Emotions are programmed responses shaped by evolution. They allow you to navigate your environment in ways that were generally adaptive in the past and are often still adaptive today.  For example, emotions like fear evolved over time. When our human ancestors, who had the capacity to experience fear, saw a steep cliff, they behaved more cautiously as they neared the precipice. Because they took more precautions, individuals who experienced fear were more likely to survive than those without fear. The fearful individuals lived long enough to reproduce and gave birth to children with a similar capacity for fear. Evolution selected for both negative emotions like fear and positive emotions such as happiness. Negative emotions deter individuals away from actions that are harmful or costly. On the other hand, positive emotions motivate people towards potentially beneficial actions. Most psychologists agree that there are a set of so-called "basic emotions" with which all humans are endowed. These basic emotions are: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. Researchers have since expanded the list of emotions to include contempt, pride, shame, love, and anxiety. There may be more basic emotions than that, but the extent to which they are universally experienced or culture-specific remains up for debate. Emotions are incredibly important for our survival, our ability to thrive, and our ability to make good decisions. All emotions—even negative ones—help us navigate our world. For example, imagine you woke up one day, and you didn't feel embarrassed or have any sense of shame or social anxiety. You generally did not care at all how you acted in front of other people. Chances are you would lose all your friends if you didn't care how you acted around them. That’s because emotions help us to get along with others. Emotions are critically important to our ability to make decisions. Emotions provide value or weight to some information, thereby biasing our decision-making in one direction or another. Several studies have found that people with lesions to parts of their brain that are involved with emotion have impaired decision-making and in some cases impaired moral behavior.  The most famous of these cases is Phineas Gage (PG). While working PG was accidentally impaled in the head with an iron rod, damaging a part of his brain involved in the processing of emotion. Miraculously, PG survived the accident, although he was never the same person again. His personality changed drastically. He displayed flat or inappropriate emotion, made horrible decisions, and was miserable to be around. One of the main reasons for this shift in behavior was that the rod had damaged a part of his brain involved in emotion.   One group that has trouble in society are psychopaths. One of the key diagnostic criterion for psychopathy is a lack of emotion, something called callous-unemotional traits or a lack of empathy or guilt. Lacking these emotions can lead to antisocial and sometimes criminal behavior, highlighting the importance of emotion to our sense of morality. Just as you could get a disorder of your kidneys or eyes, your emotions can also become disordered. If you think your emotions are potentially disordered, talk to a mental health professional about treatment options. Some of the more common disorders of emotion, or mental disorders in which emotions are affected include:  Depression, which involves persistent and long-lasting feelings of sadness and a loss of interest.  Anxiety disorders. General anxiety disorder refers to extended and excessive worry about day-to-day occurrences.  Schizophrenia can be associated with a lack of emotions or an irritable or depressed mood. Mania, which generally occurs in bipolar disorder, refers to an extended period of abnormally and excessively elevated mood. Manic individuals may also be excessively and persistently irritable. Once you have a sense of when emotions arise and how they feel, you can take notes on your emotions to further understand them. To learn more about the specific emotions you experience and what triggers them in your life, keep a log of when you feel an emotion and write down what you think triggered it.  For example, maybe you felt anger and you recalled that soon before you realized that you had to wait in line for 15 minutes for lunch, and you hate waiting in lines. You can use this information to increase or decrease the emotions that you want or don't want in your life. If you know what makes you angry, you can take steps to avoid situations that trigger that emotion. For example, once you know that you hate waiting in lines, you can only buy a small handful of groceries at a time, so you can use the express lane.
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One-sentence summary -- Understand the origin of emotions. Know the basic emotions. Learn about the role emotions play. Recognize how emotions affect decision-making. Know that emotions can become disordered. Record when your emotions occur.


Your skin, your body's largest organ, is tough and stretches. It has the job of protecting your body from bacteria, viruses, and fungi. When there are cracks and breaks in the skin, this allows infectious agents to access your blood supply. In addition, your skin functions in thermoregulation, or keeping your body temperature at an optimal temperature for functioning.  Your skin is sensitive which allows you to feel different types of sensations which are interpreted by the brain. There are no areas of the body that are normally numb, or without feeling, including your feet. New skin cells are made each day. Your body gets rid of between 30,000 and 40,000 skin cells from all over the body every minute of every day. The dead skin cells are on the top 18 to 23 layers of skin.  Your outer layer of skin which consists of dead skin cells is called the epidermis. This area of the skin is very thin in some areas of the body — such as the eyelids — and thicker in others — such as the bottom of your feet. When the old skin cells in the epidermis fall off, new cells are underneath. Dry skin is called xerosis. It will appear lighter in color than the rest of the foot and will often feel rough to the touch. You might experience:  Itchiness Cracked skin Redness Fissures (deep cracks) in the heel of the foot Peeling skin Both the heel and ball of the foot where most of the contact with the ground is made, are at higher risk of becoming rough. This increases the risk of cracking and peeling skin. The skin on the bottom of your feet can become dry and rough for a number of different reasons, including:   Age: Age and hormonal imbalances caused by aging (due to processes like menopause) cause your skin to lose elasticity and lipids, which increases the risk of dry skin.  Climate: Living in a dry climate can reduce the amount of moisture in the skin and result in dry skin. In addition, air conditioning removes humidity from the air, reducing the natural moisture in the skin. Winter weather is also damaging to the skin.  Skin conditions: Atopic dermatitis and psoriasis are two skin conditions which can develop dry and rough patches where they affect the skin.  Chlorine: Swimming or soaking in highly chlorinated pools can reduce the natural moisture in your skin.  Medical conditions: People who have diabetes often suffer from dry skin on their feet, which increases their risk of infections. Poor blood supply can lead to reduced moisture to the skin cells and increase the risk of complications. If you have diabetes and dry feet, visit a doctor or podiatrist for your foot care needs. Prevention is always the best medicine. It is easier to keep your feet well cared for than to reverse the effects of dry and rough skin. Here are some tips for maintaining healthy and soft feet:  As you age, take good care of your feet, using the treatments mentioned above. If you swim consistently in a chlorinated pool, take extra precautions to care for the skin over your feet. Chlorine will remove moisture from your skin and result in dry skin.  Shower and bathe only as long as necessary to get clean but not longer. Opt for showers over baths to decrease the risk of reducing the natural moisture in your skin. Always moisturize (with a non-alcoholic moisturizer) after each bath or shower. If you suffer from atopic dermatitis or psoriasis, take special care of the skin on your feet to reduce the potential for cracked and peeling skin. If you have diabetes, evaluate your feet every night for breaks in the skin. You can reduce the risk of developing complications related to your diabetes if you practice prevention and care for your feet.
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One-sentence summary --
Know the functions of your skin. Diagnose dry and rough feet. Understand the causes of dry feet. Prevent dry and rough feet.