Those mental torments are common. This suggests that they have their uses. What might these be? In their various ways they are about changing minds; about helping your mindbrain to drop one point of view and pick up another.
The human mindbrain evolved during the time of our foraging ancestors – this was both before and after language appeared. The purpose of sense organs and the mindbrain is to gather and make sense of information about the external environment so that the foragers could find food and water and avoid being eaten by predators, infected by parasites, and attacked by other human groups.
The African savanna was a tough place to live. Our ancestors had to keep their wits about them if they were to survive. Those who lay dosing in the sun were likely to become a lion’s lunch. Evolution would favor those who were a bit neurotic, paranoid and pessimistic and who thought they saw dangers lurking behind every bush.
Rick Hanson – an eminent psychologist and neurologist - reckons that most human beings have a ‘negativity bias’. They “always look on the bleak side of life.” They are restless, anxious and are intimately awake to and aware of what is going on in their immediate environment – even if only in their imagination. And the adrenalin based, fight or flight system has evolved to make sure that when they need to react swiftly people are well able to do so. Act first, reflect later. Panic is positive rather than pathological.
And the same might be said about depression. It is the mindbrain’s way of letting go of viewpoints that have passed their sell by date - and thus making space for new viewpoints to arise. It is well recognized that many creative people suffer from bouts of depression. It helps them to dream up new ways to be human. This is useful and adaptive.
Most people in a given culture settle into ‘group think’ and thus resist change. This is a good thing when the environment is static - but it is dangerous during periods of rapid change. Think of sheep with their shepherd, or of subjects with their king. Think also of a market place for freelance consultants and advisors who are prone to being alternately creative and depressed.
There tends to be a love/ hate relationship between normal people in leader/led groups and those on the intellectual fringes. As Shakespeare’s Caesar said of Brutus, “That man thinks too much; such men are dangerous.” It is a tricky business for those in power to prevent the prevailing world view from completely falling apart when faced with radical changes. How might peaceful evolution be ensured rather than violent revolution. How might things be managed such that there is enough variability to make selection possible. To what extent might the free press be free? Good questions!
In what remains of this article I will play with the four concepts – anxiety, panic, depression and stress. First there is a table lining up synonyms and antonyms. This shows fear, worry and despondency (pessimism) lined up against serenity, calm and happiness (optimism). Given the human ‘negativity bias’ it might be said that pessimism outweighs optimism. But, then again, we might be at a stage in human evolution when that balance changes.
The next section offers everyday definitions from various online dictionaries; and there are also links to respectable health websites which explain the concepts more rigorously.
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Anxiety = distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune.
Psychiatry. a state of apprehension and psychic tension occurring in some forms of mental disorder.
Synonyms: fear, foreboding, worry, disquiet.
Antonyms: certainty, serenity, tranquillity.
More - http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/understanding-stress.aspx
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Panic =
- A sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior, and that often spreads quickly through a group of persons or animals.
- A sudden overpowering feeling of terror.
Synonyms: fear, fright, terror, dread
Antonyms: calm, self-control
More: http://www.patient.co.uk/blogs/sarah-says/2013/03/panic-attacks---nothing-to-panic-about
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Depression = sadness; gloom; dejection. The condition of feeling sad or despondent.
Psychiatry.
- A condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal
- Sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason
- A mental disorder characterized by extreme gloom, feelings of inadequacy, and inability to concentrate.
- A psychotic or neurotic condition characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, and feelings of extreme sadness, dejection, and hopelessness
- A mood disorder characterized by an inability to experience pleasure, difficulty in concentrating, disturbance of sleep and appetite, and feelings of sadness, guilt, and helplessness.
Synonyms: discouragement, despondency, melancholy
Antonyms: elation, happiness
More: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/depression-leaflet
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Stress =
- Mental, emotional, or physical strain or tension
- A physical or psychological stimulus that can produce mental tension or physiological reactions that may lead to illness.
- A physiologic reaction by an organism to an uncomfortable or unfamiliar physical or psychological stimulus. Biological changes result from stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, including a heightened state of alertness, anxiety, increased heart rate, and sweating
Synonyms: strain, anxiety, worry, tension
Antonyms: ease, peace
More - http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/understanding-stress.aspx
The point I was making earlier is that various forms of cognitive and emotional dis-ease are adaptive rather than pathological. Life is such that normal people have their ups and downs while abnormal people have more or less. But if there is normal then there must also be the sub-normal and the supra-normal; and there are two ways of being supra-normal (see table)
The pharmaceutical industries (Big Pharma) have vested interests in pathologising the various human mental conditions and then manufacturing a pill to ‘cure’ them. (eg ref – the Prozac nation) There are also traditional mind changing medications ranging from the relatively mild tea, coffee, nicotine and alcohol through a wide variety of potent hallucigenic drugs some of which are used in religious procedures.
I am not sure about the category of sub-normal in the above table. Theoretically such people exist – but I do not know any. I have come to the conclusion that most of those who appear to be at peace are in fact just good at putting on a brave face.
Normal people are tainted by their Negativity Bias. They are glum pessimists. “In life there is suffering” (The First Noble Truth of Buddhism) But children are produced anyway. If nothing else it gives adults something to keep their attention occupied for the 20 years or so that it takes to fulfill the parental contract.
The supra-normal (A) and (B) characters have been around since the beginnings of written history. They wrote most of it and may thus have been biased! A classic case is that of Confucianism (Type A) skirmishing with Taoism (Type B)) to be favored by the state in China. It is a complex issue where ‘scientific’ type thinking is pitted against the non-scientific (mystical. spiritual, religious etc).
Ken Wilber has the concept of the pre-trans fallacy when thinking about those who do not suffer the ups and downs in life. After nine months in the womb the infant is attended to for several years by hormonically driven parents and extended family. This is the pre-language phase which is largely non-egoic. When language arrives it screws things up. The normal human head is in an existential mess. There are two ways that it can go.
The freelance philosophers are mainly scientific thinkers driven by paradigms that follow a dialectic of thesis, antithesis, synthesis. This is the natural home of the intellectuals and academics who share office space with their applied associates who build bridges and put men on the moon.
Type (A) characters go along the road of more numerous and more powerful ups and downs. Type (B) characters no longer have ups and downs. This is because they have changed their minds. Rather than being pre-conscious like a baby, they have transcended the normal, language-based dialectical approach. By sitting quietly and dropping off their body and mind they come to realise non-egoicity that is free of time and space. It is the mindset of a kung-fu master – calm, compassionate and effective.
“Sitting quietly doing nothing,
Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.”
So, it is possible for people to be on an even keel and to know the state of relatively stress-free peace, of transcendent bliss. Our stressors evolved for a purpose. We would not want to be totally free of anxious panic and stressing depression; but we can achieve a state of mind where their impact is minimal.
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