Ian Weinberg

7 years ago · 3 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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The Driven

The Driven

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Jake felt great. It was a perfect Monday morning in early spring. A deep blue sky formed a canopy over the awakening life all around him. With great contentment and a generous helping of gratitude Jake surveyed his beautiful garden with the early greening carpet of lawn hugging his splendid home. He affectionately stroked Ginger, his dog, leaning up against his leg. This was bliss! And to top it all he felt a great sense of achievement with the presentation that he had prepared for the directors, due to be given later that morning. With a spring in his step he strode to his car with great optimistic anticipation, noting that even his chronic back pain was barely perceptible. 

At this time, Jake's physiology was ticking over optimally. His sensitivity to the beauty of his surroundings, his feeling of gratitude and the affection that he experienced for his dog was paralleled by high levels of oxytocin. This stimulated dopamine production and the associated sense of achievement and anticipation of further success. The dopamine high was also the result of the sense of achievement derived from the finished presentation. The raised oxytocin had also reduced all residual inflammation relating to his spinal arthritis.

Humming, Jake drove through the suburb and onwards to the main feeding road to the freeway. Jake noted that the traffic on the freeway was particularly heavy that morning. The cars were barely moving. There was just a perceptible tightening of his jaw. He had stopped humming. He turned up the radio for the traffic report. There had been a major collision up ahead and traffic was being diverted. Cars were now moving at a crawling pace. Jake looked at his watch. It usually took him about forty five minutes to get to the office. His presentation was scheduled for ten that morning and it was now eight fifteen. Plenty of time he thought. But a subtle dis-ease had begun to manifest. The cars were now stationary. Unconsciously Jake was now rhythmically drumming on his steering wheel. The cars started to crawl again. It was now eight forty and Jake had barely covered a quarter of the distance to the office. He was now visibly clenching his jaw and gripping the steering wheel with excessive force. He felt tense. It was now after nine. Jake began to taste fear. The presentation was critical. If it went well it could set him up for serious promotion. Jake’s entire existence now narrowed down to him getting to the office in time to give his life-changing presentation. Nothing else had any relevance. Just then someone cut into Jake’s lane causing him to suddenly brake. Jake erupted, ‘YOU PRICK!’. He was raging now. His pulse was bounding in his temples. There were no longer people in cars around him, just obstacles preventing him from reaching his goal!

Jake's physiology had now changed radically. His perception that he may not make his presentation on time had triggered the fear centres of his brain, the amygdala (there are two of them, left and right). That caused the outpouring of adrenaline and cortisol which pushed up his blood pressure and pulse rate. These in turn further stimulated his amygdalae which now changed gear from fear to anxiety and then to rage. And finally, it shut down his reasoning centre (the pre-frontal cortex), the only circuitry that could quieten down the rage. Jake’s entire brain was functionally reduced to only two amygdalae, each the size of an almond nut! Jake the nutter was now a raging, useless victim of fight or flight.

Meanwhile, on the freeway, cars were gridlocked. It was nine forty. Jake was yelling abuse at everyone, from the nearest driver to the President-Elect! He reached for his mobile phone and called the office. There was no reply. He called a colleague that was to attend his presentation. It switched to voice-mail. It was now nine fifty five. Everyone must already be in the boardroom AWAITING HIS PRESENTATION!! ‘Shit, it’s over’, concluded Jake. And with this realization Jake began to lose muscle tone and posture. His jaw dropped, shoulders sagged and his mouth was cork-dry. His sense of loss was overwhelming. His world had come crashing down on him. There was no hope. He was sunk. He was a total loser. Even his back pain had returned with a vengeance. Jake had just entered the dark abyss of hopeless-helpless. It was now five past ten. Only two hours had passed since Jake, with a spring in his step and with great optimistic anticipation, had strode to his car!

Physiologically, the excessive levels of adrenaline and cortisol had triggered the secretion of inflammatory mediators (pro-inflammatory cytokines). These in turn had radically reduced the levels of dopamine and serotonin which underpinned the hopeless-helpless mind state. The inflammatory mediators had also kick-started the spinal inflammation. Unfortunately for Jake, the lowered dopamine and serotonin would perpetuate the raised levels of inflammatory mediators, locking him into the dark abyss.

Now if Jake had only availed himself of my neuromodulation program, he would have been able to maintain a mind state of clarity. It would have empowered him to maintain his sense of reason and to acknowledge that he was much more than what he had reduced himself to. At the end of the day we can’t control every element of our lives. But we can go a long way to managing our approach.

If you wish to avail yourself of this empowering application, feel free to make contact with me (preferably when you still have a spring in your step and have not fallen into the dark abyss) at nsurge2@gmail.com See also www.neuronostic.com 

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Comments

Ian Weinberg

7 years ago #3

#2
connect with me before you purchase. I'm creating a special for the beBee community

Ian Weinberg

7 years ago #2

#1
Perhaps clarity first - then to strive for calmness and trust.

Mohammed Abdul Jawad

7 years ago #1

Ah, what a human equation! Sometimes, we are a mixture of just wobbling emotions, berserk thoughts and chemical imbalances within our bodies. Is it the heart that needs wise counsel or mind needs a soothing dose of tranquility? Or best our bodies need capsules of chemical entities to balance the mayhem of chemical dysfunctions? Perhaps the level of treatment varies and by simplicity there's immense remedies from the precepts of patience.

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