Well, it's Tuesday morning and it's kind of overcast and muggy here in Chicago. My father called this morning and told me my Uncle Rusty died. He was a World War II veteran and had a law practice in Sumter, SC for years. I have very fond memories of him. He was a great guy! My condolences to his wife, son, and granddaughter.
If you've followed my work you know I'm huge on the physiological workings of panic, and passing on what I've learned. I think this is foundational in recovery. Wrote an article yesterday on the impact of the amygdala and the limbic system on panic. Here are three blurbs...
"The amygdala moves into vigorous motion in response to threatening sensory input, real or perceived. And don't ever forget those last three words. Indeed, as the amygdala is stimulated electronically in the laboratory animals respond with aggression. Taking it to the extreme, if the amygdala is removed an animal's rage response to agitating stimuli falls by the wayside. Fear and sexual responses go out the door as well. And how ‘bout this factoid? The amygdala has the most structural variance between the genders of any brain structure. And, oh by the way, the amygdala shrinks by some 30 percent when a male animal is castrated. Ouch."
"The amygdala is a card-carrying member of the brain's limbic system. The word "limbic" is derived from the Latin, "limbis," meaning a border, edge, or fringe of an object. The term "limbic system" was coined by 19th Century French anatomist, Dr. Paul Broca, who used the term in reference to the tissue he found surrounding the brain stem and beneath a piece of brain anatomy known as the neocortal mantle. The limbic system is all about the memory and motivation components of emotion; and its star players, for our immediate purposes, are, indeed, the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the hypothalamus."
"Again, what an incredible mechanism this truly is; however, as it applies to panic there's a major drawback. In the face of fear, the amygdala is the dominant of the two structures. And once the amygdala starts beating the drums it's really tough for the prefrontal cortex to convince it to knock it off. And without practiced intervention it really doesn't stand much of a chance. That‘s what paves the way for misinterpretation of sensory input, leading to overreaction to truly harmless stimuli. And that's at the very foundation of panic."
As always, just click here to access the entire article.
Hey! Have a swell Tuesday. Bill
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Your dime, your dance floor. My only requests are to watch your language and really consider where people are coming from if you're directing comments at what someone's expressed.