Shame Circuit: Confusion, Uncertainty, and Groundedness II By Chardin Bersto, MA
At the turn of the last century (2000) we passed over a powerful threshold in the field of Neuroscience. The technological advances developed in the studies of MRIs and CAT Scans gave us a new picture of the human brain in action. The 1990s became “The Decade of the Brain” and we stepped into the 21st century with a new vision and deeper understanding of ourselves.
Along with the advances in technology, almost in another realm, the Physicists were musing about their position alongside shamans and guru’s. Peering into the Quantum field they saw a world of fascinating interconnectedness. Of course, the ancients from both sides of the planet have been speaking about throughout the millennia, but Modern Western Culture has this thing about “I’ve got to see it to believe it” so now “science” is finally catching up.
The field of Psychoneuroimmunology has been keeping pace with these advancements in technology and maybe walk a little closer to the ancients in the pursuit of understanding how the way we think, feel, believe effects our wellbeing and health. Psychoneuroimmunology is no “new kid on the block”. Understanding how our emotional responses goes back to the mid 1800s, but again, our technology was not there yet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoneuroimmunology). Then it has resurgence in the 1930’s with research in the field of Psychosomatics. Unfortunately, Psychosomatics developed into the scapegoat for medicine because the technology was not quite developed enough to reveal the power of our own consciousness. “Its all in your head” became the catch phrase for psychosomatics and it faded into the background.
This sketch brings us up into the later part of the 20th century. The unfortunate event that helped Psychoneuroimmunology gain foothold was the AIDS epidemic. Through the study of countless cases the medical researchers noted a wide variety of survival rates to this pernicious epidemic. They were finding that a person’s emotional response to their situation played an important role in their survivability and even their response to medicines. Currently, it’s easy to find “Integrative Medical Practices” that incorporate Eastern Exercise Practices, Massage, and Meditation blended with Medical intervention for people dealing with life threatening illness.
This brings us to the 1990s and the “Decade of the Brain”. Launched as a program for “Public Awareness” by Congress and The National Institute of Health it opened a door that exposed the public to the extraordinary discoveries of science. Its most cohesive presentation to the public came not until 2004 with the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know” (20th Century Fox) (http://www.whatthebleep.com/).
Now, you’re probably asking or have even forgotten the title of this article “The Shame Circuit”. The purpose of this background is to lay the foundation for “shame” being the subconscious underpinning for countless autonomic responses. In 2003 Allan Schore, PhD published an extraordinary work on “affect regulation”. Affect Regulation is how we learn to respond to our world in various ways (emotion) and then come to terms to resolve any experienced stress around that response. Schore maps out the areas of the brain that are developing during crucial times of our growth. He points out that “shame” develops as a nervous system response of hyper-excitation in relationship to the disruption of the bond between a primary care object (the primary person that cares for the infant) and the infant/toddler (Schore, 2003). In this situation the infant/toddler is unable to regulate the perceived disruption of the nurturing bond and withdraws (disassociates) into a non-specific stress response and the organism loses contact with the environment around them. At this point the autonomic nervous system and its current right brain dominance, is looking for ways to “survive” the disruption and the left frontal lobe of the brain and cerebral cortex are not available to offer avenues of coping. It is the responsibility of the primary care object to assuage the crisis of connection.
This might sound kind of clinical, but the “crisis of connection” can be a relatively benign event. Any parent/care giver can acknowledge moments when, for any number of reasons, they are more or less present to the attention seeking behaviors of an infant/toddler (age 1-3 years). The infant/toddler is constant seeking out the care giver for reassurances of all kinds known as “mirroring” in Object Relations Theory. Before the age of three these reassurances are communicated via intonation, facial expressions, and subtle non-verbal textures that communicate to the infant/toddler the state of affairs in the relationship (which to them is self). These eventually become elements of self concept, but in the “pre-verbal” state of the infant/toddler can be quite a dramatic experience. “Pre-verbal” implies the absence of the cognitive capacity or language structure, to understand the subtleties of human relationship. If not soothed “good enough” then the infant/toddler, in that moment, will not learn the back and forth of affect regulation.
This process becomes what can be viewed as a homeostatic calibration of the infant/toddler’s Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) or what I like to refer to as “presets”. Presets are kind of like the settings in a computer. These settings tell the computer how to process pieces of information as the information is input to the operating system. Whenever an individual perceives a sense of disconnection (this could be facial expression, body language, verbal miscues, communication confusions, or even subtle “energetic” cues nonverbally) the ANS can fall back on the pre-verbal response patterns (preset) and could have the system wide hyper-excitation the infant/toddler experienced.
This may appear somewhat complex, but we all know how this feels. For many there is a “sinking” sensation that could be accompanied by an increase in heart rate and maybe nausea (anxiety or panic) associated with feeling like we did something wrong in the relationship. This is not limited to a relationship outside of us. It can happen internally in our self perceptions also and becomes associated with self-concept. At any rate, on a homeostatic level, our bodies are in neuro-hormonal excitation (stress response) which an aspect of is suppression of the immune system.
