tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post9160319610949411012..comments2024-02-11T18:16:53.445-08:00Comments on Janov's Reflections on the Human Condition: The Simple Truth is Revolutionary: Cold Feet, Cold Hands and a Hurting HeartArthur Janovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16709863014923629409noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-6325130451548658672010-02-02T09:26:49.604-08:002010-02-02T09:26:49.604-08:00Hey doctor. My family is from the Ukraine. My op...Hey doctor. My family is from the Ukraine. My opinion is that womblife trauma is largely psychological, depression, anxiety etc. You are catching on. Good art janovArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-50827643540124015272010-02-02T05:09:38.254-08:002010-02-02T05:09:38.254-08:00Dr. Janov,
Interesting post.
To interpret in a d...Dr. Janov,<br /><br />Interesting post.<br /><br />To interpret in a different way , am i right in saying we technically live 3 lives : 1) The womb life, 2) early childhood & 3) the adult life....and the adultlife is merely a reaction (without choice) to the earlier two lives - - technically speaking...<br /><br />Q 1: In medical school we learn that all of us carry the genes for cancer , hypertension and other diseases but all of us dont have cancer... very often there is a necessity for a trigger in adult life for the pathogenic gene to be activated... do studies show that steroid use/other womb life trauma activates/renders these genes more vulnerable?<br /><br />Q 2: In early childhood, the upbringing and mother's beliefs while rearing a child seem to be of great importance... Plato mentions in his works that a mother who brings up her son feeling like a hero in early childhood will enable the boy to carry that feeling throughout his life ... no matter what difficulties he faces.... now the important question is does such parental upringing in early childhood have the power to override trauma in womb life which may otherwise cause anxiety in difficult situations? Do we need to connect different studies to determine the truth...<br /><br />Q 3: I have always wondered why tear jerkers, horror movies and books which are first hand experiences of terrible memories in a nazi camp ( Ex: mans search for meaning ) have such a big audience even in affluent countries during times of prosperity.... can such media serve as temporary pain killer beacause it gives the reader a window to relive the states of anxiety ?<br /><br /><br />Dr.Stephen Antony,<br />Psychiatry resident,<br />UkraineUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10720086428787017562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-17862570505584056942009-02-16T12:25:00.000-08:002009-02-16T12:25:00.000-08:00Thanks Anthanasios,No, I'm not in therapy yet. I ...Thanks Anthanasios,<BR/><BR/>No, I'm not in therapy yet. I certainly intend to be though, in good time.Andrew D Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04492591375757227409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-36899216297195680002009-02-15T15:42:00.001-08:002009-02-15T15:42:00.001-08:00Thank you Andy,Are u in therapy already?I feel lik...Thank you Andy,<BR/>Are u in therapy already?<BR/>I feel like saying i like you for the way you think. No need to answer. I just expressed the way i felt. I'm glad there are brilliant minds around. Arthur was right about that.Thanasishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06727357517414268206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-67507964456936648642009-02-14T03:09:00.000-08:002009-02-14T03:09:00.000-08:00Anthanasios,Quite true. If the demand for Primal ...Anthanasios,<BR/><BR/>Quite true. If the demand for Primal Therapy exceeds supply, then the money makers will absorb that supply with their own brand of PT, legitimate or not. And I suppose that exactly that has happened in the past in response to Janovs' hugely successful original "the primal scream" book. <BR/><BR/>It's a shame that so many people damn Primal Therapy on the basis of bad examples of it, even though you can do any right the wrong.<BR/><BR/>I think the greatest far-reaching social value of Janov's work will probably prove to be in its advancement of our understanding of mental health. Getting rid of neurosis will take a long inter-generational time in any circumstance, but with Janov's (and others) help we might be able to speed up the process with critical tips for better childcare, and also better neurosis management for where that can help.<BR/><BR/>As far as your other comments go I can give you one of my favourtite sayings: "The primary objective of any establishment is to stay established, not to meet its advertised purpose as such"...