The survival brain

In the past weeks, I have been thinking about this a lot. It is not only because of the fact that I lead Genesis groups but also because of incidents I observe. I want to write about the survival brain or how the expert calls it: the limbic system. I first heard about the limbic system in my studies in my psychology class (1999). Then I did not pay too much attention. You know how it is when you study, you learn to remember for an exam..that's it. At least that's how it was for me. The next time I heard about the limbic system was in my training in the States (2005-2007). This time I started to be very curious.The limbic system of the brain is a group of structures which govern emotions and behavior. The limbic system, and in particular the hippocampus and amygdala, is involved in the formation of long-term memory, and is closely associated with the olfactory structures (having to do with the sense of smell). That part of the brain records memories, experiences and puts them into three different areas: food, sex and safety. In other words: "

The activities of the body that are governed are those concerned with self-preservation (e.g., searching for food and fighting) and preservation of the species (e.g., reproduction and the care of offspring), the expression of fear, rage, and pleasure, and the establishment of memory patterns

". It is also called the survival brain because it is there to help the brain survive, to help the brain be safe. So everything, every situation that makes this part of the brain act up is then an unsafe situation. It must also be noted that the limbic system is part of the unconsciousness of the brain. Let me give you a wonderful example of how the limbic system starts to act up and takes control.I have memories (that are stored or engraved in the limbic system) that someone talked to me in a very disrespectful way which hurt me. The limbic system records thte feeling of pain and immediately kicks in and takes over since this situation is "dangerous" and not safe. The way it kicks in is that I get really angry when a person is disrespectul to me today. I REACT, I don't respond. Responding means taking a step back, not taking it personal and communicating well. REACTING means eather getting angry, running away or freezing. Reacting is the result of a limbic response. I have seen lots of limbic responses lately and it made me think of this whole issue. When we are in LIMBIC MODE we are reacting, we are not in full control of our behaviour and we say or do things that we could regret later on. I am fascinated by how God created us WITH this lymbic system. He created a survival brain that helps the brain to survuve trauma when young. Yet when we are older and we still behave out of our survival brain, then somthing is not right. Here is a short quote out of Michael Dye's Genesis Process from page 30:

"The part of the brain that controls your survival memories and responses is called the limbic ssystem. It has a seperate memory form the consciou part of the brain. It records experiences that have to do with pleasure and reward, hurt and fear. These memories are very important to your ability to survice. The limbic system sets up emotional (and behavioral) responses to AVOID things that have caused you FEAR and PAIN and it repeats things that have to do with PLEASURE and REWARD. This system is important in understanding coping behaviours. When you do something that takes away stress (in order to feel normal), the limbic system can associate it with survival and it becoems part of the CRAVING, pleasure and reward ("do it again") system"

Isn't this amazing? It explains addiction to its core and it can give realization in order to find healing, in order to get rid of coping behaviors (such as: shopping, comfort eating, social drinking and smoking, sex addiction, getting lost in romance novels, numbing out in front of the tv etc...) I am amazed and I am eager to learn even more.