Lately, when I watch the news I am more and more often reminded of a Star Trek episode cleverly entitled "Spock's Brain." In it the prerequisite nubile alien female humanoids steal Spock's gray matter in order to save their planet. We are led to deduce that they ned his brain because they don't have brains of their own. Of course, Captain Kirk can't let his first officer wander about witless and he leans on the aliens to release the captive, throbbing brain. After 40 minutes of back and forth, one of the alien women stamps her foot and whines, "BRAIN, BRAIN, WHAT IS BRAIN?"
There is so little thoughtfulness on television now that when I see an interview conducted by the likes of Lou Dobbs and Mr. Rose with genuine respect, time and interest in the subject matter, I am moved to tears and renewed with hope. But these Maxwell House moments are few and far between. For the most part, fear is medium and the message. Everything is sold by it and through it: politics, cars, insurance, medicine, homes, magazines, food. It has seeped into our cells the way pollutants drip slowly and invisibly into our aquifers. You can't see it, you can't taste it, and you can't point to it. But its presence is there nevertheless.
I have been working with fear and fearful people for twenty years. I was (and can still occasionally be) a fearful person. I have watched it, felt it, wrote about it, and helped heal people from it. As a result, I've learned a few things about fear, particularly what I call viral fear.
Fact One: Fear is necessary. It is a primary emotion, meaning it derives from the limbic system and is designed with the express purpose of promoting our survival, individually and as a species. It is an instantaneous response to a perceived threat. Interestingly pleasure takes upwards of 3 seconds for the brain to recognize, but fear takes literally no time at all. The reason is fairly clear: pleasure is nice but we don't require it to live. Fear is essential. It tells us a train is barreling towards us on the tracks and that we need to jump out of the way--NOW!
The point here is that not all fear is bad or useless and not all threats are empty. The wise amongst us will be able to discern what is true.
Fact 2: Fear CAN be misused. As the mystics have said over and over, intention manifests whether we like it or not. We, as a species, leak. When manipulated as a tool to promote an individual's or group's agenda, it is grossly misused and the individual towards whom it is directed has a few options, none of them good. 1. Because at some level we can recognize the existence of those ulterior motives, we do not sincerely believe we are endangered and become inured to the adrenal sirens. We go numb under the relentless battery of wave after wave of red alerts that no longer hold any meaning. This is the new version of the boy who cried wolf. 2. We become so afraid, are so constantly in a state of terror, that we become paralyzed. This is what I think most Americans have done. You can see that particular state of mind demonstrated in the amount of TV we watch, in the amount of food we eat, and in the amount of passive entertainment we require and demand. And always in increasing levels of intensity and quantity.
Fear is a powerful and painful motivator, as it well should be. But when misused, it is as dangerous as a random plutonium shower, invisibly infecting everything and perverting it all.
www.wordsaremedicine.com
J. Acosta is a writer and practicing clinical psychotherapist. She has written two books: THE WORST IS OVER (2002, Jodere) and THE NEXT OSAMA (2006). Her third is due to come out some time next year and she is currently in the middle of her fourth.
She has her practice in New Mexico with her canine therapeutic assistants. She has worked with anxiety and fear in patients for twenty years. She has watched it, felt it, wrote about it, and helped heal people from it. As a result, she has learned a few things about fear, particularly that growing epidemic she calls VIRAL FEAR.
I remember reading an article talking about how this Terrorism brings a heightened awareness with it. Fear as enlightenment. This may tell you something about the deeper underlying motivations of the controlers so far in the 21st century.
RED ALERT!!!!!! lol
by
"Hoss" David P. (51 articles, 5 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 339 comments)
on Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 3:32:44 PM
Thanks for your comment. I am intrigued. Who said that panic was a form of enlightenment? And what precisely are they referring to?
There are certain "heightened states of arousal" associated with intense fear in which we can sometimes see more acutely, smell more, hear more, etc... That is a function of the limbic system and our perception that our survival is being threatened.
I think that is substantially different than "enlightenment", which, whether you study mystics or physicists, seems to point to a state of grace or unity with all things. And even though many people talk about feeling that their senses are heightened, their actual body chemistry is quite different as are their brain waves. People who are in states of grace don't tend to act like people with post-traumatic stress disorder, they tend to be more thoughtful, more open to possibility, less self-reportedly anxious, less likely to respond precipitously or violently in an uncertain predicament.
If you have any more information on that idea, I'd be very interested to hear about.
Again, thanks for your comment.
Jude Acosta
by
JAcosta (15 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 9 comments)
on Monday, December 11, 2006 at 10:04:10 AM
Heightened Awareness in the mystical sense means, to me anyway, seeing more than you "normally" see. Pulling aside the veil to mysteries, so to speak. Realizing that the 3 dimensional, quantifiable, existing in space and time aspect of your being is not all there is.
Heightened Awareness designed by the controller and force fed to you is all about fear. A controller always wants you reacting or cowering and not thinking or knowing about what's really being done to you,( Denial is a defence mechanism) and if you know, fear of questioning or resisting the controller. And if you resist, Fear for your liberty or life.
We need look no further than simple control paradigms in people to people relationships to see this work elementally. Domestic Violence and verbal abuse for example. But here of course the fear is palatable and consequences immediate and tangible. The abused steps out of line and there you go. The heightened awareness of the Abused is what in these unfortunate, all too common, relationships?
You know this is similar, if not quite as immediate or tangible, as the insidious fear of living under this constant, relentless, government and media driven threat of Terrorism. Add in the threat of Imprisonment without habeus corpus or access to counsul and Horror stories of people already imprisoned in this way, soon you start to watch your step and keep your head low and more and more of your attention on the controllers. A heightened attention at the expense of your confidence and esteem. Instead of being a free man you become something less. Dumbed down and beat down. I think you know what I was getting at now.
I see you reissued your Saturdays(17) article Monday(19) without my comments. I hope my comments didn't offend you in some way.
I also hope you find this comment.
I'm not notified when people reply to my comments. I just happened to come back to this article and find your question.
Hoss.
by
"Hoss" David P. (51 articles, 5 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 339 comments)
on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 1:55:39 PM
Thanks for letting me practice my writing on your articles. I am aware that I have a long long way to go.
I think I have thoughts and opinions, but this art you have already mastered. I'm just beginning to learn how to express myself in clear, cogent writing.
Merry Christmas
Hoss
by
"Hoss" David P. (51 articles, 5 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 339 comments)
on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 7:19:50 PM
