A well-functioning balanced SEEKING system is essential to physical and emotional health. When the system is under-or over stimulated It can promote emotional disorders, ranging from depression to psychosis.
Through many years of lab research with rats and other mammals, Jaak Panksepp discovered seven primal affects that all mammals (including humans) share.
Seven Primary Affect Systems
- SEEKING (expectancy)
- RAGE (anger)
- FEAR (anxiety)
- LUST (sexual excitement)
- CARE (nurturance)
- PANIC/GRIEF (sadness)
- PLAY (social joy)
LUST generates SEEKING for sex and for CARING love. For some people who lead lonely lives, this SEEKING can be painful. If finally, they find someone but after a dopamine bliss things go south and dopamine drains away, GRIEF and depression ensues and for some RAGE.
Depressive feelings are a part of a chronically under active SEEKING system, for instance, following repeated frustrations or during withdrawal from addiction to amphetamines and cocaine.
On the other hand, schizophrenia, mania, and psychotic delusions arise with an overcharged SEEKING system, when the system is grossly overstimulated with dopamine. Thinking runs wild, resulting in rampant and often erroneous conclusions. The enhanced sense of self, which is also typical of SEEKING arousal, can also take on unrealistic proportions, resulting in psychotic delusions of grandeur.
Drugs of abuse like amphetamines and cocaine are very effective stimulants of the SEEKING system because they increase the availability of dopamine in the synaptic clefts, the communication channels between neurons. Such drugs are easily abused, and they hypersensitize SEEKING urges, making people even more responsive to addictive drugs.
Antipsychotic Medications
Dopamine is the main chemical that arouses the SEEKING system. Dopamine binds with molecules known as receptors. Excessive activity of dopamine at one of these receptors (D2 receptor) causes or possibly only correlates with schizophrenic symptoms. Antipsychotic drugs block the receptor from binding with the SEEKING receptors and this reduces delusions and hallucinations.
Antipsychotic drugs reduce the strength of delusions but do not change their content. They may still feel they are being followed, but not enough to ruin their lives.
When you block the dopamine receptors, you reduce the SEEKING urge and the psychotic symptoms. But you need a balance because if you take away the SEEKING urge, you are left with depression and GRIEF.
Adjunctive Behaviors
When the SEEKING system is overstimulated but not enough to cause psychosis, it generates repetitive, ritualistic and compulsive behaviors. This will happen even with animals.
If a lab animal is hungry but you only give them small bits of food and not enough to satisfy their hunger, the SEEKING system is aroused. But they have no place to search for food. These animals engage in what is called adjunctive behaviors. For example, a hungry rat might run excessively in a running wheel. Another rat may shred paper. Another gnaws on wood. And another drinks copious amounts of water. These behaviors that are not related to their bodily needs are called adjunctive.
People who are hungry may pace back and forth. People denied sex and CARING may engage in a range of seemingly odd, repetitive and ritualistic behaviors. Is this is why I’m sitting at my computer all day researching and writing on this glorious, sunny spring day? ;>)
Jaak Panksepp said, “A major goal of psychotherapy is to promote cognitive control of affective processes.” You promote cognitive control with Insight Meditation, Ki Breathing Meditation, Open Focus, and Attention Therapy.
The goal is a balanced SEEKING system, not stopping emotions from suddenly surfacing. You can’t stop thoughts and you can’t stop feelings from suddenly surfacing into your consciousness. But you can balance your SEEKING system with forms of meditation.
Managing SEEKING
You manage SEEKING and all emotions with Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) and some of the attention therapies such as Ki Breathing Meditation, Open Focus, Insight Meditation, Metacognitive Therapy (MCT), and Bibliotherapy. These therapies will be infective, though, unless they are well understood and practiced on a regular basis so that they become tools you call upon on demand.
Self-help books that help:
Total Self-Renewal through Attention Therapies and Open Focus
The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body
