At first glance this all seems opposed to what we have been laying down

as the explanation of emotion
At first glance this all seems opposed to what we have been laying down
as the explanation of emotion. Yet it is not so if we look well into the
case. We have already seen that emotion occurs when there is a blocking
of the usual pathways of discharge for the nerve currents, which must
then seek new outlets, and thus result in the setting up of new motor
responses. In the case of grief, for example, there is a disturbance in
the whole organism; the heart beat is deranged, the blood pressure
diminished, and the nerve tone lowered. What is needed is for the
currents which are finding an outlet in directions resulting in these
particular responses to find a pathway of discharge which will not
produce such deep-seated results. This may be found in crying. The
energy thus expended is diverted from producing internal disturbances.
Likewise, the explosion in anger may serve to restore the equilibrium of
disturbed nerve currents.


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