Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Why We Overeact

It always seems like a mystery when we see ourselves or someone else react inordinately to some some event.. But it is not overreaction; it is that we are reacting to things we cannot see. Once we lay bare the feeling or event that caused the reaction it all makes sense; it is then reaction not overreaction.

Let me explain. When something happens in the present it triggers off related feelings or memories on lower levels of consciousness—in the unconscious. It is what I term “resonance.” ( It may be that the nerve or neuronal circuits have the same frequency so that when one feels neglected or ignored it sets off memories of the parents neglecting us and we “overreact” to the slight in the present). It seems like an overreaction but it is not; what we are reacting to is just hidden from sight. That same feeling can resonate with being ignored in infancy; (no one comes when the baby is crying in the crib). What seems to be happening is that the synaptic weight of the memory is commensurate with the valence of the very early painful imprint. Each level of consciousness contributes its share to the total feeling that will coalesce to produce a unified, cohesive neuronal circuit, finally offering meaning and power to the event. It is that meaning/power that can drive one to kill when a girlfriend leaves her lover—“I feel abandoned (by mother). I can’t live without her.” Murder is clearly an overreaction but when placed in context we can at least understand it. Think of present-day trigger as a dredge that digs deeper and deeper widening access to the most powerful and remote memories. That dredge goes where the feeling leads it. It seeks out related events associated by feeling.
Although the resonance/frequency connects all the top and lower level circuits the weights of the memory are not the same. The valence of some memories is greater than others and become more powerful as we descend down the chain of feeling to the level of birth memories or even to events in the womb. 

The deeper circuits provide the impulsive, importuning force for some of our uncontrollable behavior, forcing us to “overreact”. We will scream and yell or even punch someone. The point is that when we approach the lower levels of imprinted pain we are also approaching the shark brain with all of its possibility for murderous rage. In my experience it is very rare that events in childhood can trigger off anything more than terrible anger and tantrums. In other words, when we start off life with heavy trauma at or before birth our later criminal/psychotic tendencies are given a boost and are better understood. Since those memories are so remote and sequestered we usually have no access to them; thus our current reactions remain a mystery. So something in the present sets off a gathering of these weights on each level which ultimately merge under the rubric of a feeling. The deepest levels of brain organization engender the most heavily weighted memory; it has to be because on that deep-lying level lives our survival mechanisms. On that level lives life-and-death events that require life-and-death reactions, including rage. It is the level we can only arrive at after one has integrated smaller less life-endangering events. The need to be picked up just after birth is primordial. That thwarted—unfulfilled need can turn into rage. Or at least it can be the trampoline that adds volatile fuel to the mix later in life. We can judge from someone’s behavior how deep the memory/imprint is. If there is uncontrolled, rageful, violent behavior we can be fairly certain that very early imprints, often during gestation and around birth, are behind it. In short, anger has levels. The most recent causes would not involve murderous behavior. But when coupled with traumas on even lower levels it can adumbrate into violent tendencies. It is when a current mild event sets off exaggerated reactions that we know how deep the imprinted painful memories go back. And when I discuss behavior it can also encompass symptoms—raging or violent headaches, for example. I had a patient who suffered from migraines. She took aspirins for it, and called these pills her little bullets. It is pretty clear symbolism.

In most current psychotherapies the focus of each session is the act-out of the feeling rather than on the feeling/need itself. This analysis of the by-ways of behavior is an interminable task, skimming the surface reactions. Focusing on the deep internal imprinted reality finally makes it all have sense. The problem is that we cannot approach that deep-lying force with words. We must speak the language encased in our most primitive nervous system. It is for this reason that psychotic rage cannot be treated with conventional psychotherapy. Thus a slight misunderstanding can provoke a massive outburst of behavior. In order to make a dent in our raging behavior we need to delve deep in the brain and its unconscious where the organization of rage gets its start. We can see why it is not a good idea to plunge people in remote and painful memories in psychotherapy because the system is not ready to integrate them. The patient will tumble into overload and the result is a scattered, dysfunctional human being. lost in symbolism. It is also not a good idea to keep all focus on the present when there are icebergs of feelings lying deep ready to disrupt our forward progress. In my patois,severe overreactions are when third line current events set off first-line, brainstem reactions. The feeling may be identical on all levels of brain function but their driving force is quite different. There is no way that a here-and-now behavioral approach is going to solve deep-lying historical tendencies.

