp it down. The true goal of anger management isn’t to suppress feelings of anger,
but rather to understand the message behind the emotion and express it in a healthy way
without losing control. When you do, you’ll not only feel better, you’ll also be more likely to get
your needs met, be better able to manage conflict in your life, and strengthen your relationships.
Mastering the art of anger management takes work, but the more you practice, the easier it will
get. And the payoff is huge. Learning to control your anger and express it appropriately will help
you build better relationships, achieve your goals, and lead a healthier, more satisfying life.
The consequences of out-of-control anger
• Out-of-control anger hurts your physical health. Constantly operating at high levels
of stress and anger makes you more susceptible to heart disease, diabetes, a weakened
immune system, insomnia, and high blood pressure.
• Out-of-control anger hurts your mental health. Chronic anger consumes huge
amounts of mental energy, and clouds your thinking, making it harder to concentrate or
enjoy life. It can also lead to stress, depression, and other mental health problems.

• Out-of-control anger hurts your career. Constructive criticism, creative differences,

and heated debate can be healthy. But lashing out only alienates your colleagues,
supervisors, or clients and erodes their respect.
• Out-of-control anger hurts your relationships with others. It causes lasting scars in
the people you love most and gets in the way of friendships and work relationships.
Explosive anger makes it hard for others to trust you, speak honestly, or feel
comfortable—and is especially damaging to children.
Tip 1: Explore what’s really behind your anger
Anger problems often stem from what you’ve learned as a child. If you watched others in your
family scream, hit each other, or throw things, you might think this is how anger is supposed to
be expressed. Traumatic events and high levels of stress can make you more susceptible to anger
as well.
Anger is often a cover-up for other feelings
In order to express your anger in appropriate ways, you need to be in touch with what you are
really feeling. Is your anger masking other feelings such as embarrassment, insecurity, hurt,
shame, or vulnerability? If your knee-jerk response in many situations is anger, it’s likely that
your temper is covering up your true feelings. This is especially likely if you grew up in a family
where expressing feelings was strongly discouraged. As an adult, you may have a hard time
acknowledging feelings other than anger. Anger can also be a symptom of underlying health
problems, such as depression, trauma, or chronic stress.
Clues that there’s more to your anger than meets the eye
You have a hard time compromising. Is it hard for you to understand other people’s points of
view, and even harder to concede a point? If you grew up in a family where anger was out of
control, you may remember how the angry person got his or her way by being the loudest and
most demanding. Compromising might bring up scary feelings of failure and vulnerability.
You have trouble expressing emotions other than anger. Do you pride yourself on being
tough and in control? Do you feel that emotions like fear, guilt, or shame don’t apply to you?
Everyone has those emotions so you may be using anger as a cover for them.
You view different opinions as a personal challenge. Do you believe that your way is always
right and get angry when others disagree? If you have a strong need to be in control or a fragile
ego, you may interpret other perspectives as a challenge to your authority, rather than simply a
different way of looking at things.
Reconnect with your emotions to manage anger
If you are uncomfortable with different emotions, disconnected, or stuck on an angry one-note
response to situations, it’s important to get back in touch with your feelings.
HelpGuide’s free Emotional Intelligence Toolkit can help you recognize and manage the full
range of emotions, even the painful ones you may have been covering up with anger.
Tip 2: Be aware of your anger warning signs and triggers

While you might feel that you just explode into anger without warning, in fact, there are physical
warning signs in your body. Anger is a normal physical response. It fuels the “fight or flight”
system of the body, and the angrier you get, the more your body goes into overdrive. Becoming
aware of your own personal signs that your temper is starting to boil allows you to take steps to
manage your anger before it gets out of control.
Pay attention to the way anger feels in your body
• Knots in your stomach

• Clenching your hands or jaw
• Feeling clammy or flushed
• Breathing faster
• Headaches
• Pacing or needing to walk around

• “Seeing red”
• Having trouble concentrating
• Pounding heart
• Tensing your shoulders
Identify the negative thought patterns that trigger your temper
You may think that external factors—the insensitive actions of other people, for example, or
frustrating situations—are causing your anger. But anger problems have less to do with what
happens to you than how you interpret and think about what happened. Common negative
thinking patterns that trigger and fuel anger include:
• Overgeneralizing. For example, “You ALWAYS interrupt me. You NEVER consider my
needs. EVERYONE disrespects me. I NEVER get the credit I deserve.”
• Obsessing over “shoulds” and “musts.” Having a rigid view of the way a situation
should or must go and getting angry when reality doesn’t line up with this vision.
• Mind reading and jumping to conclusions. Assuming you “know” what someone else
is thinking or feeling—that he or she intentionally upset you, ignored your wishes, or
disrespected you.
• Collecting straws. Looking for things to get upset about, usually while overlooking or
blowing past anything positive. Letting these small irritations build and build until you
reach the “final straw” and explode, often over something relatively minor.
• Blaming. When anything bad happens or something goes wrong, it’s always someone
else’s fault. You blame others for your problems rather than taking responsibility for
your own life.
Avoid people, places, and situations that bring out your worst
Stressful events don’t excuse anger, but understanding how these events affect you can help you
take control of your environment and avoid unnecessary aggravation. Look at your regular
routine and try to identify activities, times of day, people, places, or situations that trigger
irritable or angry feelings. Maybe you get into a fight every time you go out for drinks with a
certain group of friends. Or maybe the traffic on your daily commute drives you crazy. Then
think about ways to avoid these triggers or view the situation differently so it doesn’t make your
blood boil.
Tip 3: Learn ways to cool down

