Amygdala - the name means almond-shaped. 

It is a tiny piece of almond-shaped tissue which lies deep in the center of the brain.

This is the fight/flight center.

Information is encoded in this organ by etching instructions into the glandular tissue such that they are immediately available when needed.

Such things as what to do when falling down, or how to get out of the way of a speeding truck are etched inside this organ permanently, it is believed.

This is so your mind does not have to figure out everything all over again when it may be in less fortuitous circumstances, without as much time to process information before being forced to act or die.

The information which is encoded are typically autonomic functions which are regulated by adrenergic and cholinergic chemical compounds.

So, the encoding tells exactly how much and where.

Then as one has more experiences more information will be encoded, automatically, and hopefully will help to keep you out of harm's way.

So, a huge grizzly bear just stepped out of the bushes and is running at you fast.

What to do?

Eyes will dilate
secretions will stop temporarily
mouth will be dry
digestion will stop
blood will pour into the organs most needed for high speed running
blood which is not needed in the periphery will be shunted to the vital organs
heart rate will increase
and heart will skip beats
respiratory rate will increase
bronchial tubes will open wide
adrenaline will be pumped into muscles so that they can act "miraculously" fast

Oh, did I forget the entire body being flooded with copious amounts of adrenergic and cholingergic chemicals and myriad neurotransmissions.

Am I the only one,
or does this sound like
I AM IN LOVE!?

(again, and again, and again and ---)

There is a very good reason for that similarity of feeling and description.

Yes, they are one and the same.

That horrible sick feeling in the pit of your stomach can be caused by numerous different things,
but the actual "feeling" is the same no matter which stimulus.

The sick feeling will be described nearly the same no matter how many different causations may be ascertained.

Same chemicals.
Same bartender.
Same sensations.

Different specifics.

Same (bad) outcome.

Ouch!

Does that sound like the human dilemma in a nutshell, or what? 

That's enough for now.

I just wanted to get started on this as the first step.

What I hope to be showing is that persons are confusing the feelings and affect (caused by the triggering of a very powerful survival mechanism) with object attachment, such that they come to associate the two together and then busily work overtime building fantasy neural networks which will soon overpower their original neighboring networks.

Warm and fuzzy does not belong with fight/flight.

Love is supposed to be warm and fuzzy.

Yet, somehow, what people call "love" just so often degenerates into something which is far different from that.

Now, here comes the funny part.

Warm and fuzzy definitely = dopamine reward system and associated circuits

But then, where do all of those horrible feelings come from anyway.

Not warm and fuzzy, that's for sure.

Gee, how about the description of what happens when the huge grizzly bear is running you down so he can eat you?

Why is it that we feel all of those same things,
and so often that many of us associate relationship feelings much more with fight/flight than we do with anything even closely resembling warm and fuzzy

(I am talking about longer than several months of "discovering yourself in another" and all of that kind of nonsense, which will soon enough rub off when rent and bills have to be paid religiously and punctually).

This is where we are going to see our first CROSSED CIRCUITS.

Dopamine reward system

vs.

Autonomic fight/flight

Oh, how easy it is to get the two conflated into one.

And what a huge error I can assure you that will be.

Warm and fuzzy:fight/flight
seems oxymoronic on it's face.

Comfort is not one of my foremost concerns when being run down by a wild animal.

So, why have the two become so associated with one another that one can hardly think of the one without the other?
(Eddie Bernays ---- is that more of your handiwork?).

That is to say, in any normal, healthy relationship there is not going to be a lot of reason to disagree and scream and yell at one another.

No reason to have fight/flight.

At least not so far as the relationship is concerned.

So, it only makes sense that the two would be conflated when there is violence in the mix.

And not just any violence.

But perpetual violence.

Whether overt, or merely threatened with undertones and overtones, it is all the same.

The amygdala is kept on  "red alert" for way longer than is healthy for an individual.

Let me give you one example before I, myself, fall over
and pass out from exhuastion.

Dolphins (the mammal) can easily jump up several feet or more into the air.

It is very easy for them to jump over the little floating buoys which hold a fishnet up as it is drawn together to pull the catch out.

They are actually only several inches above the water at their highest point.

No problem.

That is, unless you are really freaked out.

If the Dolphin gets panic, as in panic disorder, he will swim around wildly and have no idea that he can jump over the net.

He will be like a bird which flutters about very rapidly and wildly as it smashes into the walls and breaks it's neck.

Same process.

Different animal.

In three days the Dolphin will be dead.

That is what the writings on this matter claimed.

All he had to do was jump out.

But, once into full-on sensory overload,
with the amygdala gone wild,
he is completely unable to carry out the simplest task
which would immediately free him.

Do you feel like that may describe you?

I know it sure does me.

Been there, done that, too numerous to count.

That is all I have to say about that at this time.

Aloha to all.

w/bountiful and overflowing love to all

vw


7-16-12
10:44 p.m.
Monday
Ventura, California, USA


p.s. Am traveling northward tomorrow.

Don't say you were not warned,
BECAUSE YOU WERE!