Many people may be expressing themselves with an icon these days, but we all have them…EMOTIONS. Happyface, sadface, and so on. Although the icons are endless, there are only six basic emotions recognized by counselors and psychotherapists in Chicago.

Psychologists believe that there are a few universal emotions that are understood by people regardless of their background or culture. These emotions are easily recognized and interpreted through specific facial expressions. Although the basics are all the same, the emotion itself can be highly subjective. This means that we have broad labels for happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust, but how we each experience these feelings will be unique. Think of it this way. What bring you to the point of anger is not the same as someone else. Also, sometimes you are just mildly annoyed and sometimes you are in full-blown “Hulk” mode. This can be a wide range that would all fall under the same basic emotion of anger.

Let’s take a quick look at the basic anatomy of each emotion as a psychologist sees it.

Happiness: When a person is happy, muscles around the outside of eyes are tight (producing wrinkles or crow’s feet at the edge of eye), cheeks are raised, and corners or mouth are raised diagonally.

Sadness: When a person is sad, the inner corners of eyebrows are raised, eyelids are loose, and the corner of mouth is pulled down (frown).

Fear: When a person is in fear, eyebrows pull up and together, eyelids pull up, and their mouth stretches wide.

Anger: When a person is angry, their eyebrows will pull down, eyelids pull up, sides of lips roll in, and lips tighten.

Surprise: When a person is surprised, their entire eyebrows pull up, eyelids are pulled up, and mouth is open.

Disgust: When a person is disgusted, eyebrows pull down, the nose wrinkles, upper lip pulls up, and lips are loose.

Do you have trouble dealing with your emotions? Any of our affordable psychologists in Chicago and the surrounding area (Des Plaines, Arlington Heights, Schaumburg, Barrington, Hinsdale, Skokie, Lincolnwood, Park Ridge, and Wilmette) would be happy to help you explore your needs further.