Once you know how to recognize the warning signs that your temper is rising and anticipate
your triggers, you can act quickly to deal with your anger before it spins out of control. There are
many techniques that can help you cool down and keep your anger in check.
Quick tips for cooling down
Focus on the physical sensations of anger. While it may seem counterintuitive, tuning into the
way your body feels when you’re angry often lessens the emotional intensity of your anger.
Take some deep breaths. Deep, slow breathing helps counteract rising tension. The key is to
breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible into your lungs.
Exercise. A brisk walk around the block is a great idea. It releases pent-up energy so you can
approach the situation with a cooler head.
Use your senses. Take advantage of the relaxing power of your sense of sight, smell, hearing,
touch, and taste. You might try listening to music or picturing yourself in a favorite place.
Stretch or massage areas of tension. Roll your shoulders if you are tensing them, for example,
or gently massage your neck and scalp.
Slowly count to ten. Focus on the counting to let your rational mind catch up with your feelings.
If you still feel out of control by the time you reach ten, start counting again.
Give yourself a reality check
When you start getting upset about something, take a moment to think about the situation. Ask
yourself:
• How important is it in the grand scheme of things?

• Is it really worth getting angry about it?
• Is it worth ruining the rest of my day?
• Is my response appropriate to the situation?
• Is there anything I can do about it?
• Is taking action worth my time?
Tip 4: Find healthier ways to express your anger
If you’ve decided that the situation is worth getting angry about and there’s something you can
do to make it better, the key is to express your feelings in a healthy way. When communicated
respectfully and channeled effectively, anger can be a tremendous source of energy and
inspiration for change.
Pinpoint what you’re really angry about. Have you ever gotten into an argument over
something silly? Big fights often happen over something small, like a dish left out or being ten
minutes late. But there’s usually a bigger issue behind it. If you find your irritation and anger
rapidly rising, ask yourself, “What am I really angry about?” Identifying the real source of
frustration will help you communicate your anger better, take constructive action, and work
towards a resolution.
Take five if things get too heated. If your anger starts to spiral out of control, remove yourself
from the situation for a few minutes or for as long as it takes you to cool down. A brisk walk, a

trip to the gym, or a few minutes listening to some music should allow you to calm down, release
pent up emotion, and then approach the situation with a cooler head.
Always fight fair. It’s OK to be upset at someone, but if you don’t fight fair, the relationship will
quickly break down. Fighting fair allows you to express your own needs while still respecting
others.
Make the relationship your priority. Maintaining and strengthening the relationship, rather
than “winning” the argument, should always be your first priority. Respect the other person and
his or her viewpoint.
Focus on the present. Once you are in the heat of arguing, it’s easy to start throwing past
grievances into the mix. Rather than looking to the past and assigning blame, focus on what you
can do in the present to solve the problem.
Choose your battles. Conflicts can be draining, so it’s important to consider whether the issue is
really worth your time and energy. If you pick your battles rather than fighting over every little
thing, others will take you more seriously when you are upset.
Be willing to forgive. Resolving conflict is impossible if you’re unwilling or unable to forgive.

Resolution lies in releasing the urge to punish, which can never compensate for our losses and
only adds to our injury by further depleting and draining our lives.
Know when to let something go. If you can’t come to an agreement, agree to disagree. It takes
two people to keep an argument going. If a conflict is going nowhere, you can choose to
disengage and move on.
Developing your conflict resolution skills
The way you respond to differences and disagreements at home and at work can create hostility
and irreparable rifts, or it can build safety and trust. Learning how to resolve conflict in a
positive way will help you strengthen your relationships. See: Conflict Resolution Skills.
Tip 5: Know when to seek professional help
If your anger is still spiraling out of control, despite putting the previous anger management
techniques into practice, or if you’re getting into trouble with the law or hurting others, you need
more help. There are many therapists, classes, and programs for people with anger management
problems. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. You’ll often find others in the same shoes,
and getting direct feedback on techniques for controlling anger can be tremendously helpful.
Therapy for anger problems. Therapy can be a great way to explore the reasons behind your
anger. If you don’t know why you are getting angry, it’s very hard to control. Therapy provides a
safe environment to learn more about your reasons and identify triggers for your anger. It’s also
a safe place to practice new skills for expressing your anger.
Anger management classes or groups. Anger management classes or groups allow you to see
others coping with the same struggles. You will also learn tips and techniques for managing your
anger and hear other people’s stories. For domestic violence issues, traditional anger
management is usually not recommended. There are special classes that break down the control
issues that are at the heart of domestic violence.

Consider professional help for anger management if:
• You feel constantly frustrated and angry no matter what you try.
• Your temper causes problems at work or in your relationships.
• You avoid new events and people because you feel like you can’t control your temper.
• You have gotten in trouble with the law due to your anger.
• Your anger has ever led you to physical violence.
If your loved one has an anger management problem
If your loved one has an anger problem, you probably feel like you’re walking on eggshells all
the time. But always remember that you are not to blame for your loved one’s anger. There is
never an excuse for physically or verbally abusive behavior. You have a right to be treated with
respect and live without fear of an angry outburst or a violent rage.
Five tips for dealing with a loved one’s anger management problem
While you can’t control another person’s anger, you can control how you respond to it:
1. Set clear boundaries about what you will and will not tolerate.
2. Wait for a time when you are both calm to talk to your loved one about the anger
problem. Don’t bring it up when either of you is already angry.
3. Remove yourself from the situation if your loved one does not calm down.
4. Consider counseling or therapy if you are having a hard time standing up for yourself.
5. Put your safety first. If you feel unsafe or threatened in any way, get away from your
loved one.
Anger isn’t the real problem in abusive relationships
Despite what many believe, domestic violence and abuse does not happen due to the abuser’s
loss of control over his temper, but a deliberate choice to control you. If you are in an abusive
relationship, know that couples counseling is not recommended—and your partner needs
specialized treatment, not regular anger management classes.
Source: Segal, J. and Smith, M. (2019).Anger Management. Tips and Techniques for Getting Anger
Under Control. HelpGuide. Available at https://www.helpguide.org/articles /relationships-
communication/anger-management.htm.
EMOTIONAL LITERACY: PICURES FOR DISCUSSION

