Bad. It’s a silly theory and a very silly diagnosis, yet that is what my doctor diagnosed me as having. A bad brain. He said my bad brain was the cause of my anxiety and panic attacks decades ago. (Clearly he knew nothing about neuroscience or the two types of memory.)
His bad brain theory was wrong.
The bad brain theory totally ignores the fact that anxiety and panic come from a very good brain…a brain that is doing its job to keep you safe. The writer F. Scott Fitzgerald understood this. He penned, “So we beat on, boats against the current, some borne back ceaselessly into the past.” And writer Eugene O’Neill said, “There is no present or future, only the past, happening over and over again, now.” It seems we can not escape the past, and its grip on our thinking and feeling.
Or can we?
Since the dawn of time when man first walked upright, our nervous systems were biologically wired to remember every threat to our existence so we could avoid it in the future. Since we are a somewhat disadvantaged species in the wild, (no talons, brute strength, fangs, venom, etc. ) we tend to react to “false positives,” that is, to react to learned signs of danger even when there is no danger present. The distressing memory of a past event that was dangerous or threatening then is not a sign of a dysfunction or disorder, but rather a sign the brain is working to ensure survival. The emotional brain is actually working properly.
There are two types of memory. Episodic and Emotional Implicit. Episodic memory is the narrative about the events that happened, or the story line. Emotional implicit memory, or nonverbal memory is the feelings about the event. Both are stored in different areas of the brain. To overcome being stuck tirelessly in the past to distressing emotions borne on the back of traumatic events, we need to retrain the brain. Can this be done?
Russian psychologist Pavlov showed the world with his famous salivating dog that the brain is tough to trick into changing once it has been taught a response. The neural circuits of learning were thought to be enduring. It seemed that once learned, always learned.
Enter good news. In 1997, scientists showed that the brain was very capable of unlearning, essentially erasing the emotional memory from the nervous system. Brain researchers called this process Memory Reconsolidation. In 2004, scientist Hector Maldonado showed how this can be done on crabs in a lab in Argentina. And the good news is the process works on human beings too.
I’ve got to scoot out to the nursery and buy more flowers. But I will continue this tomorrow.
Lest you think I am far more intelligent than I really am, I am culling this information from an article my dear friend and colleague, social neuroscientist translator Dr. Mark Brady sent me.
Toodles!
Cant wait to hear more about this..
Tell me more about this if you could. It describes what I experience.
Sent from my iPhone
Very interesting information!
Back in 2004 a doctor told me I had “bad wiring” in my brain….I didn’t believe him then and still don’t.
I’ve tried a few supplements with limited success, but recently I purchased a supplement called “JNK” that has really improved my mental alertness, reduced the “mental fogs”, has helped my brain focus a lot and generally has increased my energy levels.
It’s only been 5 days since I started taking JNK, but so far, so good. If anyone is interested, let me know as there are several types to choose from, but only one that is the best and most effective.
Nothing works as well as time passed to allow the brain and body to recover, but if this supplement keeps doing good things, I’ll stick with it.
I told a friend last night that if I was ever in a war zone again I’d choose a “benzo survivor” over the Special Forces men I served with in Vietnam in a heartbeat….and I’m not letting my imagination run wild….all due respect to my former comrades, but if they knew what we know, I’m sure they would agree.
The courage we embrace to achieve our goals is incredible.
I don’t feel we do all this to become heroes, but we will become the strongest people walking the planet.
My friend asked me why and how I keep pushing myself to achieve my benzo freedom. I didn’t have an answer that I could put into words.
I did tell her that my mindset was so strong and fixed that nothing short of death would get in my way to realize my determination for a life I deserve to live and enjoy….there is no gray area, no turning back and while I now understand the personal cost and sacrifices I make along the way, I will do this.
I could easily say good luck to everyone in the heat of the benzo battle…but luck doesn’t have a damn thing to do with our mission and success..