<BR/><BR/>...And another: "All doctors want you to get better, but they certainly don't want you to stop getting sick".Andrew D Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04492591375757227409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-2374097199937155762009-02-10T11:15:00.000-08:002009-02-10T11:15:00.000-08:00Richard, Andy,i like a lot your ideas. i have been...Richard, Andy,<BR/>i like a lot your ideas. i have been wondering for many years, why primal therapy is not as well known as it should be!?<BR/> Hmm... Let's see now,<BR/>I imagine thousands of people on the waiting list for having primal therapy, as i bet there could be not enough therapists? More mock therapists might be a result as well?<BR/> But, if it can happen that pr. therapy is well known around, pretty understood and well accepted (or should i say needed), then...<BR/>What about those billionaires who own the drug company's? Ohh they will have to start worrying for losing more and more clients?<BR/>Jails will be more and more empty?<BR/>Politicians will be stressed with less and less voters?<BR/>Religions of all kinds will start losing their victims? Ohh "poor" priests...<BR/>Can lawyers and judges become artists of any kind? Poets or singers? ha,ha..<BR/>And cops? whom are they going to arrest if there are no crimes etc happening? I bet they can become actors for future western(kind) movies so that future generations be always reminded of what shit world they came from..<BR/>Anyway, u have a serious point here and i'm making some fun of the idea. but i like what u both said.<BR/>I'm wondering if dr Janov and staff could possibly stand the pressure of such a change, or would it be better to live things the way they are now? Just a few lucky primal patients into history?Thanasishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06727357517414268206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-9540874899474336052009-02-07T23:10:00.000-08:002009-02-07T23:10:00.000-08:00Yes Andy, that's exactly what I was saying.Yes Andy, that's exactly what I was saying.Richard Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13587935146938446604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-84111296345228555332009-02-05T13:12:00.000-08:002009-02-05T13:12:00.000-08:00I think all Richard is saying is that you should s...I think all Richard is saying is that you should sell out a bit for the sake of attracting intitial interest. He's suggesting to start where people are at, and where they are first interested, and then give them the capacity to move on (explore primal therapy) from there. Basically, just a bit more marketing that targets the reality of most people, instead of just the reality of primal therapy. Provoking widespread initial interest is the target.<BR/><BR/>I agree with him that there's some truth in that, in that people can't know to be interested in primal therapy until they know that it even exists, or what it's even remotely about.<BR/><BR/>And when he says "not really serious" I think he is referring to his specific suggestions as to how you could do that. They are only vague example/possibilities?Andrew D Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04492591375757227409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-85891705040251123452009-02-02T23:19:00.000-08:002009-02-02T23:19:00.000-08:00I am not exactly sure what you mean but it is said...I am not exactly sure what you mean but it is said so well we will publish it. dr. janovArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16709863014923629409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-72642799338569123092009-02-02T15:17:00.000-08:002009-02-02T15:17:00.000-08:00Dr. Janov,You should try to be more like Dr. Phil....Dr. Janov,<BR/>You should try to be more like Dr. Phil. You need to become more paternal and speak in a TV-friendly manner. Short sentences won't heal anyone, but they are a provocative tool for marketing. Why was your book 'Primal Scream' such a big seller? Maybe it's because it sounds like a blockbuster movie. Most people want to 'watch the movie'. They begin as a voyeur, but at least that's a beginning. <BR/>The professionals who reply to your blog.....they don't really want to debate with you. They are trying to show you a better way. They are trying to show off. "Look at me and all of my wisdom". Speak in their language. Tell them what to do. Swallow your pride and start strutting your stuff.....on TV.<BR/><BR/>The Janov Show, starring Art and France (husband and wife....great marketing angle). Keep it simple and highly provocative, but maintain an affectionate facial expression (like that British professor with the moustache who does all those 'human mind' documentaries). Mothers will watch your show. Politicians will watch your show. Pretty soon you will have a huge audience. Most of them won't want to do Primal Therapy, but that's okay. Make sure you have a voice-over at the beginning and end of every show, warning people of the dangers of bad primal therapy.