# Erasing Fears & Traumas Based on the Modern Neuroscience of Fear --- What is in the body and what is in the mind This is about Fear, and what it does in the body especially when its not wanted We cannot have fear without having several or all the elements of the stress response. But not the other way around -- that is, we can have stress without fear. Anxiety tends to be stress about a future event, and it seems that we can't have fear without the elements of anxiety -- but we can have anxiety without fear. Fear is built up from some basic elements that include stress and anxiety. And then there is Trauma The Operational Definition of Trauma is some fear took place (which includes stress and anxiety) and that fear somehow gets embedded or activated in our nervous system such that it shows up at times when it's maladaptive, i.e. when it doesn't serve as well. A series of layers, stress -> anxiety -> fear -> trauma Autonomic Arousal. Sympathetic and Parasympathetic. Alert or Calm. Awake or Asleep. HPA Axis. Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis The Hypothalamus is an area of your brain real estate that is deep in the brain that contain many areas controlling temperature, thirst, sex, etc. -- accelerators and breakers. The Hypothalamus is connected to the Pituitary. It lives close to your mouth and it releases hormones into your bloodstream. Testes to produce testosterone, adrenals to produce adrenaline. The HPA axis is responsible for: Adrenaline and Cortisol. A three-part system that prepares the body for action. One of the hallmarks of fear is that it reverberates in a way that has a fast component as well as a long-lasting components. Fortunately, the long arc of fear response can also be leveraged to extinguish the fear response and be replaced with non-fearful associations. The Amygdala is called the threat reflex. Involving things like the quickening of the heart rate, eyes opening, etc. The Amygdala is the final pathway that the threat response takes. One of the beauties of the Fear system is that it is generalisable. --- to Vince, Dude, thank you for the conversation yesterday. I found it quite insightful, and I was curiously interested in what was going on in your mind as you contend with the deeper questions of life ... It made me reflect too, and I came across this -- as I was reflecting and reading my past notes: ```markdown # FEAR • Definition: The primordial element, the raw, untamed energy from which all else arises. It is the base of your being—the _Muladhara_, or root chakra—where survival instincts reside. • Role: A source of pure energy that can be transmuted into higher expressions of consciousness, creativity, and wisdom. • **Approach**: Embrace fear as a neutral or even positive force, acknowledging its presence without resistance. Use it as a foundation to cultivate courage and clarity. [[Erasing Fears & Traumas Based on the Modern Neuroscience of Fear]] ``` This is perhaps what Ernest Beaker was trying to encapsulate with his notion of the ever-present Fear. It makes total sense, it is that Fear that gives rise to our Lives. All your thoughts, feelings and memory arise within that Fear-Space so to say; allowing you to observe others and 'see' the stories ('lies') they tell themselves to guide their conscious attention away from the Anxieties of life. Though I have to say, this is something that I've seen being Transcended. I can't say I have transcended it -- far from it in fact. But, I have seen those who I believe have transcended it. Transendece is quite a similar word as Transference, which in and of itself is a very interesting phenomena -- perhaps, a psycho-somatic adaptation that'll allow us to push on if we are unable to truly contend with those questions. Because what I know for sure is that, the way to Transcend is _through_ and that requires exposure to the most unimaginable turmoil your mind can come up with. What are your thoughts?