Trauma and the Science of Emotions
While Sigmund Freud got a lot wrong, there’s also much he got right. Freud invented talk therapy and understood its effectiveness in working through emotional trauma. He also understood that there are biological underpinnings to emotional experience, including trauma.
For more than a century, Freud’s idea of two drives—sex and aggression—being responsible for our emotional life was commonly accepted. Research in the last 20 years has shown that the biological roots of emotions are more complex than Freud realized. Rather than two drives being responsible for human emotions, there are actually seven.
Your brain, in three parts
First, a quick anatomy review. To get how trauma affects all of the brain, it’s helpful to consider the brain as three parts that evolved over time. The reptilian brain, the oldest part, regulates physiological functions. When there’s real or perceived danger, reactions such as a racing pulse, a startle response, and muscle tension are activated here. The limbic brain, the second oldest part, is the domain of feelings and emotional memories. Finally, the neocortex or the top brain, is the youngest part. Self-reflection, language, abstract thinking, and learning happen here.
Emotional drive, in seven circuits
The seven drives found in the limbic brain aren’t unique to humans; these circuits have been mapped across mammals, including elephants, cows, and mice, by the neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp. The difference is that, unlike other mammals, we humans use words to express our feelings.
The seven drives are independent. At the same time, they work in concert with one another and with the top and bottom parts of the brain.
Seek is about hunting and searching—and dating, shopping, and looking stuff up on the web, to name a few.
Rage is the anger and frustration at being beaten out when competing for resources.
Fear is the result of life-threatening situations and can also be present in our fantasies.
Lust is Freud’s original sex drive. It’s the most powerful circuit and the most easily disrupted.
Care is the most essential circuit for survival. It’s linked to empathy, social connection, and the release of oxytocin (the "cuddle hormone").
Panic-Sadness is the result of separation distress and potential peril; it’s the most upsetting emotional state of all. It lights up the brain more than any other drive, affects all other drives, and overtakes all other emotional and physiological needs.
Play is the need for giggling on the couch, and for rough-and-tumble. This is a need that all mammals have. Pure play isn’t about competition; it doesn’t involve a win. Play is essential for brain growth in kids.
Again, the drives are separate yet work together. Here’s how. Imagine you receive an e-mail with the subject line, “Ginger Needs a Home!” You open the email to find a picture of a four-month old Labrador puppy. Even if you’re not a dog person, your Care circuit has been activated (Aw, what an adorable puppy). Your Seek circuit has kicked in (Who do I know that could adopt Ginger? Can I adopt Ginger?). Panic-Sadness may enter in, too (Ginger looks a lot like the dog that ran away when I was nine).
Why therapy?
Hard science explains why empathy soothes, why strong attachments are crucial to emotional and physical health, why insecure attachments foster emotional disturbances, and why talk therapy is so effective in addressing emotional trauma. Numerous studies show that talking doesn’t just help, it heals, stimulating pathways in the brain that have remained constrained or unused. In-depth talk therapy fosters improved emotional regulation, and research shows that results improve and increase over time.
If you’re interested in learning more about my approach to therapy for trauma, give me a call at 213-807-6021 to arrange a free consultation. Let’s talk about how I can help.
Sources
Cornelius, J.T. (2014). A Case for psychoanalysis: Exploring scientific evidence. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkxoExMB9Mw
Dubuc, B. (2002). The brain from top to bottom. Retrieved from https://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_05/d_05_cr/d_05_cr_her/d_05_cr_her.html
Middeldorf, J. (2015). Now we are seven: An expansion of Freud’s dual drive theory based on the insights of affective neuroscience. Retrieved from https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fapp.box.com%2Fs%2Ffzylc2pyhgt6apdtojpiss3nuy3lezo1
Panksepp, J. (2012). The Archaeology of Mind. W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
Schwartz, A. (2018). The Neurobiology of traumatic memory. Retrieved from https://drarielleschwartz.com/neurobiology-traumatic-memory-dr-arielle-schwartz/#.X821XOlKhfU
Van der Kolk, B. (2015). The Body Keeps the Score. Penguin Books, New York.