<BR/><BR/>People will talk about Primal Therapy. "What the heck is Primal Therapy?" BAM!! People knocking on your door...."I want to be a Primal Therapist, and for all the wrong reasons". Again, that's okay. There will be some who will be good at the job. BAM!! People offering donations. BAM!! More interest from the government (they are only human). BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! BAM!!<BR/><BR/>I think you are starting to get my point: More exposure is a good thing (just be careful).<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>ps. I'm not totally serious. Just thought there might be some truth in there.Richard Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13587935146938446604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-27844492460036942532009-02-01T22:09:00.000-08:002009-02-01T22:09:00.000-08:00Dr Janov,I totally agree that positions of power t...Dr Janov,<BR/><BR/>I totally agree that positions of power tend to attract the wrong people and for the wrong reasons, and that the 'corruption' was always there in the individual, waiting to rear its head with the opportunity. You only have to look at how so many people treat their kids (where they have relative absolute power) to know what they're capable of if they get into the highest levels of politics. Scaling up the game won't change it. It doesn't matter what context we are in, we will always see the world first through our neurosis.<BR/><BR/>To say, I think the same can be said for brainwashing. We seem to think that people get brainwashed by freaky cults, as though something fundamentally new happens to them in these environments. I doubt it. I reckon if a person can be brainwashed by others then they probably always were brainwashed, it's just that someone changed the variables to a code outside the normal indoctrination. It starts with the individual.Andrew D Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04492591375757227409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-11097260008753806152009-02-01T01:39:00.000-08:002009-02-01T01:39:00.000-08:00I am always amazed at the intelligence out there f...I am always amazed at the intelligence out there from everyday people not pundits. Power is in the wrong hands, because those who seek it are the ones who shouldn't have it. It is not that power corrupts; it is that those who need it are already corrupted. dr. janovArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16709863014923629409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-70845937356828587822009-01-31T17:25:00.000-08:002009-01-31T17:25:00.000-08:00Will,I agree with you. The question I was conside...Will,<BR/><BR/>I agree with you. The question I was considering was whether or not a civilisation is required for the *original* manifestation of neurosis (I doubt it very much, as you probably do). Of course you must have an original deprivation before you can have self-perpetuating neurosis. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, my best guess is that neurosis is born out of an enduring serious hardship, and serious hardship may, historically at least, be inevitable. <BR/><BR/>Explaining my view: When a species expands (from population growth) out to the limits of its recourse base, it has 2 logical choices: active or passive population control. Active control means effective (or actual) steralisation, and passive control means starvations and wars (from forced competition for the limited resources). I would bet that the latter has been our history for many, many thousands of years (take a look at Africa!). <BR/><BR/>And I would bet that the periodic desperation-induced horrific scenarios that have affected our species for probably eons have been responsible for the genesis of chronic neurosis, and likewise neurosis may have been with us since virtually forever because serious hardship should be the norm for which our biological evolution has responded to. In evolutionary terms, it doesn't take long to expand out to the limits of your resource base. And then, I would say, the "golden age" is over. Hello hardship. Hello neurosis.Andrew D Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04492591375757227409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-48782614184063729732009-01-31T14:39:00.000-08:002009-01-31T14:39:00.000-08:00I know I can't say it better than you, Will. dr...I know I can't say it better than you, Will. dr. janovArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16709863014923629409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-65634777879558910232009-01-31T00:45:00.000-08:002009-01-31T00:45:00.000-08:00Hello,Obviously, neurosis is a self-replicating pr...Hello,<BR/>Obviously, neurosis is a self-replicating process derived from being a helpless child and needing to obtain resources from the mother/father (including time, attention) who will lay some conditions (consciously or unconsciously upon it). Therefore a distinction between civilisation/non-civilisation is meaningless. There is only society without which the helpless infanct couldn't survive in the first place. Neurosis is the consequence of early dependency when the organism is slowly growing and becoming socialised - no matter whether its in New York or New Guinea.