23 comments:

  1. What is a need of love in relevance to a self who through neocortex chases ghosts?

    Frank

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  2. The exploited world for all the need!

    What is all the battle about of always win over others? You do not know for more than looking down on others and using it in your madness! You are also trying to win over your own children.

    Frank

    Frank

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  3. We live with a ticking bomb within ourselves for what obstacles neocortex makes its own interpretations.

    Frank

    ReplyDelete
  4. "God"... how I wish there was a god for whom was my daddy! My dad as I will never meet... what I miss my daddy!

    Frank

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  5. Behind anxiety hides a ocean of tears for what need for love was silenced!

    Frank

    ReplyDelete
  6. Loneliness!

    I look at the horizon... far away... no end! Forever I'll be there in my memories... just me... I recognize myself.

    Frank

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can cry forever!

    To become united with death to be a small child is a trial but its equal... as can only be done through tears necessary for our lives... if so.

    Frank

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  8. Setting the right questions is crucial for learning about the scientific context!

    If I know everything about how the brain works... then I mean it from a scientific context beyond what's now on the agenda to be science. But it still does not mean that I live within a scientific knowledge of it... to it needs an emotional relationship to what science tells about it... and we can hold on to our own perception forever if we do not have the emotional insight of it. Only then is it possible to ask the right questions for what science is all about. Of course... I do speak of a loving emotional relationship in our life for how we possibly can perceive science!

    But what and who is the one how sets the agenda for what scientific outflow should be all about?

    Frank

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  9. It's unbelievable how real my childhood is! It's really an atmosphere to enter when emotions are coming up... and what's the best... they have not overtaken me I've visited them in order to be remembered.

    The atmosphere is so real that it lives with me wherever I am. Actually... its the real of me without any deviations ... it's colored with memories for what I express to be the atmosphere... it for who I am... for what ever I have been... its just my memories that has failed... but failed for me to survive. There is so much to cry for.

    Frank

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  10. You can only exploit the exploited part of your brain... it was required to silence yourself... for whatever the outcome!

    Frank

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  11. A labyrinth for need for love!

    Hate prevents anxiety as are seen as a weakness and anxiety holds back all the tears for need of love hate can kill for!

    Frank

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  12. A labyrinth to search for need of love!

    Hate prevents anxiety as are seen as a weakness and anxiety holds back all the tears for need of love hate can kill for!

    Frank

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  13. Now I know why senility is such a common occurrence!

    If so... I would preferred to die in memories as five years old where I was closer to my self and had some hope for something better than I ever came close as an adult... as I otherwise has to die in a hell's suffering as an old man... so gets senility a meaning.

    But if I have the time to do my therapy... I do not need to regregate in my memories to die of suffering... I just need to spend my time because I am done with my pain that otherwise holds me unaware... which I then did not know anything about... I just was it.

    I met someone during my youth that beamed out of love and I remember her eyes and my experience of it... it was just she and me... it was like being alone with a flourishing love... if so only for a minute.

    So now I know what's out there to get when I'm ready for it. I do not know why it has been so hidden for me for more than the pain I had experienced when I tried to approach my need of love and I became unreal for the pain to be rejected.

    My words around this memory are without sense in trying to explaining... it's like something beyond my potential of mind to explain. I have a beautiful memory to lean on and it is beyond my adulthood to cope with... yet... or?

    Frank

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  14. We dont need to be confused!

