Psychiatry in the context of extended emotion: is there a constitutive environmental contribution to panic attacks?

Abstract

Love. Fear. Surprise. These are only a few examples of the plethora of emotions people experience on a daily basis. Some say emotions are what makes us truly human, and this tells us something about the weight of importance we attach to our ability to feel. In this dissertation I set out to synthesize a framework for extended emotion. Following from somatic theories of emotion to somatic appraisal theories, I introduce the concept of cognitive extension into emotion research and attempt to create a framework which counters a purely internalist perspective on emotion. This work is a preliminary account of an extended emotion mechanism and can lead to interesting and valuable future inquiry which may eventually lead to practical implications regarding mental disorder.