Postcards from the Funny Farm

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Did you know that science has looked into anger and rage as they relate to the brain? The findings have been quite interesting. A Harvard study found that when subjects revisited tapes they recorded about events that made them angry or enraged they had measurable chemical reactions in the brain. The beginning of what I refer to here as possibility thinking is having an open mind. Many people in the media and in the everyday world struggle with anger and rage and so I’m tackling this issue in hopes it might offer understanding and direction to open minded people who are concerned with their anger and rage.

Here is a somewhat long quote (for me anyway) that explains what happened in the Harvard study better than I could. It is fascinating:

A look into the brains of normal subjects revealed that anger increases blood flow to a reasoning part of their brains, an area over the left eye just behind the forehead, technically called the orbitofrontal cortex. This flow inhibits thoughts of rage. At the same time, blood flow increased activity in the amygdala, an almond-shaped knot of tissue deep in the brain that deals with emotion and vigilance.

Angry feelings arising in the amygdala are normally cooled by activity in the frontal cortex, part of the thinking region of the brain. However, in some severely depressed people a lack of both recognition and control of anger, can lead to violent rage.

“All of us get angry from time to time,” comments Darin Dougherty, an assistant professor who led the research. “At such times, feelings of wrath in the primitive parts of our brains seem to be balanced by inhibitions of our will to act on those feelings.” Source

This process is like a miracle. Of course, the brain itself is a composite of so many apparent miracles it boggles any brain that seeks to understand it. Still we try. While one part of the brain is fed blood and reacts in anger, in unison other blood is fed to an area that controls inhibition that sort of keeps the angry thought under a lid. Of course, brain damage and mental illness can upset the balance of this process. This is why we see movies of people in mental hospitals screaming in rage without stopping. Somehow the delicate balance their brain was meant to have has been disturbed.

So what does this mean to me and you? Once again, it points us to the truths of Phineas Gage: our mind is a delicate instrument that needs care to stay in balance. When we are getting angry often we should ask ourselves: “Is this chemical?” Is there something disrupting the balance between those two parts of the brain? If so, there are likely drugs that can help … see a psychiatrist or a psychologist that has a practice in concert with a psychiatrist. There are so many triggers that make us angry and even despondent. It could be as big as someone ripping you off or maybe just suffering the empty results of top diet pills.

If you feel the issue has more to do with behavioral issues such as a recurring annoyance in the form of a memory or if you are suffering from some of the cognitive distortions, get thee to a therapist and discuss those issues. Or, you can go to a book store or library and do your own study on these issues. Personally, I would recommend going to a professional instead but just make sure you tend to the problem in some way.

Your brain is your lens to the rich pageant called life. Don’t let anger steal anything from you, there is no reason for that.

I was talking to someone the other day and they told me drama was inevitable in their life. I disagreed and made a suggestion that has worked for me during similar pessimistic times:

Make a list of what you want.

It’s great for focusing your own energies on your goals as well as setting an example for your family. I remember making a list like this with my wife several years ago. Many of my “dreams” on that list have since come true. For example, at the time I dabbled in a personal website but had a larger dream of being published. Since then, I’ve become a regular contributor to 3 online publishing platforms and I run 3 other blogs of my own. This has required a lot of patience on my wife’s part and a lot of hours of work on mine. I truly feel though it all started through making and sharing that list.

When making a list like this, one should let ones mind run free. Put on some relaxing music … go sit with a yellow pad under a tree … write it while sipping your favorite hot beverage … whatever. The point is, you shouldn’t let limitations of everyday family life, married life, your job, or other constraints get in the way of what you want. Things you see as impossible can materialize when you start “believing” anything can happen.

Furthermore these dreams can actually make the things you once saw as limitations transform into miracles. Those very limitations (or at least the things you see as limitations) can be the yellow brick road to your “Oz.” I am not into the modern bestseller they call “The Secret” per se, nor do I believe in karma 100%. I say 100% because I do believe in the direction of dreams. I see proof of it in people like Walt Disney, Wrig.... Then there’s me for example, when I see myself as a successful writer there is an energy there that brings things into concert with itself. But unlike the required success of the Secret, even if I don’t turn out being as famous as I’d hoped, I have an amazing experience along the way. When your cause is true, you can’t lose.

I think I’m about due for a new list.

It’s not that my dreams have all come true, but many have. My dream list now is more about simplifying. I want to be able to maintain the projects I’ve been blessed with. To further the writing example (just one of my many dreams): I want to be a great writer that creates images with words for people, like paths to paradise. I want to keep every writing endeavor “holy,” not in the religious sense but in the sense Allen Ginsberg talked about: sacred.

I know that through time my dreams will change, but I will not stop having them and writing them down. One day when my kids read these words, and they will because I’ve made a plan to keep these blogs intact ... hopefully many many years from now, they will know above all else that I was not a coward about dreaming. Their dad sets out to define what he wants and then works to make it happen. They are living proof since all three of them were once my dreams. The list is a good thing, I strongly recommend you make on and then get back to me on this question:

What’s in your book of dreams?