The fact that this response (shame) is a preverbal phenomenon makes it an insidious event. As an aspect of the “autonomous” nervous system it lies in wait, vigilant to attach itself to any experience that may be deemed a bit uncertain. I consider it the “free radical” of emotion in that it attaches to experiences like the free radical attaches to the open bond of any molecule. The resolution of this response is the expressed Love and nurturing of the care giver which, in the long run, becomes Self Love; Love is the “antioxidant”.
From the work of Bruce Lipton (The Biology of Belief, and The Biology of Perception [DVD series}) we learn that the cell membrane is prepared to respond to the “environment” in the most effective way to insure survival of the cell. In an environment bombarded with uncertainty and inadequate nurturing the cell membrane is proliferated with “excitation” receptors. This limits responses and behaviors to that range of expression.
The neuro-hormonal recipe that goes with this experience creates a scenario of anxiety, uncertainty, self doubt, self judgment, and powerlessness. There are approaches that step beyond the world we consider “physical” that are effective as “self help” tools to re-circuit our “autonomous” nervous system and support the person in creating a new situation. They are an expression of perspectives that see the world/universe as an energetic phenomenon.
As medical science surged forward, along with discoveries in physics that made the atomic bomb possible, Humanity ushered in an age of technological advancements that made the 20th Century explode onto our field of consciousness at a dizzying speed. We went from horse drawn carriages to the Hubble Telescope in less than 100 years. With that surge in technology we were also able to get a look at some of the Ancient healing techniques with a creative eye and reveal possibilities with healing that were not imagined by the Ancient healers. A chiropractic practitioner named George Goodheart brought Applied Kinesiology (AK) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology) to the healing practices of the West and a new technique of assessment broadened the skills of the health practitioner.
Though the practice of this is shrouded in controversy, I find it quite fascinating to work with and the results of it as a conjunct tool of assessment surprise even me. One application is its use muscle testing what are known as “alarm points” in Acupuncture. Alarm Points have a particular relationship to a particular organ or meridian or function in the Acupuncture System. When a finger is held on a point that correlates to a particular organ, meridian, or function and a muscle is tested, if there is a stress or challenge in a particular organ, meridian, or function the chosen muscle will test weak. Now this practice has been termed a pseudo science by many skeptics, but I find the use of it, along with other tools of assessment, quite fascinating and uncannily effective at aiding in the resolution of biodynamic stress.
In a perfect world, the neuro-hormonal system of the body is synergistic, all aspects (neurotransmitters, hormones, and various neuropeptides and amino acids) playing their role in the homeostatic regulation of all things a body can do. This includes monitoring metabolic processes (digestion, respiration, circulation, and elimination), assessing and responding to the world around us, cognition, and giving us a full palette of emotions to share and savor. When looked at with the microscopic eye it is apparent that the human body is a walking, talking Miracle. Shame could be seen as completely disarming homeostasis, creating a system wide shutdown of important functions like immunity, cardiovascular performance, and cognition (the clarity of thought).
As an enthusiast of the Chinese Five Element Theory I find this particular response quite intriguing. The Water Element is ascribed the experiential qualities of fear, anxiety, trust, and I like to add awe to this list for its expansive quality (the Water element also rules expansion and contraction). In this respect we need to see the adrenal cortex as a player in the Water Element and, interestingly enough, the brain is said to be ruled by the Water Element. In the Five Element literature the Water Element gives us the capacity to assess and know the appropriate response.
So, we can begin to see if the caring environment is disrupted to the extent the infant does not learn to regulate their experience that cognitive development can be impacted and they step into their life with a limited number of tools. Cognitive development is picked up by the left brain and if there is too much excitation it cannot move ahead effectively.
To bring this into real life for a moment reflect on your own academic performance. Were there subjects that were difficult and, consequently, a belief like I’m not good at or even an avoidance of this subject material would develop. Or how about “test taking”, I can’t begin to count how many people I have coached with test taking, or test anxiety, or performance anxiety. Even though we can get real “adult-like” with these responses they all link back to the presets established by the shame circuit. If you have any questions about this take a moment and reflect on this idea and catch the sensation associated with something you feel you don’t do well and maybe you avoid.
In relationship to “shame” and its ability to completely disarm an individual’s sense of effectiveness the AK idea of “switching” is quite intriguing. In this theory, dependent on any particular stress can cause a disruption of energetic switches that relate to the experiences of confusion, uncertainty, and groundedness (Water Element). The three channels associated with this concept are the Kidney Meridian (right/left switch), the Governing Vessel (top/bottom switch), and the Governing Vessel/Conception Vessel connection (back/front switch). The signs of being switched are confusion (r/l), uncertainty (back/front), and ungrounded (top/bottom).
What’s important to remember here is that the ANS is the so called “man behind the curtain” managing the functions of the body. So, imagine for a moment, the organism (the human body) without this complex event we call conscious or perception, or at least perception not muddled up by beliefs. Like a single cell organism in a petri dish, we would move toward sustaining and nutritive substances and away from toxic, caustic substances. Homeostasis is any organism’s ability to maintain “balance” throughout the system. To accomplish this, all systems need clear, accurate information.
The Human body is a complex, synergistic, system with multiple organ systems working together to create life. It is capable of adjusting chemistry and mending itself in the event of injury.