THE MISSING PIECE: EMOTIONAL LITERACY IN EDUCATION. THE FOUNDATION OF

PERFORMANCE: EMOTIONAL LITERACY AND INTELLIGENCE
Education in the United States and around the world focuses primarily on results. There
may be radically different approaches to the brass THE tacks of teaching children how to read, write,
and do arithmetic. But the goal of education for almost every culture in every country is to lay
the groundwork for success in life.
While success might not look the same in every culture and every country, most people
agree the point of education is to prepare a child to do two things: lead a fulfilling life and
become a productive member of society.
To achieve these ends, a child will need to learn, in varying degrees, the basics of reading,
writing, and math. At the very least. These basic skills enable a young person to balance their
own checkbook, apply for a job, and apply for a credit card or a loan. And perhaps attend college
and pursue technical, general, or professional degrees. Experts far and wide confirm that early
education is a solid predictor of academic, social, and professional success. However, an article
published in Forbes Magazine in 2014 reveals a fact of which many people may not be
aware. The greatest predictor of high job performance is not intellectual intelligence, job
experience, or educational history.
It’s emotional intelligence, a.k.a. emotional literacy.
What Is Emotional Literacy?
The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning at Vanderbilt
University offers a simple definition. It’s “the ability to identify, understand, and respond to
emotions in oneself and others in a healthy manner.” Emotional intelligence forms the foundation
of our ability, as human beings, to successfully interact with one another. Research shows that
when compared to children incapable of identifying, understanding, and responding to emotions
in themselves or others, children capable of these skills display a particular set of characteristics.
These children:
• Tolerate frustration well
• Fight less
• Can handle being alone
• Engage less in self-destructive behaviors
Are capable of greater academic achievement
•
• Are better able to focus on tasks and control their internal impulses
When a child learns these lessons before entering school, it makes the early grades much easier
to navigate. If school-age children shore up these skills before entering middle school and high
school, they can transform the increased workload and social pressures of adolescence into
manageable tasks they can handle with the grace and poise of young adults. When students hone
these skills in emotional literacy and intelligence through high school, adolescence, and college
(if that’s the path they choose), peers and potential employers recognize them immediately.
These skills they help grease the wheels of life as a full-fledged adult.
Teaching Emotional Literacy
Emotional literacy is fast becoming a key element in many approaches to early
education. Most preschools and kindergartens stress the quality of both peer-to-peer interaction
and teacher-student interaction. The importance of social and emotional skill building is also

gaining recognition as an important curriculum component in private schools and public school
districts across the country.
If emotional literacy skills aren’t learned early, it’s not too late. Parents and teachers
interested in teaching teenagers the fundamentals of emotional and social literacy can find a
wide variety of resources available online. The State of Ohio has a useful activity handbook that
can help teach the fundamentals of emotional literacy to teenagers. Corporations such as
Microsoft offer training programs for schools, parents, and teachers who wish to include social
and emotional literacy into the overall education of their students or children.
All these developments are important steps toward recognizing that while the basics of
reading, writing, and arithmetic are essential for the education and success of our children,
they’re not everything. The ultimate scaffold from which everything hangs is something else
entirely. It’s a mindful combination of emotional awareness, intelligence, and literacy.
Source: https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/emotional-literacy-in-education/
WADING THROUGH THE OPTIONS OF MEDICINE FOR PATIENTS WITH

CHRONIC CONDITIONS
Imagine this scenario:
You’re a long-time migraine-sufferer. You’ve been shuttled around from doctor to doctor,
handed prescription after prescription after prescription. Your medicine cabinet is filled with
medications – both prescription and over-the-counter. Your purse sounds like a pharmacy –
every time you set it down, a pill bottle rattles.
After a while, you wonder, “I wonder if there are other ways to treat my migraines?”
In conjunction with all of these prescriptions, you begin to make appointments with
massage therapists, chiropractors, apply essential oils to your skin, and take supplements.
And wonder of all wonders – your migraines actually begin to improve!
This, my fellow nurses, is a very brief summary of the past twenty years of my life.
As a patient or a health care provider, it can be difficult to wade through the various
options of medicine available to patients with chronic conditions, especially when we must
consider that what works for one patient may not work for another patient.
Modern Medicine
What is it? If you’ve ever gone to an urgent care clinic because you had strep throat or
pink eye and left with a prescription for an antibiotic, you’ve been the recipient of modern
medicine.
Modern medicine, or standard medical care, is practiced by a medical doctor (an MD) or a doctor
of osteopathy (a DO). It is also practice by the healthcare team: “…physical therapists, physician
assistants, psychologists, and registered nurses.”
Pros: The rate at which modern medicine is advancing is astonishing. You can sit on your couch
and watch TV and see commercials for new medications at an alarming pace – and these new
medications have reduced our death rates for stroke, heart disease, and cancer. In fact, due to
modern medicine, the death rate from heart disease has decreased by 60% since 1970. The
death rate HIV/AIDS has dropped more than 75% since 1995, when it was at its peak.
Cons: However, critics of modern medicine are quick to point out that there is a pill for
everything. Yes, we are quick to create more drugs, and yes, we are living longer due to said
drugs – but are we living better?
Medicine has evolved, and we now have surgeons who are able to perform surgeries
robotically. We have cardiovascular surgeons who can perform open-heart surgery using a

minimally invasive approach. We have physicians trained in specialties such as oncology,

