Embodied Hot Cognitive Vulnerability to Emotional Disorders: From Theory to Treatment

The embodied simulation framework is introduced for distorted emotional and motivational appraisals, focusing on hyper-reactive emotional and motivational neural embodied simulations as core processes of cognitive vulnerability to emotional disorders. Distorted emotional cognitions such as rigid thinking, awfulizing, and low frustration tolerance are both vulnerabilities to emotional disorders and targets of psychotherapy. This book argues that distorted emotional cognitions are embodied in hyper-reactive neural states involved in dysregulated emotions and proposes new integration of learning and medication interventions in psychotherapy.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 171 pages
Publication date: 17 September 2021
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The way we make sense of emotional situations has long been considered a foundation for the construction of our emotional experiences. Sometimes emotional meanings become distorted and so do our emotional experiences become disturbed. In the last decades, an embodied construction of emotional meanings has emerged. In this book, the embodied simulation framework is introduced for distorted emotional and motivational appraisals such as irrational beliefs, focusing on hyper-reactive emotional and motivational neural embodied simulations as core processes of cognitive vulnerability to emotional disorders. By embodying distorted emotional cognition, we can extend the traditional views of the development of distorted emotional appraisals beyond learning from stress-sensitization processes. Conclusions for the conceptualization of distorted emotional appraisals and treatment implications are discussed.

Distorted emotional cognitions such as rigid thinking (I should succeed), awfulizing (It's awful), and low frustration tolerance (I can't stand it) are both vulnerabilities to emotional disorders and targets of psychotherapy. In this book, I argue that distorted emotional cognitions, which act as proximal vulnerabilities to emotional disorders, are embodied in hyper-reactive neural states involved in dysregulated emotions. Traditionally, excessive negative knowledge has been considered the basis of the cognitive vulnerability to emotional disorders. I suggest that the differences in the affective embodiments of distorted cognition confer its vulnerability status, rather than the differences in dysfunctional knowledge. I propose that negative knowledge and stress-induced brain changes conflate each other in building cognitive vulnerability to disturbed emotion. This conflation leads to the development of distorted emotional appraisals, which are core processes of cognitive vulnerability to emotional disorders.

The embodied simulation framework provides a new perspective on the development of distorted emotional appraisals. It suggests that distorted emotional cognitions are embodied in hyper-reactive neural states that are involved in dysregulated emotions. This embodied perspective allows us to understand the mechanisms by which distorted emotional cognitions contribute to emotional disorders. By understanding these mechanisms, we can develop new treatments that target distorted emotional cognitions and improve emotional well-being.

The embodied simulation framework has several implications for the conceptualization of distorted emotional appraisals and treatment implications. First, it suggests that distorted emotional cognitions are not just a result of excessive negative knowledge or stress-induced brain changes. Rather, they are embodied in hyper-reactive neural states that are involved in dysregulated emotions. This means that treatment for distorted emotional appraisals should focus on regulating these hyper-reactive neural states to improve emotional well-being.

Second, the embodied simulation framework provides a new way to think about the relationship between distorted emotional cognitions and emotional disorders. It suggests that distorted emotional cognitions are not just a symptom of emotional disorders, but they are also a core process that contributes to the development and maintenance of emotional disorders. This means that treatment for emotional disorders should not only address distorted emotional cognitions, but also address the underlying hyper-reactive neural states that are involved in dysregulated emotions.

Third, the embodied simulation framework provides a new way to think about the role of stress in the development of distorted emotional appraisals. It suggests that stress-induced brain changes can conflate with negative knowledge and contribute to the development of distorted emotional appraisals. This means that treatment for emotional disorders should include strategies to manage stress and reduce the impact of stress-induced brain changes on distorted emotional cognitions.

In conclusion, the embodied simulation framework provides a new perspective on the development of distorted emotional appraisals and has implications for the conceptualization of distorted emotional appraisals and treatment implications. By understanding the embodied nature of distorted emotional cognitions, we can develop new treatments that target these core processes and improve emotional well-being.

Weight: 291g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030539917
Edition number: 1st ed. 2020