    What a thing to be... confused because too much pain comes up without the slightest idea that it's what happens... it to protect myself from a total disaster... but not from what I need to do! What else do I need to know to understand that I have a big problem to shoulder? I am emotionally confused because the experience of my need is beyond all limits to what I can/could manage when I was so exposed that my life must be protected and I became confused to survive. What a symptoms to become aware of why... as will change my life.

    Frank

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  15. All that we are forced to understand... forced to be listening at is a barrier to not feel what we need to understand... need to feel in advantage to our life!


    When we can let go of all the must and be listen to ourselves then we have many answers we are looking for.

    Frank

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  16. Hi Art & all,

    Frequently I wake up fearful as sleep departs and my consciousness (what little of it I have) re-assembles, 1 - 2 -3.

    Along the way, I have noticed a melange in the early hours where dreams meet waking and nightmares driven by 1st line stuff creep or slam upward.

    Everything for me is infused with doom. gradually I re assemble my top crown and gain some control, some inspiration, not without cups of tea and food. I put down those old feelings and sensations and gradually 'get my act together'.
    Over time I get better at this cognitive / mindful trick (which is really only 'discipline re-booted') but do my feelings get resolved?

    Not without Primal Therapy.

    Paul G.

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  17. Wikipedia:

    "Primal therapy has since declined in popularity, partly because Janov has not demonstrated in research the outcomes necessary to convince research-oriented psychotherapists of its effectiveness."

    It should include another statement, like this:

    "However, millions of outsiders argue that all psychology-related professions are based on professionally-accepted subjective opinions to establish what is and what isn't credible evidence. This is an ongoing controversy, for it is difficult to verify exactly what it is that a patient is feeling, and what he/she should be feeling at any particular moment, and whether the feeling is beneficial to the patient's overall state of mind.

    To this end, no research-oriented psychotherapy has provided any evidence other than testimonials written by patients, of whom most are believed to be suffering from recurrence or a compulsive desire to please the therapist.

    However, Janov is the only research-oriented psychotherapist known to use hormone levels and vital signs as a measure of psychophysiological improvement. To date, Janov's peers have shown no interest in this type of evidence (citation needed).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard, sounds good, why don't you make the change and see if they accept it?

      Erron

      Delete
    2. Richard,

      so true, so frustrating, so bloody narcissistic too. The endless assumption being that those who have feelings must prove something to those who haven't or be ignored.

      I can't see red so red doesn't exist, prove me red exists etc etc.

      There ain't nobody so blind as those who cannot see. . . And so there ain't nobody so stupid as those who can't feel.

      Sight, insight, feeling - all of a piece and without connection - no peace.

      Paul G.

      Delete
    3. Hey Paul, thanks for the comment. I like the analogy, and if you don't mind me adding, for those who can't see colour then everything is black and white or they will argue that everything is black and white and shades of grey!

      Katherina

      Delete
    4. Katherina,

      Yep, Art made a post which mentioned how small squid repel with ink or embrace to eat. . . It's a very 'black & white', 'extole / systole' world driving our early brainstem and most people are compelled completely unconsciously to re - frame everything into an 'either / or' corral.

      It's boringly predictable sometimes and always shuts down conversation and debate. It's become a psychological control mechanism.

      This aspect of 'life out there' is what triggers my loneliness.

      Paul G.

      Delete
  18. To everyone who "undergone" primary therapy!

    In faith in god... we are small and beyond our will but close to ours need. Why it is so sensitive to choose another path... the path for whom we where/are in pain that made us suffer togetter with god! Yes we suffers together with ours believe in god.

    For you who believe in god in defense of experiencing what made you believe in god... to you I want to say that there is more to do in your primal therapy. To believe... for whatever your life-giving purpose is is as a function of not discovering what you gone through... it is a "me-sufficiency" in order not to feel the pain that caused it.

    We are a little child without any hope of anything but an endless loneliness! What can it not be worth to getting out of it and having a life if so a life where it hurts but we do not have to suffer.