cardiology, nephrology, podiatry, and urology.
But critics point out that medicine has evolved to the point that we’re treating disease
instead of preventing it.
Alternative Medicine
What is it? Alternative medicine is a treatment that is used in place of a conventional medical
treatment. For example, if your physician prescribed blood pressure medication for you and you
opted instead to overhaul your diet completely with the hope of reducing your blood pressure,
this could be an example of an alternative type of medicine.
Pros: Often, alternative medicine is considered “natural.” Most people who opt for alternative
medicine are choosing these treatments because they are seeking a more natural approach to
healing their chronic conditions.
Examples of alternative medicine include:
• Acupuncture
• Chiropractic care
• Reiki, which is an energy therapy that relies on the practitioner using healing
energy to mend imbalances by placing their hands gently over the body.
• Herbal medicine – the World Health Organization estimates that 80% of the
world’s population use some type of herbal medicine, and studies show that
herbal preparations are effective at treating allergies, chronic fatigue, and
premenstrual syndrome, amongst other health maladies.
• Ayurvedic medicine, which is a 3,000-year-old Indian medical system that is still
in use today, utilizes herbs, diets, and specific health practices to treat illness.
Cons: Certain alternative medicine practices have been studied and have been deemed to be
safe, and even effective. Others have not been heavily studied – and some have even been found
to be harmful. For example, the products used in Ayurvedic medicine may contain toxic
minerals, such as lead.
In addition, just because something is “natural” does not always mean it is safe. A prime example
is the herb kava kava; this herb is often used to treat anxiety, but it can also cause liver damage.
A good practice would be to discuss alternative treatments with your physician. You may also
want to consider complementary medicine, which is utilizing alternative treatments along with
standard medicine. For example, I take prescription medicine daily to prevent migraines. I also
go to a chiropractor once weekly, because these therapies complement each other.
Traditional Medicine
What is it? According to the World Health Organization, traditional medicine is, “the knowledge,
skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different
cultures, used in the maintenance of health and in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or
treatment of physical and mental illness.”

Although there are various forms of traditional medicine, one of the most prevalent and most
commonly used is traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), as it dates back over 3,000 years and is
still in practice today.
TCM uses yin, “…the earth, cold, and femininity” and yang, “the sky, heat, and masculinity.” Yin
and yang must be in balance for good health.
Pros: Although TCM is 3,000 years old, it is still evolving, and its prevalence and practice are
growing throughout the world. It is used to prevent and treat disease.
TCM relies heavily on a variety of practices, but it uses herbal medicine. Three of its most
commonly used herbs are gingko biloba, garlic, and ginseng.
Cons: The herbs used in TCM can be unsafe in certain individuals. In addition, there are fewer
regulations in force for the safety of herbs. For example, when you pick up a prescription at the

pharmacy, you can be assured that it has been tested to ensure its safety and its efficacy. You
cannot be as certain regarding your herbals.
As such, taking an herb that has been untested can lead to toxicity, especially in people
who are ill and the elderly.
The Bottom Line…
Regardless of which branch of medicine you subscribe to, you should ensure that any
medications, supplements, or treatments you are utilizing are safe – discuss them with your
healthcare provider.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
By Jacob Thomas
A lot of people spend thousands and millions on alternative medicine. But how beneficial is
it? Be informed about both the pros and cons of alternative and contemporary medicine.
There must really be something to alternative medicine that makes more people open to the idea
of using it. People either use complementary and alternative medicine alone or in addition to
more traditional practices like exercise or conventional medicine like prescription drugs. But
similar to most things in life and medicine, and regardless of whether they are natural or
conventional, it is always a good idea to know the pros and cons before trying something out.
Pros of Alternative Medicine

When used accordingly, alternative medicine can offer significant benefits for improving and
maintaining holistic wellbeing.
▪ Targets the root cause. Most alternative and complementary forms of medicine are
used not only to treat the symptoms of the health condition but the root cause of it. Some
of the procedures and remedies that are known for targeting the root cause of problems
are acupuncture, herbs, massage, diet and exercise, and the like.
▪ The approach is holistic. Alternative medicine focuses on treating the whole person,
not only the health condition. This means that whatever alternative remedy the
practitioners advise the patient to take, it is a customized approach to cater to all of the
patient’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs. This, according to the Osher
Center for Integrative Medicine, may be why alternative and complementary medicine is
making its way up.
▪ Pays personal attention. Imagine finding someone a gift, and not knowing so much
about a person; most likely, you’ll pick the wrong gift. In the same way, alternative
medicine practitioners take time to know the patient more in order to better treat
him/her.
▪ Emphasizes prevention. Conventional medicine is often focused on curing an existing

problem while alternative complementary
medicine focuses on prevention. Most
practitioners persuade patients to have
“well visits,” scheduled appointments when
the patient isn’t sick.
▪ Reduces stress. Most alternative therapies
reduce stress and emotional tension,
helping to prevent or heal illnesses.
Conventional medicine does not always
prioritize this.