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06419205635102562741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-25774557181724320262009-01-29T23:47:00.000-08:002009-01-29T23:47:00.000-08:00Hello Dr Janov,I know the following is off topic (...Hello Dr Janov,<BR/><BR/>I know the following is off topic (don't mind if you don't publish it), but I thought I'd throw it in anyway. It's a 'guessy' suggestion as to why we generally don't spontaineously primal when we are older and strong enough, without dedicated help. Which, as I said in my earlier post here, I think is an important question (for me at least) because it's the only 'primal' thing that's specifically mysterious to me.<BR/><BR/>As follows:<BR/><BR/>I am suspicious that Primal Therapy is running against the tide - that is, Primal Therapy may be trying to take people somewhere that their society doesn't want them to go. I mean that in the sense that a neurotic society may put a direct 'natural' [as in we are evolved to do it] psychological pressure on people that has a distinct anti-primal affect on them.<BR/><BR/>I remember you saying in one of your books, Dr Janov, that some time in the beginning of civilisation we developed neurosis, or something close to that? Of course that was and only could be your speculation, but I think that we, as a species, may have generally been very neurotic for a very, very long time - maybe hundreds of thousands and even millions of years?*<BR/><BR/>Because humans can survive in spite of their neurosis, we could speculate that my former suggestion could very well have been so. If so, then neurosis in the human animal may have become a notably advanced system that we have likewise intimately evolved with. And that is where you could speculate that our society may have a distinct "anti-primal" effect - that is, we may not be "designed" to de-repress in a neurotic society? <BR/><BR/>My suggestion is that evolution may have decided that it's best for the survival of our species if we all tend to get mentally well or sick as a collective movement. Maybe if you tried to give someone Primal Therapy from a less neurotic social base (refering to their social world outside your clinic) it would be an easier and more successful process? Less 'evolved' socially-affective resistance?<BR/><BR/>Adding to my suspicion: In my current workplace I have to work with people who I know have been exposed to a lot of damage in childhood - probably a lot more than myself (and I'm hardly non-neurotic, I know). The effect is that I feel distinctly more tense in this particular environment than I do and have done in others. I also notice that the tension has a direct controlling impact on my thinking and feeling-reactions; on critical and fundamental levels, I react and don't react to the same things that they do, and that is a direct effect of the somewhat controlling "collective tension". Maybe I am responding to a natural anti-primal effect? Maybe my reaction is 'normal' in that sense? I don't know of course, but it's an interesting possibility to consider I think.<BR/><BR/>Maybe our society needs to sort our other big functional problems (to create a basic peaceful prosperity) before we can have the luxury of 'collectively' breaking out of neurotic shells? Until then, maybe de-repression will and only can be for the lucky few recieving special help? <BR/><BR/>My guess is that the dynamic between your clinic and the world outside of it is a bit of a knowledge hole for you Dr Janov. Of course I don't suggest that with contempt, because you understandably must specialise your focus from within your clinic at the level that you're dealing with the primal process. But that, from my outlook, could render you unaware of this effect if it's real. Maybe it's something to somehow investigate?<BR/><BR/>*There are many non-civilisation tribes out there that show every sign of being very mentally sick, going by what we see of their often strikingly "inhuman" cultural behaviour. My point is that you don't seem to need a civilisation to go neurotic.Andrew D Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04492591375757227409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-89731233036789800332009-01-14T13:02:00.000-08:002009-01-14T13:02:00.000-08:00Mahdiya. You ask why doesn't the baby's brain go ...Mahdiya. You ask why doesn't the baby's brain go back to normal after birth. You need to understand the imprint that prevents that from happening and re-circuits brain tracks. If you speak only of nerve circuits you miss the humanity behind why levels go up or down. It is not that pathways