    Frank

    ReplyDelete
  19. Being the child I am/was is a satisfactory even when I had to walk alone and was afraid to go home... it's still me myself and it can not be comparable with anything else. It's probably the easiest to be just once we get there!

    Frank

    ReplyDelete

Review of "Beyond Belief"

This thought-provoking and important book shows how people are drawn toward dangerous beliefs.
“Belief can manifest itself in world-changing ways—and did, in some of history’s ugliest moments, from the rise of Adolf Hitler to the Jonestown mass suicide in 1979. Arthur Janov, a renowned psychologist who penned The Primal Scream, fearlessly tackles the subject of why and how strong believers willingly embrace even the most deranged leaders.
Beyond Belief begins with a lucid explanation of belief systems that, writes Janov, “are maps, something to help us navigate through life more effectively.” While belief systems are not presented as inherently bad, the author concentrates not just on why people adopt belief systems, but why “alienated individuals” in particular seek out “belief systems on the fringes.” The result is a book that is both illuminating and sobering. It explores, for example, how a strongly-held belief can lead radical Islamist jihadists to murder others in suicide acts. Janov writes, “I believe if people had more love in this life, they would not be so anxious to end it in favor of some imaginary existence.”
One of the most compelling aspects of Beyond Belief is the author’s liberal use of case studies, most of which are related in the first person by individuals whose lives were dramatically affected by their involvement in cults. These stories offer an exceptional perspective on the manner in which belief systems can take hold and shape one’s experiences. Joan’s tale, for instance, both engaging and disturbing, describes what it was like to join the Hare Krishnas. Even though she left the sect, observing that participants “are stunted in spiritual awareness,” Joan considers returning someday because “there’s a certain protection there.”
Janov’s great insight into cultish leaders is particularly interesting; he believes such people have had childhoods in which they were “rejected and unloved,” because “only unloved people want to become the wise man or woman (although it is usually male) imparting words of wisdom to others.” This is just one reason why Beyond Belief is such a thought-provoking, important book.”
Barry Silverstein, Freelance Writer

Quotes for "Life Before Birth"

“Life Before Birth is a thrilling journey of discovery, a real joy to read. Janov writes like no one else on the human mind—engaging, brilliant, passionate, and honest.
He is the best writer today on what makes us human—he shows us how the mind works, how it goes wrong, and how to put it right . . . He presents a brand-new approach to dealing with depression, emotional pain, anxiety, and addiction.”
Paul Thompson, PhD, Professor of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine

Art Janov, one of the pioneers of fetal and early infant experiences and future mental health issues, offers a robust vision of how the earliest traumas of life can percolate through the brains, minds and lives of individuals. He focuses on both the shifting tides of brain emotional systems and the life-long consequences that can result, as well as the novel interventions, and clinical understanding, that need to be implemented in order to bring about the brain-mind changes that can restore affective equanimity. The transitions from feelings of persistent affective turmoil to psychological wholeness, requires both an understanding of the brain changes and a therapist that can work with the affective mind at primary-process levels. Life Before Birth, is a manifesto that provides a robust argument for increasing attention to the neuro-mental lives of fetuses and infants, and the widespread ramifications on mental health if we do not. Without an accurate developmental history of troubled minds, coordinated with a recognition of the primal emotional powers of the lowest ancestral regions of the human brain, therapists will be lost in their attempt to restore psychological balance.
Jaak Panksepp, Ph.D.
Bailey Endowed Chair of Animal Well Being Science
Washington State University

Dr. Janov’s essential insight—that our earliest experiences strongly influence later well being—is no longer in doubt. Thanks to advances in neuroscience, immunology, and epigenetics, we can now see some of the mechanisms of action at the heart of these developmental processes. His long-held belief that the brain, human development, and psychological well being need to studied in the context of evolution—from the brainstem up—now lies at the heart of the integration of neuroscience and psychotherapy.
Grounded in these two principles, Dr. Janov continues to explore the lifelong impact of prenatal, birth, and early experiences on our brains and minds. Simultaneously “old school” and revolutionary, he synthesizes traditional psychodynamic theories with cutting-edge science while consistently highlighting the limitations of a strict, “top-down” talking cure. Whether or not you agree with his philosophical assumptions, therapeutic practices, or theoretical conclusions, I promise you an interesting and thought-provoking journey.
Lou Cozolino, PsyD, Professor of Psychology, Pepperdine University


