Читать книгу SNAP! - Gary Small - Страница 8

When we refer to someone’s personality traits, we usually mean the consistent emotions and behavior patterns they display over time (e.g., generosity, moodiness, shyness). By contrast, emotional states stem from more transient thoughts and feelings that drive our behaviors, often in response to external stimuli. For example, your brother may be a basically cheerful person, but if faced with a major loss or disappointment, he might become depressed for a while. His depressed mood would be a temporary state he is experiencing due to his current situation.

My patient Frank, a single father, was a self-described worrywart. Even when his life was going well, Frank would obsess over what might go wrong next. When his son was in elementary school, Frank worried about getting the car pool to school on time. When his son got a driver’s license, he fretted about the boy getting into an accident. Frank’s anxiety levels were certainly elevated compared with a person who was less neurotic, but they didn’t change that much from day to day. Worrying was one of Frank’s lifelong consistent traits.

Eventually Frank’s son did have a car accident, although no one was seriously hurt. When Frank received the call, his anxiety escalated to the point that he couldn’t catch his breath and he thought he was having a heart attack. After a normal cardiogram in the emergency room, the doctor diagnosed the episode as a panic attack with hyperventilation. Frank took a mild tranquilizer, breathed into a paper bag, and was able to calm down. His panic attack was a temporary emotional state—a reaction to an upsetting incident—and was not a regular trait or characteristic of his personality.