In recent postings I have been perhaps unnecessarily sharp in my responses to
those who use elaborate philosophical structures and difficult language to
explain the workings of the mind. I used to think Freud was dense and
unreadable--until I read him in German. Such clarity, such economy of
language! Strachey's obfuscations have done much, I fear, to the fostering
of often impenetrable philosophical musings and to the unfortunate popular
(and often professional) ridicule of Freud and of psychoanalysis.
If my emotions and my behaviors are ultimately based on simple concepts and
misconcepts about myself and my world, as psychoanalytic theory holds, obscure
theory and language will not help me solve them. I must solve them on a level
that is accessible to me at a more primitive--and certaily not obscurely
philosophic--level.
I have tried to rise to the challende and have developed a simplified theory
of emotions, behavior and psychopathology that is based on research findings
and is accessible to, and compatible with, almost all schools and theories. I
invite comments and critiques.
My theory is based on two hypothetical constructs.
1. The Survival Brain System (SBS).
2. Somats
The SBS encompasses what is variously referred to as the limbic system, the
mammalian brain, the mid-brain, the unconscious, the emotional brain. It is a
hypothetical system and not a specific organ or location. The SBS functions
with virtually instantaneous speed. It is capable of one-shot learning. It
continually scans the environment (including the body and its sensations) and
continuously compares it with memories of past events and past solutions.
These memories are virtually inerradicable. SBS learning takes place
especially when the Cognitive Brain System is not fully functioning--infancy,
stress, disease, altered states.
The SBS prompts rapid survival responses to perceived threats minor and major.
The response prompts are often acted upon--stepping back when a large object
or shadow looms, jumping when startled, squaring (or slumping) of shoulders,
clenching of fists, tears, sneers, smiles, making fists, preparing the body
for surrender. Whether acted upon or physically held in check, the survival
prompts give rise to a large variety of subtle physical sensations in the
body, and changes in the physical sensations. These bodily sensations are
often termed "feelings" in common parlance. That word, however, is so vague,
carries so much baggage, and is so misused, that it leads only to
misunderstanding. I have coined a noun, "Somat," defined as "the smallest
potentially perceptible unit of body sensation or change of body sensation
that results from prompts by the SBS, and that is the basis for emotional and
behavioral responses."
Emotion can then be defined as a cognitive intepretation of somats in the
light of cognitive memories, cognitive values and societal expectations. To
put it another way, emotional response to the same physical prompts (somats)
varies with situational variations and intepretations.
When somats are allowed to come to clear and rapid awareness, they allow
optimal response and optimal emotions. When they are misunderstood, repressed
or misinterpreted, they lead to suboptimal response. Somats themselves are
perceived, scanned and evlauated by the SBS and thus give rise to new series
of somats that may snowball into powerful and incontrollable impulses. Rapid
awareness of the somats allows rapid response to the somats: the beating
heart can be slowed, the impulse to tears can be stilled, the body can reduce
its vigilance, fear can become neutralized. Inappropriate interpretations and
misunderstood sensations do not concatenate into catastrophic responses.
When the somats are misunderstood, distrusted, or repressed, response to the
somats is inappropriate (and often delayed) and may lead to pathological and
psychopathological developments. My research (N = 1000+) suggests that those
who have devdeloped rapid awareness of the physical components of their
emotions (i.e. somats) are emotionally healthier, more content, more creative
and warmer in their social interactions than those who lack those skills. It
also shows that psychotherapies (and certain physical modalities such as dance
therapy, and spiritual practices such as meditation) are effective in
fostering mental health and contentment to the extent that they foster greater
awareness of somats. Furthermore, the most effective "therapeutic
interventions" are those that combine psychotherapy with bodily and spiritual
modalities. There is also a strong suggestion that inappropriate learned
response patterns are best unlearned in a setting of altered (non-cognitive)
states of consciousness, i.e. in a setting similar to that in which they first
became components of the SBS's memory bank.
I'd appreciate your critique.
Michael Bernet, PhD
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