are impaired; it is that they are rerouted to accommodate the adaptation to the imprint. It is never desired to artificially fiddle with brain circuits until we know why they are too high too fast, etc. When we relive early trauma those brain circuits change radically. art janov.Arthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16709863014923629409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-84491705667724106872009-01-13T12:58:00.000-08:002009-01-13T12:58:00.000-08:00I don't know why I am writing when there are so ma...I don't know why I am writing when there are so many brilliant well versed people out there. I am writing a chapter on this subject. I will add some of it here:<BR/><BR/><BR/> Traumas can be laid down in the viscera during womb-life and at birth, when the highest level of neurologic function is the brainstem/limbic structures. When patients come in complaining of visceral symptoms such as Crohns Disease, we have evidence of how early the trauma was set down. The signs of an early imprint are sensations—visceral/stomach churning, tightness in the chest, difficulty breathing, sensations of being squeezed or crushed, and a general sense of agitation.<BR/><BR/>Thus, the amygdala and the hippocampus can control the release of stress hormones. As the system is flooded with cortisol, the hippocampus, for example, can send the hypothalamus a message to ease up. In some respects the amygdala is pleading, “release!” while the hippocampus is begging, “hold back!” We want to be just stressed enough to handle emergencies but not so much as to be overwhelmed. We want to be sure that the signal of danger does not become a danger itself. We do not get panicked out of some irrational force. There is a good reason for it; something in lower levels of the brain are driving it. The panic (and panic attacks) is a response to an alarm, a danger. In brief, panic attacks may be quite rational, responding to real imprinted events. Too often we try to remove the danger signal while leaving the danger intact. This often happens when the danger is situated down in the brainstem and out of sight. So long as we deal in words and explanations we can never arrive at the original danger, by definition.<BR/><BR/>Panic is a terror from early in the gestation period. It, by itself, has weakened the repressive, gating system so that any current lessening of vigilance can set it off. It predates by a long time the affliction of depression because it occurs before the full development of the inhibitory, gating system. It is purely physical and seems such a mystery—until the person gains deep access. Then it is no longer a mystery. It is the most primitive of reactions; words will not touch it. It represents the highest level of brain function at the time. Look at its manifestations: shortness of breath, chest pain and pressure, rapid heartbeat, choking or smothering sensation, butterflies in the stomach, dizziness, the sensation of impending doom. None of these need a cortex or higher level brain function. That is one very important reason that words cannot cure it. It is basically visceral and sub-cortical. These manifestations are telling us that they emanate from a very primitive brain organization and from a time when there was only an inchoate cerebral structure (lacking a fully developed neocortex) to handle trauma. There is no insight that can treat it because it began its life long before we had words.<BR/><BR/>It is what we see in lower animals who are frightened by another animal. Their reactions seem like pure panic. We see this in some individuals who undergo MRIs. The minute they are enclosed in a steel and cement sheath panic surges forth. It is approximating what happened originally. It takes the confines of such a machine to reawaken the primitive feeling. The patient may believe it is the machine that is producing anxiety, but it is the primal panic from a confined, enclosed space. What the MRI does is stimulate a resonating memory; not a memory in the way we usually think of it, but sets off a bodily reaction. If we do have this kind of anxiety having an MRI exam, we can be fairly sure that we endured a difficult birth; it is, in short, a differential diagnostic, tool, to separate out those with healthy births from those with traumatic births. I teach the technicians who perform MRIs on me to tap my foot at irregular intervals so that I cannot organize a full-fledged anxiety reaction.