Jaak Panksepp initially called the sixth affect system the PANIC SYSTEM to reflect what goes on deep in the subcortical brain.
Seven Primary Affect Systems
- SEEKING or expectance
- RAGE
- FEAR
- LUST
- CARING
- PANIC/GRIEF
- PLAY
PANIC/GRIEF System
When infants and young children experience separation from their mother and poor attachment, they experience chronic anxiety. GRIEF comes later in the higher cortical thinking level of the brain. When older people are deprived of companionship they tend to feel lonely and sad rather than panicky like little children. Adults have had the time to reflect and ruminate and cognitively adjust to social loss.
Opioids
Before the present era of psycho-pharmacology, the effective psychiatric medicines available to psychiatrists were opioids. Their patients were socially isolated and social isolation is similar to maternal separation. When babies bond with their mothers this stimulates endogenous opioids and makes them happy.When psychiatrists gave opioids to their unhappy patients, it made them happy as well.. When bonding and social contact breaks down, so do opioids, leaving GRIEF in its place. Replace the opioids and feelings are good again. Endogenous or pharmacological, opioids make people happy.
Three neuropeptide brain chemicals (endogenous) strongly reduce GRIEF. Strongest are endogenous opioids. The pharmacological forms of morphine and heroin have the same effect. The two others are oxytocin and prolactin, both important in the CARE system. So when brain opioids, oxytocin, or prolactin are elevated in distressed infants, they relax and exhibit signs of comfort usually displayed when enjoying the comfort of a nurturing mother.
Brain imaging studies confirm that depressed people who lack adequate social support have low levels of these social-affect endogenous molecules in their brains, making them more likely to abuse addictive drugs.
“GRIEF may be the most powerful affective network of the human brain, one from which we can never be fully shielded by the many safety nets of modern cultural institutions. When we have secure attachments to loving others, we are granted a lifelong gift. When attachment processes are impaired, the diverse manifestations of psychic pain within the higher mental apparatus can lead to chronic feelings of distress throughout life. This distress often encumbers the way in which we can relate to others.
A variety of comforting environmental stimuli can unconditionally result in the secretion of endogenous brain chemicals. Bodily warmth, familiar maternal odors, soothing voices, even sugar-water quiets babies. Then opioid release becomes conditioned, ie learning to love others who remind them of mother, perhaps whose smell resembles mother, or even music associated with mother.
Well-Bonded Makes All the Difference
As well-bonded children grow up into adulthood, they learn social skills that keep him close to friends and relations. They develop skills and distractions that enable them to cope with inevitable periods of loneliness. They don’t experience extended periods of GRIEF that slows opioid secretion in their brains as with poorly attached or bonded children. Poorly bonded children lack social skills and don’t develop ways to cope with loneliness. They experience stress, GRIEF and PANIC.
The poorly attached and bonded live a vicious cycle of loneliness, GRIEF and PANIC.
A dearth of endogenous opioids and oxytocin may result in feelings of loneliness and depression. These feelings of loneliness and depression then block the production of endogenous chemicals.
Opiates for the Poorly Bonded
“Modest doses of opiates are effective antidepressants that take rapid effect, in contrast to the matter of weeks that current medications generally require to become fully effective. Such rapidly acting antidepressants are desperately needed. Unfortunately, the fact that opiates can be drugs of abuse when taken in large quantities has prompted researchers to overlook their great potential for psychiatric medicinal use.”
What’s to Do?
We can measure how much information enters our brain through the senses by calculating how many receptors each sensor organ possesses, how many nerve connections send signals to the brain, and how many signals each nerve connection sends a second.
Our body sends millions of bits per second to our brain for processing – millions – yet our conscious mind processes only 1 to 45 bits per second.We are conscious of only millionths of what is out there.
With so little conscious resource, we need to learn to focus attention. No space or time for ruminating the same thoughts we had yesterday, the day before, on and on, like a set of mirroring mirrors into the distance.
It took Aikido and Ki Breathing Meditation training to start life again from the unknown, ground zero. Along the way I added Vipassana Insight Meditation, and Open Focus Training. I went from damaged goods – psychotic violent monster –to loving husband and father gradually over a period of several years.
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