Cons of Alternative Medicine

Ask a professional whether alternative medicine is suitable for your health condition and
lifestyle because the following are drawbacks of alternative medicine.
▪ Scientific research on alternative medicine is limited. Compared to conventional
medical procedures, scientific research and studies on alternative medicine are still very
limited. Funding for alternative medicine studies, however, is growing with the help of
private sources. In the meantime, the National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) advises people to ask health care providers or physicians,
and visit the archives of NCCAM’s research on their website.
▪ Confusion in marketing. When it comes to observing marketing campaigns, it’s best to
be a bit skeptical about the whole thing. Some health and wellness companies may use
fillers or unrealistic taglines; oftentimes they say their products are natural when they
are not necessarily all natural. It’s best that the viewer or potential patient become more
objective about these campaigns by keeping in mind that, just because the company says
something is natural, doesn’t mean it’s entirely safe. It’s best that the potential patient
does his/her own research about the remedy or product he/she is planning to take. A
few agencies’ websites like the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration may have information about it.
▪ Possible interference with prescription drugs. Some alternative medicine or herbs,
despite not containing artificial substances, can still interact negatively with prescription
drugs. The best way to find out if an alternative form of medicine will work for you is to
ask for an opinion from a professional alternative medicine practitioner who is also a
medical doctor.
Source: Adapted from http://healthbreakthroughs.org/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-

alternative-medicine/
ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES. PROS AND CONS
By Val Silver
Incorporating alternative therapies into your wellness plan can offer very significant benefits for
improving and maintaining your physical and mental well-being. Alternative complementary
medicine is not a panacea, however, and there is the potential for negative results.
The disadvantages of alternative therapy are often not so much with the methods themselves,
but rather with expectations. It is important to know which methods are specifically useful for
your condition and how they are best used to achieve your desired results. Otherwise, results
will be disappointing at best.
7 potential disadvantages of alternative therapy:

• Because alternative therapies are sometimes touted as 'one minute wonders',
expectations for fast results can be inflated. Although miracles do happen, in most cases
complementary alternative medicine does not heal instantly. Some medicinal herbs or
supplements take weeks before you notice improvement. It may take several sessions for
body work, acupuncture, or energy healing to bring about deeper, lasting effects. If you
are not mindful of this from the beginning, it is tempting to get discouraged, become
inconsistent, or move on to something else, especially when paying out of pocket.
• Some people attempt to treat serious illness and injuries with only alternative therapies
when conventional medicine would be best for primary care. By the time they realize
this, weeks and months have gone by and it could be too late. In the case of some
infections, days can be too long. It is best to explore all your options, get educated
opinions and second opinions. Then make decisions that are right for you. You can

always complement your medical care with alternative and holistic healing modalities if
you wish. If your doctor does not support this decision, find one that will or get support
from a wellness coach.
• Approaching holistic and complementary medicine with the modern medicine mindset is
a common mistake. Alternative medicine is not about popping pills, suppressing
symptoms (although sometimes that is part of it), treating a body part, and entrusting
your health care to someone else. Addressing only physical imbalances without
addressing issues of the mind and spirit only brings about partial benefits at best. To get
the most out of alternative therapies (or conventional medicine), following a holistic
approach is usually best.
• Although complementary alternative therapies can be very effective, it is also true that
others simply do not work at all, or at least not for your needs. As with medical
treatments, your belief in the power of the remedy may heal you, but not the
intervention itself. Natural remedies may even be harmful. They may interact with
medications or be contra-indicated for your condition. They may offer no help and waste
valuable time while you get sicker.
• In order to realize the full benefits of alternative medicine, you must commit your time,
energy, and often your finances to getting well. You will most likely have to change some
of your lifestyle habits, which can be challenging, even with the best of intentions. It
often takes a very serious illness to get people to make a shift, and even that is not
always enough incentive.
• Alternative techniques and remedies only help you if they are appropriate for your
needs. This is not to suggest that stringent studies are required to prove effectiveness. To
use alternatives as a primary treatment for your health condition, be sure there is plenty
of anecdotal evidence showing effectiveness for your specific condition. Discover which
will best serve you in a primary role and which need to take a secondary role. Learn how
to use the techniques properly. Get help from a skilled practitioner if you need it. And use
common sense.
• Sometimes complementary methods are promoted as quick, easy and do-it-yourself. And
they very well might be. But claims like that make it easy to wrongly assume that skill or
commitment to the process is not required. Then results may be disappointing or even
negative. For example, many people apply emotional release techniques to themselves
with a measure of success. But if you have mental health issues or have been severely
traumatized, you can have an abreaction if working on yourself or with an inexperienced
practitioner.
8 Benefits of Alternative Medicine

By Val Silver
What are the benefits of alternative medicine? Do you know how it can help you heal and stay
well?
Complementary and alternative approaches to medicine are all the types of remedies and
techniques, that are not part of our conventional, modern medical system. They are used in
addition to prescriptions and surgery, or in lieu of such treatments. The major benefits
of alternative and complementary medicine are closely linked to the philosophy and practice of
holistic healing, which focuses on treating you as a whole person. When possible, natural
techniques and remedies are used in harmony with mind and body. However, do not assume
that just because a remedy is natural, or is out of the mainstream, that it is holistic. Alternative
and holistic are not the same thing. For any type of medicine to be holistic, it must address mind,
body and spirit or be part of a comprehensive plan that does. Just as with modern medicine,
there are pros and cons of alternative complementary therapies. The good news is, that when
used appropriately and wisely, the positives of alternative health therapies far outweigh the
potential downside. They can be a beneficial part of your wellness program.

Keep the above points in mind as you consider the following benefits of alternative
medicine.
• Practitioners and healers practicing alternative health therapies often have an
awareness and commitment to supporting the mind body connection. They can guide
you to resources, techniques and/or natural remedies to support the healing of your
whole self.
• One of the cornerstones of holistic medicine is individual responsibility for health and
well-being. Assuming responsibility for yourself and your health is empowering and
necessary for creating and maintaining optimal health. Patients who feel empowered
and in control of their recovery tend to have better outcomes. This applies to treating
acute and chronic disease.
• Alternatives, especially when used as part of a holistic approach, make it possible for you
to truly heal in mind and body. Mainstream medicine, for all its wonders, is in some ways
much more limited. Holistic therapies are not usually as sophisticated, but they tend to
work with your mind and body instead of against it. The emphasis is more on the person
than the disease. The goal is to bring mind, body and energy system back into balance.
You can heal instead of just having symptoms suppressed or offending parts removed.
This, by the way, may sometimes be necessary, but probably nowhere near as often as it
happens.
• The old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” doubly applies when it
comes to your health. It also applies to the
time, resources, and financial investment
of health disease care expenses.
Preventing ill health by using holistic
lifestyle practices are basic essentials to
good health. Getting energy system tune-
ups and using techniques to relax and
restore mind and body help you get and
stay healthy. Alternative therapies such as
massage, meditation, soothing herbs, and
energy healing shine when used in this
way.
• A major benefit of alternative medicine is
that the techniques and remedies are generally safe. When used properly, they cause few
if any ill effects for most people. For instance, certain supplements and herbs have been
proven as effective as pharmaceuticals for conditions such as anxiety, depression, and
pain without all the negative side effects.
• Some types of complementary therapies are easily incorporated as part of healthy
lifestyle maintenance. You may enjoy regular massage, sip dandelion tea for digestion, or
use a quick energy technique when feeling stressed or tired.
• Complementary alternative healing methods can be very effective as sole, primary, or