<BR/><BR/>It does take some kind of higher cerebral organization to produce an anxiety state. The concept of resonance is important because situations can resonate within us below the level of language. We can be stirred up even when we don’t know with what the outside situation is resonating. Thus, in sex, a nude female body can resonate in a man with an early experience with his mother. She may have been seductive long before the child had any understanding of it. I had one white (Caucasoid) patient who had a very seductive mother; she French-kissed her son. Later, he could only have girlfriends who were Black or Asiatic—too white a girlfriend would resonate with that early seduction and scare him. Here “White” women resonated with a White mother, something to be avoided. I treated a lesbian woman who was molested sexually by her (white) stepfather. She could only have relationships with Black men. Later, any man resonated with the early stepfather. She switched to sex with women. It seemed much safer to her.<BR/><BR/>When there is a life-and-death struggle at birth due to lack of oxygen (anoxia), for example, the existing reactive system is activated, but because it cannot fully respond due to the complete load of pain (to feel it completely would be to die, or at least to lose consciousness), it reacts partially within its biologic limits and then puts the excess part of the terror away for good keeping; it houses it until our system is strong enough to feel and resolve it. It lives behind our repressive gates.<BR/><BR/> However, we continually respond to this stored terror with chronically high stress hormone levels, a compromised immune system, misperceptions, strange ideas, nightmares, and chronic malaise. This high activation level gnaws away at the cardiovascular system so that we fall seriously ill at age fifty-five, even though at the time we seem to be living a normal, relaxed life. Not surprisingly, one of the highest concentrations of inhibitory neurotransmitters—part of the brain’s gating mechanism—is found in the thalamus, which is constructed so as not to relay overwhelming information. It needs to block pain when pain threatens the frontal cortex.Arthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16709863014923629409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-44118710583116172162009-01-13T07:47:00.000-08:002009-01-13T07:47:00.000-08:00Dr. Janov says: „Reconfiguring our oxygen reductio...Dr. Janov says: „Reconfiguring our oxygen reduction response is one key way to prevent oxygen damage to the brain.“ Peter Nathanielsz wrote in one of his books that the fetus is able to adapt to a lack of oxygen or nutrients to some degree by redirecting them to the places where they are most needed. In the case of nutrients the outcome may be a person with normal head size but strikingly small belly.<BR/><BR/>In his book “Why You Get Sick and How You Get Well” Dr. Janov hypothesizes that early lack of oxygen may change the cell metabolism. As there is only little oxygen available the cells “decide” to do it the old anaerobic way. In 1924 Otto Wartburg, a German biochemist, had hypothesized that anaerobiosis is the starting point of maligne cell processes (cancer). Might those changes in cell metabolism be involved in Alzheimer’s disease, too? Anyway, there are clues that Alzheimer may have to do with a low-oxygen milieu: I searched a little in the web and found that the neurotransmitter glutamate seems to be involved in Alzheimer’ disease as well as in neonatal hypoxia. The mechanism may be as follows: Lack of oxygen forces increased glutamate in the nerve pathways. Increased glutamate leads to calcium overload within the nerve cells and the final result would be cell damage or cell death. Another (strange) result in a Alzheimer study: An unusually high proportion of nerve cells (20%) in Alzheimer brains double their DNAs but they do not divide. Instead they die.<BR/><BR/>Whatever the precise mechanisms are that make cells go crazy or die, it seems to have a lot to do with imprinted early events (trauma). The system has to bear and process the metabolic corollaries of early trauma and regarding the tremendous physical power, which often reveals itself in a reliving episode, it is no miracle at all that so many people will fall seriously ill some decades later.<BR/><BR/>A very important question: To what degree can reliving in Primal Therapy stop or reverse the widespread corollaries of imprinted early adversities (for example, hypoxia)? And in case of irreversible imprints - to what degree will lifting of repression and removing of high valence trauma energy improve a person’s life quality and life expectancy? In other words: How well can Primal Therapy make us?Ferdinandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02491363790656051114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-62199332386846074182009-01-13T03:52:00.000-08:002009-01-13T03:52:00.000-08:00Here in England there's an old saying that "cold h...Here in England there's an old saying that "cold hands mean a warm heart". Could this actually be true? Perhaps parasymathetic people tend to be kinder due to the lack of aggressivness.Phillyboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10466685449362507597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-58921802060340047392009-01-12T13:53:00.000-08:002009-01-12T13:53:00.000-08:00Hello Dr Janov and whoever's reading this,Can I co...Hello Dr Janov and whoever's reading this,<BR/><BR/>Can I contribute a summary for what I think the core point is behind this?