In Life Before Birth Dr. Arthur Janov illuminates the sources of much that happens during life after birth. Lucidly, the pioneer of primal therapy provides the scientific rationale for treatments that take us through our original, non-verbal memories—to essential depths of experience that the superficial cognitive-behavioral modalities currently in fashion cannot possibly touch, let alone transform.
Gabor Maté MD, author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction

An expansive analysis! This book attempts to explain the impact of critical developmental windows in the past, implores us to improve the lives of pregnant women in the present, and has implications for understanding our children, ourselves, and our collective future. I’m not sure whether primal therapy works or not, but it certainly deserves systematic testing in well-designed, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trials.
K.J.S. Anand, MBBS, D. Phil, FAACP, FCCM, FRCPCH, Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Anatomy & Neurobiology, Senior Scholar, Center for Excellence in Faith and Health, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare System


A baby's brain grows more while in the womb than at any time in a child's life. Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script That Rules Our Lives is a valuable guide to creating healthier babies and offers insight into healing our early primal wounds. Dr. Janov integrates the most recent scientific research about prenatal development with the psychobiological reality that these early experiences do cast a long shadow over our entire lifespan. With a wealth of experience and a history of successful psychotherapeutic treatment, Dr. Janov is well positioned to speak with clarity and precision on a topic that remains critically important.
Paula Thomson, PsyD, Associate Professor, California State University, Northridge & Professor Emeritus, York University

"I am enthralled.
Dr. Janov has crafted a compelling and prophetic opus that could rightly dictate
PhD thesis topics for decades to come. Devoid of any "New Age" pseudoscience,
this work never strays from scientific orthodoxy and yet is perfectly accessible and
downright fascinating to any lay person interested in the mysteries of the human psyche."
Dr. Bernard Park, MD, MPH

His new book “Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script that Rules Our Lives” shows that primal therapy, the lower-brain therapeutic method popularized in the 1970’s international bestseller “Primal Scream” and his early work with John Lennon, may help alleviate depression and anxiety disorders, normalize blood pressure and serotonin levels, and improve the functioning of the immune system.
One of the book’s most intriguing theories is that fetal imprinting, an evolutionary strategy to prepare children to cope with life, establishes a permanent set-point in a child's physiology. Baby's born to mothers highly anxious during pregnancy, whether from war, natural disasters, failed marriages, or other stressful life conditions, may thus be prone to mental illness and brain dysfunction later in life. Early traumatic events such as low oxygen at birth, painkillers and antidepressants administered to the mother during pregnancy, poor maternal nutrition, and a lack of parental affection in the first years of life may compound the effect.
In making the case for a brand-new, unified field theory of psychotherapy, Dr. Janov weaves together the evolutionary theories of Jean Baptiste Larmarck, the fetal development studies of Vivette Glover and K.J.S. Anand, and fascinating new research by the psychiatrist Elissa Epel suggesting that telomeres—a region of repetitive DNA critical in predicting life expectancy—may be significantly altered during pregnancy.
After explaining how hormonal and neurologic processes in the womb provide a blueprint for later mental illness and disease, Dr. Janov charts a revolutionary new course for psychotherapy. He provides a sharp critique of cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, and other popular “talk therapy” models for treating addiction and mental illness, which he argues do not reach the limbic system and brainstem, where the effects of early trauma are registered in the nervous system.
“Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script that Rules Our Lives” is scheduled to be published by NTI Upstream in October 2011, and has tremendous implications for the future of modern psychology, pediatrics, pregnancy, and women’s health.
Editor