supportive treatments when used properly. For example, recent research and anecdotal
evidence points to the effectiveness of certain herbs and foods to help control and heal
cancer and diabetes. Body work techniques relieve muscle and joint pain. Certain herbs
and even exercise are proving just as effective as medication for easing depression and
anxiety. Likewise, these techniques and remedies can help you improve and maintain
already good mental and physical health.
• As interest and demand for natural holistic health care grow, more research into the
potential benefits of alternative medicine is being done. Once there is enough supportive
research, complementary therapies gain acceptance from the medical world. Massage,
acupuncture, physical therapy and chiropractic are examples of alternative health
therapies that have gone mainstream. The effectiveness of many other natural
techniques and remedies is supported by anecdotal evidence, common sense, and

thousands of years of use. More than a few medical doctors have pioneered work in
mind body medicine. Their work has brought complementary therapies to mainstream
medicine, and credibility to the field of holistic medicine.
The keys to enjoying the benefits of alternative medicine is to educate yourself about your health
condition and match your needs to the types of complementary therapies that would be most
helpful. You may have to experiment with different methods and practitioners before finding
what works best for you. Be realistic, and keep the pros and cons of alternative complementary
medicine in mind. That can make the difference between you having a positive experience or
not.
If you are looking for help with your health, take advantage of all the benefits of alternative
medicine as part of a holistic approach, as well as prioritizing healthy living habits and
incorporating as necessary. When you access the best of each of these health care avenues, you
minimize the negatives and maximize your potential for positive results.
Alternative Therapies or Conventional Medicine

Always familiarize yourself about conventional and alternative options when making important
decisions about your health. See if and how either or both of these medical systems can best help
you. Familiarize yourself with the general pros and cons of conventional medicine and
complementary modalities, as well as how they specifically relate to you and your wellness
concerns.
Alternative therapies play an important part in holistic health and healing. Some alternatives
shine in a primary role, and others are superstars in supporting roles. When using them, always
educate yourself about best uses and proper use. This can make all the difference between you
having a positive experience or not.
Source: Adapted from https://www.holistic-mindbody-healing.com/alternative-therapies.html
THERAPEUTIC BENEFITS OF LAUGHTER
Dr. Lee Berk and fellow researcher Dr. Stanley Tan of Loma Linda University in California
have been studying the effects of laughter on the immune system. To date their published
studies have shown that laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases
muscle flexion, and boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells,
disease-fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-
destroying antibodies. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural
painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.
Following is a summary of his research, taken from an interview published in the
September/October 1996 issue of the Humor and Health Journal.
Laughter Activates the Immune System
In Berk's study, the physiological response produced by belly laughter was opposite of
what is seen in classical stress, supporting the conclusion that mirthful laughter is a eustress
state -- a state that produces healthy or positive emotions.
Research results indicate that, after exposure to humor, there is a general increase in
activity within the immune system, including:

An increase in the number and activity level of natural killer cells that attack viral infected cells
and some types of cancer and tumor cells.
An increase in activated T cells (T lymphocytes). There are many T cells that await activation.
Laughter appears to tell the immune system to "turn it up a notch."
An increase in the antibody IgA (immunoglobulin A), which fights upper respiratory tract
insults and infections.
An increase in gamma interferon, which tells various components of the immune system to
"turn on."
An increase in IgB, the immunoglobulin produced in the greatest quantity in body, as well as an
increase in Complement 3, which helps antibodies to pierce dysfunctional or infected cells. The
increase in both substances was not only present while subjects watched a humor video; there
also was a lingering effect that continued to show increased levels the next day.
Laughter Decreases "Stress" Hormones
The results of the study also supported research indicating a general decrease in stress
hormones that constrict blood vessels and suppress immune activity. These were shown to
decrease in the study group exposed to humor.
For example, levels of epinephrine were lower in the group both in anticipation of humor
and after exposure to humor. Epinephrine levels remained down throughout the experiment.
In addition, dopamine levels (as measured by dopac) were also decreased. Dopamine is involved
in the "fight or flight response" and is associated with elevated blood pressure.
Laughing is aerobic, providing a workout for the diaphragm and increasing the body's
ability to use oxygen.
Laughter brings in positive emotions that can enhance – not replace -- conventional
treatments. Hence it is another tool available to help fight the disease.
Experts believe that, when used as an adjunct to conventional care, laughter can reduce pain and
aid the healing process. For one thing, laughter offers a powerful distraction from pain.
Here is a summary of how humor contributes to physical health.
Muscle Relaxation - Belly laugh results in muscle relaxation. While you laugh, the muscles that
do not participate in the belly laugh, relaxes. After you finish laughing those muscles involved in
the laughter start to relax. So, the action takes place in two stages.
Reduction of Stress Hormones- Laughter reduces at least four of neuroendocrine hormones
associated with stress response. These are epinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone.
Immune System Enhancement - Clinical studies have shown that humor strengthens the
immune system.
Pain Reduction - Humor allows a person to "forget" about pains such as aches, arthritis, etc.
Cardiac Exercise- A belly laugh is equivalent to "an internal jogging." Laughter can provide
good cardiac conditioning especially for those who are unable to perform physical exercises.
Blood Pressure - Women seem to benefit more than men in preventing hypertension.
Respiration - Frequent belly laughter empties your lungs of more air than it takes in resulting in
a cleansing effect - similar to deep breathing. Especially beneficial for patients who are suffering
from emphysema and other respiratory ailments.
Humor: How Does It Work?
In her book, "Pulmonary Rehabilitation: Guidelines to Success," Patty Wooten noted:

The ability to laugh at a situation or problem gives us a feeling of superiority and power.
Humor and laughter can foster a positive and hopeful attitude. We are less likely to succumb to
feelings of depression and helplessness if we are able to laugh at what is troubling us. Humor
gives us a sense of perspective on our problems. Laughter provides an opportunity for the
release of those uncomfortable emotions which, if held inside, may create biochemical changes

that are harmful to the body. The ability to sense and appreciate humor can buffer mood
disturbances which occur in response to negative life events.
Humor perception involves the whole brain and serves to integrate and balance activity
in both hemispheres. Derks, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, has shown that
there is a unique pattern of brain wave activity during the perception of humor. EEG's were
recorded on subjects while they were presented with humorous material.
During the setup to the joke, the cortex's left hemisphere began its analytical function of
processing words. Shortly afterward, most of the brain activity moved to the frontal lobe which
is the center of emotionality. Moments later the right hemisphere's synthesis capabilities joined
with the left's processing to find the pattern -- to 'get the joke'. A few milliseconds later, before
the subject had enough time to laugh, the increased brain wave activity spread to the sensory
processing areas of the brain, the occipital lobe. The increased fluctuations in delta waves
reached a crescendo of activity and crested as the brain 'got' the joke and the external
expression of laughter began. Derks' findings shows that humor pulls the various parts of the
brain together rather than activating a component in only one area.
The emotions and moods we experience directly affect our immune system. A sense of
humor allows us to perceive and appreciate the incongruities of life and provides moments of
joy and delight. These positive emotions can create neurochemical changes that will buffer the
immunosuppressive effects of diseases and stress.
"The simple truth is that happy people generally don't get sick."
Bernie Siegel, M.D.
Source: The previous articles have been adapted from http://www.holisticonline.com

/Humor_Therapy/humor_therapy_benefits.htm
STRESS: PICTURES FOR DISCUSSION

WHO SAYS STRESS IS BAD FOR YOU
It can be, but it can be good for you, too—a fact scientists tend to ignore and regular folks don't
appreciate.
By Mary Carmichael | NEWSWEEK

Published Feb 14, 2009 | Updated: 2:12 p.m. ET Feb 14, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Feb 23, 2009
If you aren't already paralyzed with stress from reading the financial news, here's a sure way to
achieve that grim state: read a medical-journal article that examines what stress can do to your
brain. Stress, you'll learn, is crippling your neurons so that, a few years or decades from now,
Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease will have an easy time destroying what's left. That's
assuming you haven't already died by then of some other stress-related ailment such as heart
disease. As we enter what is sure to be a long period of uncertainty, the downside of stress is
certainly worth exploring. But what about the upside? It's not something we hear much about.
In the past several years, a lot of us have convinced ourselves that stress is unequivocally
negative for everyone, all the time. We've blamed stress for a wide variety of problems, from
slight memory lapses to full-on dementia. We've even come up with a derisive nickname for
people who voluntarily plunge into stressful situations: they're "adrenaline junkies."
The stress response—the body's hormonal reaction to danger, uncertainty or change—
evolved to help us survive, and if we learn how to keep it from overrunning our lives, it still can.
In the short term, it can energize us, revving up our systems to handle what we have to handle.
In the long term, stress can motivate us to do better at jobs we care about. A little of it can
prepare us for a lot later on, making us more resilient. Even when it's extreme, stress may have
some positive effects—which is why, in addition to posttraumatic stress disorder, some
psychologists are starting to define a phenomenon called posttraumatic growth.
Hans Selye, who laid the foundations of stress science in the 1930s, believed so strongly
in good stress that he coined a word, "eustress," for it. He saw stress as "the salt of life." Change
was inevitable, and worrying about it was the flip side of thinking creatively and carefully about
it. Stress, then, was what made us human—a conclusion that Selye managed to reach by
examining rats.
For a rat, there's no bigger stressor than an encounter with a lean and hungry cat. As
soon as the rat's brain registers danger, it pumps itself up on hormones—first adrenaline, then
cortisol. The surge helps mobilize energy to the muscles, and it also primes several parts of the
brain, temporarily improving some types of memory and fine-tuning the senses. Thus armed, the
rat makes its escape—assuming the cat, whose brain has also been flooded with stress
hormones by the sight of a long-awaited potential meal, doesn't outrun or outwit it.
This cascade of chemicals is what we refer to as "stress." For rats, the triggers are largely
limited to physical threats from the likes of cats and scientists. But in humans, almost anything
can start the stress response.
A lot of us tend to flip the stress-hormone switch to "on" and leave it there. At some
point, the neurons get tired of being primed, and positive effects become negative ones. As a
result, neurons shrivel and stop communicating with each other, and brain tissue shrinks in the
hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, which play roles in learning, memory and rational thought.
Chronically, it impairs our mental flexibility.
These chronic effects may disappear when the stressor does. In medical students
studying for exams, the medial prefrontal cortex shrinks during cram sessions but grows back
after a month off. The bad news is that after a stressful event, we don't always get a month off.
This is why stress is linked to depression and Alzheimer's; neurons weakened by years of
exposure to stress hormones are more susceptible to killers. It also suggests that those of us