<BR/><BR/>I'm quite convinced that neurosis can be summarised, in short, as a natural system where the mind/body "internalises" a toxic reality so as to control its responses [to that reality], without being overwhelmed by it in terms of excessive pain hammering and overloading the consciousness. So neurosis is a kind of way that our body's switch the system onto "auto pilot" so as to manage input to consciousness, for the purpose of allowing us to better and more successfully manage ourselves in an emergency*. <BR/><BR/>I think the key insight/assertion you give here, Dr Janov, is that not only does this essential function happen on the psychological level (as we know it), but also the biological level. So, our "core" biology (not just brain) defensively reacts to an original traumatic input, though later out of context. Our bodies act-out all on their own, like you effectively say with this example of the body forever fighting early traumatic oxygen deprivation. This would suggest that neurosis really is an ancient (in evolutionary terms) system? <BR/><BR/>Assuming that's sound, I can see that those early 'biological' traumas must do nothing for our long term health. Our biology must be doing all sorts of "nonsense" out-of-context things that shouldn't be applied, just like we do nonsense things on the behaviourally level as a consequence of our neurosis.<BR/><BR/>The neurobiological correlation is just the details, I think. It's just the identified mechanisms of the defensive response to the original infliction. <BR/><BR/>If the system is designed to defend againts a traumatic imprint, then it makes sense that toying with the defenses -rather than the infliction itself- is probably going to be fruitless at best, and highly destructive at worst. If the defense is natural so we are specifically *designed* to have it, and the defense is driven by the trauma-memory (which is the real infliction), then how on earth can we hope to "correct" the brain when it is already basically "correct" in response to its history?<BR/><BR/>*And the problem is of course when we don't turn the auto-pilot off by re-connecting the originally blocked/redirected circuit, so the auto-pilot keeps on ticking over indefinately. Why don't we commonly re-connect spontaineously (without help) when the danger has gone? That's an important question I think, though I know that sometimes we do re-connect spontaineously.Andrew D Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04492591375757227409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-33572039512547649992009-01-11T21:36:00.000-08:002009-01-11T21:36:00.000-08:00It's common knowledge that a newborn baby's immune...It's common knowledge that a newborn baby's immune system learns from the things it eats and is exposed to. So it's not too far-fetched to think that the 'learning' process could be tied into the very building blocks of the developing fetus. We have so many physical back up systems to deal with every imaginable problem, why wouldn't our 'growing style' be just another part of that back up system?<BR/>If the body and mind is clever enough to adapt in such a complex way, then it's not unreasonable to see how far it can re-adapt by allowing it to re-learn for itself.<BR/>Provide a better environment and see what happens.<BR/><BR/>Not sure if this comment is constructive or just obnoxious.Richard Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13587935146938446604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-27492899515460415212009-01-11T12:39:00.000-08:002009-01-11T12:39:00.000-08:00Maydiya. Are you a neurologist? If not how come y...Maydiya. Are you a neurologist? If not how come you know so much? I will leave the neurology to you since my guess is that you are a professional. Why don’t things go back to normal?<BR/><BR/>As I have written in a forthcoming book, it is not unexpected that there may be an early oxygen deprivation involved in later Alzheimer’s disease. That is, the brain is in constant adaptation to imprinted reduced brain oxygen. The brain is saying, “I am lacking supplies,” and originally adapted to that lack in various ways, including a change in the amount and strength of certain synapses, which are the gaps between nerve cells that are filled with chemicals that either enhance or slow the neuronal message from one cell to the other. In brief, that earlier adaptation becomes permanent and almost immutable. <BR/><BR/> All of this underlies much of the deep depression I have seen (see my Janov Solution, for a more elaborate discussion of this)where a constant hopelessness and helplessness accompany the personality. And of course, a drop in core body temperature. As patients get close to these deep early feelings of womb-life and birth the temperature can fall three degrees in minutes as it is being relived. Or, patients deeply depressed can come into a session with a 96 degree reading. The parasympath has generally a one to two degree lower reading than the sympath. He seems to be in a permanent “dive” state of the polar bear. He too is ready for oxygen reduction.<BR/><BR/><BR/> The point about reduced oxygen needs is that the whole personality seems to “shrivel up.” It is a constricting one rather than expansive. When she speaks she takes up much less space and air; her words hardly move out of her mouth, and there is an air of fatigue about her. Is it any wonder that she (or he) is less sexual? Again, the whole system slows to adapt to reduced oxygen; the system is doing its best to avoid a mismatch between supply and demand (see D.Singer, “Neonatal Tolerance to Hypoxia.” Comp. Biochem. And Physiology, part A 123 (1999 pages 221-234). And when there is imprinted low oxygen we might expect slower growth rate. One way we see this is in neonates born to smoking mothers who are often of smaller stature. That in itself assumes trauma somewhere during womb-life maturation. That can foretell of a premature heart attack or cancer later in life. I think it is more likely to lead to cancer than cardiac problems because of the massive repression or inhibition that goes along with this kind of personality. Repression of womb-life events are nearly always of life-and-death matters; the repression it engenders is massive, and the result can may serious distortion at a cellular level. Thus, in my scheme, heart disease is that of expression (sympath)and cancer of repression. This is clearly not a hard and fast rule, but is something to think about. So many other factors play a role in all this, not to exclude a whole childhood filled with experiences.Arthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16709863014923629409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-76927509039128987662009-01-11T12:38:00.000-08:002009-01-11T12:38:00.000-08:00Madiya,Now why doesn't the baby go back to normal ...Madiya,<BR/>Now why doesn't the baby go back to normal after birth? Because "normal" has been changed. Events do change the set-points for ever more. But you are putting me on cause you are no doubt a neurologist or close to it. Anything you do TO a patient to try to establish "normal" is generally wrong. It has to come from her. That is what is wrong with biofeedback. The doctor decides what is normal and tries to get the brainwaves of the subject to go there. The important question is: WHY IS THE BLOODY BRAINWAVE ABNORMAL, IN THE FIRST PLACE? How about a "why.?" What happened to curiosity? I will leave the neurology to you since Maydiya, you are clearly a professional. So you tell me, don't ask me. <BR/><BR/><BR/>If the mother has high cortisol levels, then the fetus will have lower dopamine (and subsequently lower norepinephrine-) levels, which may result in ADD.<BR/><BR/>But why doesn't the brain of the baby go back to normal after birth? Is it due to a reduced number of dopaminergic neurons? Or is the mesocortical/mesolimbic pathway that transports the dopamine, which is somehow impaired? Or is it that some of the dopamine receptors are blocked in the frontal lobes?<BR/><BR/>Whatever the reason, there might be an alternative solution.<BR/><BR/>If the purpose of brainwaves is to facilitate the transportation of neurotransmitters, and you'd stimulate beta-waves...the brain would start increasing the secretion of neurotransmitters to 'catch up' with the increased brain activity, right? Isn't that how a desired natural boost of dopamine could be obtained?Arthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16709863014923629409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-31276043069971893852009-01-11T04:43:00.000-08:002009-01-11T04:43:00.000-08:00If the mother has high cortisol levels, then the f...If the mother has high cortisol levels, then the fetus will have lower dopamine (and subsequently lower norepinephrine-) levels, which may result in ADD.<BR/>But why doesn't the brain of the baby go back to normal after birth? Is it due to a reduced number of dopaminergic neurons? Or is the mesocortical/mesolimbic pathway that transports the dopamine, which is somehow impaired? Or is it that some of the dopamine receptors are blocked in the frontal lobes?<BR/>Whatever the reason, there might be an alternative solution. <BR/>If the purpose of brainwaves is to facilitate the transportation of neurotransmitters, and you'd stimulate beta-waves...the brain would start increasing the secretion of neurotransmitters to 'catch up' with the increased brain activity, right? Isn't that how a desirednatural boost of dopamine could be obtained?Mahdiyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14438317334079447836noreply@blogger.com