with constant stress in our lives should be reduced to depressed, forgetful wrecks. But most of
us aren't. Why?
Researchers haven't identified the point at which the effects of stress tip over from
positive to negative, and they know little about why that point differs from person to person.
The research thus tends to paint stress as a universal phenomenon, even though we all
experience it differently.
A lot of the explanation stems from early experiences. Part of the explanation will also be found
in genes. The X and Y chromosomes also play a role in how people respond to stress, though how
much of one isn't clear. Men and women both experience stress as a rise in adrenaline and
cortisol. What differs is their reaction. Women "are more likely to turn to their social networks,
and that prompts the release of oxytocin, which mutes the stress systems," says Shelley Taylor, a
psychologist at UCLA.
When Stanford's Sapolsky gives lectures on stress, he cites the "depressing" research on failing
neurons, some of which he has conducted. But his talks end optimistically. AS humans, we can
change.
So how do we do that? One place to start is with Buddhist monks. Their mental stability and
calmness isn't mystical; it's biological. The brain can grow new cells and reshape itself, and
meditation appears to encourage this process. Monks who have trained for years in meditation
have greater brain activity in regions linked to learning and happiness. The mind is far more
malleable than we previously assumed. Meditation can help people cope with stress. It may
repair or compensate for damage already done to the brain.
However, there is a problem with all stress-management tactics: you have to want them
to succeed and be willing to throw yourself into them, or they'll fail. If you force yourself to do
them, you'll just stress yourself out more. This is why exercise relieves stress for some people
and makes others miserable.
For all of the science's shortfalls, there's animal research that suggests why something
that should lower stress can actually cause stress if it's done in the wrong spirit. In a classic
study, scientists put two rats in a cage, each of them locked in a running wheel. The first rat
could exercise whenever he liked. The second was yoked to the first, forced to run when his
counterpart did. Exercise, like meditation, usually tamps down stress and encourages neuron
growth, and indeed, the first rat's brain bloomed with new cells. The second rat, however, lost
brain cells. He was doing something that should have been good for his brain, but he lacked one
crucial factor: control. He could not determine his own "workout" schedule, so he didn't perceive
it as exercise. Instead, he experienced it as a literal rat race.
This experiment brings up a troubling point about stress. Psychologists have known for
years that one of the biggest factors in how we process stressful events is how much control we
have over our lives. As a rule, if we feel we're in control, we cope. If we don't, we collapse. And no
amount of meditation or reframing our thinking can change certain facts of our lives. With the
market languishing and jobs hemorrhaging and the world going to hell, too many of us probably
feel like that rat in the second wheel: it's hard to convince ourselves we're in control of anything.
Source: The previous article has been extracted from: https://www.newsweek.com/health-

why-stress-may-be-good-you-82765

SET 2020 MINDandBODY

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

SET 2020 MINDandBODY

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

SET 2020 MINDandBODY

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ENGLISH LANGUAGE III

ENGLISH LANGUAGE III

The Human Mind and the Body

In-class and out-of-class course materials 1

THE MAIN LANGUAGE SKILLS:

FEARS AND PHOBIAS

WARM-UP PRE-READING ACTIVITY: Analysing the implications

❖ Which one(s) do you find the funniest? Why?

And so the evil ogres decided to descend

I’m sorry if I’m not myself

In-class and out-of-class course materials 2

Calm down, dear! I’m sure

Sorry, Miss Ann, but you must know that I sweat

DISCUSSION: Matching concepts and specific words.

The Human Mind and the Body

Draw words from the word box below:

astraphobia photophobia frigophobia arachnophobia

In-class and out-of-class course materials 3

RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Doing research into technical

PRE-READING ACTIVITY: Answer the following questions before reading

➢ Answer the following questions:

1. Do you think experiencing fear is something natural? Why is fear usually

READING: Scanning an article for specific information. Read

➢ Find the lexical item or expression to which the following concept

The expanded version of the fight or flight response which

➢ Explain both ambiguous and unambiguous distinctions between

➢ Discover the name given to individuals who have personality traits

In-class and out-of-class course materials 4

➢ Uncover the name of the phenomenon that explains why an individual,

LISTENING TASK ONLINE: Taking notes. Listen to the

INFO. CALLER 1 CALLER 2 CALLER 3 CALLER 4 CALLER 5

In-class and out-of-class course materials 5

INTENSIVE LISTENING AND FOCUS ON

▪ unreasonable, unlikely to happen

WRITING TASK: Expanding basic notions with the help of

material. Write a paragraph completing your understanding of the

In-class and out-of-class course materials 6

THE HUMAN BRAIN

The Human Mind and the Body

In-class and out-of-class course materials 7

PUPILS: Dilate, ready to relay LUNGS: Bronchioles

LIVER: Begins to break

ADRENAL MEDULLA: Floods bloodstream

BLADDER AND COLON: Prepare to void their

possible injury. Sphincters close, then relax.

In-class and out-of-class course materials 8

POST-READING FOCUS ON VOCABULARY:

SKYROCKET BOOST SPIKE SOAR

prepositions to indicate change or direction. Complete the chart by

VERBS PREPOSITIONS AND OBJECTS

In-class and out-of-class course materials 9

PRE-READING: Speculating on the meaning and causes of a cultural

Frank Furedi has written extensively about this phenomenon. Here is a

READING: Recognising strong language. Read Frank Furedi’s

➢ Find words in the text to refer to people who make a manipulative

➢ Identify words and expressions which provide the author’s language

➢ Now identify structures which perform the same function: