Alexander Lowen: anger and fear in the human body

[Teacher]

Already in the first year of life, the child begins to respond to pain and malaise with voluntary movements. This is preceded by extremely involuntary reactions in the form of crying, bending and writhing of the body and erratic kicks.

These actions express feelings of irritation, which are later replaced by anger. The emotion of anger is gradually replacing crying as a means of releasing tension. However, the anger of a young child is usually not able to influence the situation and usually turns into crying, which is the basic mechanism for releasing tension.

Anger IS A MORE EFFECTIVE RESPONSE THAN CRYING BECAUSE IT IS AIMED TO REMOVE THE CAUSE OF THE PAIN.

For this, accordingly, it is necessary to have the ability to recognize the cause and understand exactly which object the anger should be directed to. While crying is accompanied by feelings of helplessness in the current situation, anger overcomes this feeling.

* In a state of anger, the muscles along the back are charged with excitement, mobilizing the body to attack. Anger is felt as a wave moving up the back to the head and arms. This rush of emotion is accompanied by a powerful flow of blood to these parts of the body. In the presence of inhibitions and tensions blocking this flow of feeling, a headache may occur.

On the other hand, crying is experienced as an outflow. During crying, the charge leaves the muscular system and the tension is released through convulsive sobbing. In many ways, anger is like a thunderstorm: after the discharge of feelings through intense movement, consciousness becomes clear and well-being returns, while crying can be compared to a quiet rain.

* Anger and fear refer to emotions that arise in emergency situations, they activate the sympathetic-adrenal system to provide additional energy production for fight or flight. In both emotional states, the muscular system is charged and mobilized for action. In the event of anger, the body prepares to attack the source of the pain. When fear arises, the body adjusts itself to retreat and flight from danger.

These two opposite directions of movement reflect what is happening in the body.

An upward movement along the back, which in the dog raises the coat on end along with the forward thrust of the head and the lowering of the shoulders, constitutes preparation for an attack. The result of the downward movement along the back is to draw in the lower spine and charge the legs for flight.

In a state of fear, a person turns around and runs. If escape is impossible, then the excitement gets stuck in the back and neck, the shoulders rise, the eyes open wide, the head is pulled back, the pelvis tightens. Typically an expression of fear, this body posture indicates that a person is in a constant state of fear, regardless of whether he is aware of it or not.

* The movement of the stream of excitement along the back to the head at the moment of anger is probably explained by the fact that in humans, like in most mammals, the mouth and teeth are the main means of expressing aggression. The impulse to bite is an archaic form of expressing anger.

Almost all children at a certain age bite, and sometimes adults, mainly women, do it. This is a very effective form of attack because it causes severe pain, but the disadvantage is the need for close contact.

Therefore, punching, which is not so demanding on distance and allows for more maneuverability, has supplanted biting, becoming the main physical way of expressing anger. However, when a person is very angry, their face often takes on the grin that is associated with a bite.

I AM CONVINCED THAT THE CONTENT OF THE IMPULSE TO BITE IS MANY RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY DISORDERS IN THE SPHERE OF EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION.

These disorders take the form of an inability to get angry, hysterical outbursts and constant feelings of irritation.

Anger, like other basic emotions, is an expression of the ego. It does not break through, like hysterical reactions, contrary to conscious intentions, it is directed by the ego and aims at a positive result, namely, the elimination of the cause of frustration or pain.

Anger is not hostility, for being angry does not mean turning away or becoming cold. Holding back the impulse to bite inhibits the movement of arousal to the head and jaw and blocks the natural experience of this emotion.

* A person's inability to "grab their teeth for life" or "bite into the ground" when necessary is one of the results of suppressing the impulse to bite.

I am not suggesting that biting be encouraged when raising children, but they should not be punished for biting or otherwise expressing anger.

A person who is denied the right to express anger is left unprotected. When driven to a state of fear and helplessness, he will try to overcome them by manipulating his environment. Bioenergetic practice clearly shows that there is suppressed anger hidden behind chronic feelings of fear and helplessness.

* The relationship between fear and anger is that one is replaced by the other. If a frightened person turns to face danger and decides to attack, then he will get angry and stop being afraid. This is because the stream of excitement in his body changes direction. His new feeling is nothing more than a perception of this change. When the attacker begins to retreat, he becomes frightened for the same reason. Feelings of anger find relaxation in the movements of the attack. The feeling of fear is discharged through flight.

* Fear develops when the source of pain is represented by a seemingly superior force. Precaution advises the person to step back to avoid pain, however, precaution is the voice of reason, and emotions are not subject to conscious control. Whether a person chooses to fight or flight will depend on his character and the situation.

Despite the superior strength of the aggressor, a person may react to violence with anger in circumstances where retreat is physically or psychologically impractical. Righteous anger gives a person a lot of strength and is often enough to compensate for a lack of height or weight. A person experiencing anger, as a rule, reinforces himself with a belief in the justice or justification of his condition.

* On the other hand, in situations where anger cannot be mobilized because the source of the danger is unclear, unknown, or impersonal, fear is the natural response.

So, children are afraid when they are left alone in the dark. They feel defenseless and either run away or start crying. For the same reason, adults are afraid of the unknown. Telling a child that he should not be afraid of the dark is foolish. It can be explained to him that there is no real danger in this situation, but at the same time it should be understood that his fear is a biological reaction that cannot be condemned.

WE CAUSE PERMANENT HARM TO OUR CHILDREN WHEN CALLING THEM SHEARS AND MAKING THEIR ASHAMED OF OUR NATURAL REACTIONS.

This irrational attitude on the part of some adults is a consequence of their ignorance of the essence of emotional reactions. In addition, it is to some extent a response to their children of the way they were treated when they were young and defenseless.

* Although a frightened person spontaneously develops an impulse to flee, it can be blocked by an effort of will. Will is an ego-controlled emergency mechanism that can sometimes override emotional responses. In some situations, it can even save a person's life. Will, however, does not diminish the feeling of fear. It allows a person to defend their position or move forward in spite of fear. Although this can be a manifestation of recklessness, as in cases where fear is suppressed through the will for the sake of satisfying the ego.

CHRONIC STATE OF PANIC

When the ego is identified with the body, it supports the body's emotional responses and directs them into effective action. If a person experiences fear, then all the actions of the ego will be aimed at avoiding danger.

In the absence of ego control, which is maintained through identification with one's own feelings, fear can easily escalate into panic.

Likewise, when a person is angry, ego-imposed restrictions reduce their behavior to the most necessary actions to ensure that pain or physical harm is stopped or prevented. The ego adds an element of rationality to anger and keeps it from spiraling out of control. Since anger usually subsides with the cessation of negative external influences, it cannot be considered destructive.

Fury

Rage is another matter. When the ego's identification with the body declines, leading to a weakening of control, then a wave of anger often erupts in the form of rage, often having a devastating effect on the person and those around him.

* Like most other manifestations of personality, panic and rage are polarized with each other. In both cases, the person feels trapped. Faced with an insurmountable danger that cannot be answered by flight or fight, the person will feel panic or rage.

If it is panic, his impulse will be a desperate, uncontrollable desire to get away from danger at any cost. If such an opportunity arises, he will run without looking back, without even trying to assess the situation that has arisen; there is a complete lack of ego control.
If escape is not possible, his reaction will be rage.

* A striking example of panic is the behavior of people trapped in a burning room. Blinded by the desire to get out of a threatening situation, they often do not notice the available ways of escape and act in a self-destructive way.

Panic is often observed during hostilities, when people blindly flee from an approaching enemy.

But we find it difficult to imagine that panic can overtake a child who is threatened by an angry parent. He is literally trapped, since neither fight nor flight is possible for him. In such a situation, panic can take the form of a hysterical scream.

* Children living under constant threat develop a chronic state of panic. With age, they learn to suppress this feeling, but the effectiveness of such suppression is very relative. The repressed feeling breaks out later, and in situations that, although stressful, do not justify, from a rational point of view, such an intense reaction.

Some people are so close to a state of panic that they are afraid to leave the house alone. I have come across several similar cases in practice. Others have their panic hidden inside. This usually manifests itself in an overly elevated, inflated chest and shortness of breath. A person in a state of panic feels that he does not have enough air. Conversely, when a person feels that they are not getting enough air, they panic. Difficulty breathing obscures a blocked cry.

If, with the help of therapy, the cry is released, then breathing becomes freer and the feeling of panic decreases.

* A person's reaction to a threatening situation can also be rage, especially if there is an object to which it can be directed. In this case, muscle excitement becomes excessive, and the person loses control over his actions. Like panic, rage is blind. A person in a rage rushes into the attack headlong, not realizing the destructive consequences of his behavior. Unlike anger, rage is associated not so much with a specific external stimulus as with an internal sense of hopelessness.

* How can you explain the rage that some parents sometimes direct at their children? It is difficult to imagine that a child can become a cause of overwhelming fear for a parent. The explanation must be sought in the assumption that the child may cause the parent to feel hopeless.

First of all, a mother is attached to her child. She knows she has a responsibility to provide him with the constant care and attention he needs. If her energy level is lowered, then the child will become an unbearable burden for her. In a situation of unfavorable relations with her spouse, the child will become for her a chain that holds her in these relations and, therefore, the cause of her suffering.

If her own childish needs are not met, she will indignantly reject the demands of love coming from her own child.

If motherhood does not become a source of pleasure and joy for her, she will feel trapped in her obligations. And in moments of severe stress, she will direct her rage at the child.

* Parental rage terrifies the child. I will go on to a detailed description of this state below, but now I would like to note that it is not only the open expression of rage or violence that has such an effect.

The latent parental cruelty that the child feels affects him in the same way.

THE EXPRESSION OF RAGE ON THE PARENT IS WHAT THE CHILD CANNOT UNDERSTAND AND WHAT CANNOT BE COPIED WITH. THIS IS A DIRECT THREAT TO ITS EXISTENCE.

I have seen the expression on the faces of parents looking furiously at their children. At the same time, the parents who were at that moment in my office did not even realize what was written on their faces. The mother's face became dark, as if a black cloud hung over her eyebrows. Ruthlessness was read in the position of the jaw. The eyes were cold and cruel. It was the look of the killer. When faced with such a gaze, the child is paralyzed by horror.

* In such a state, paralysis of the muscular system occurs, excluding any kind of fight or flight. Horror is an even more intense form of fear than panic, and develops in situations where any effort to resist or flee seems hopeless.

HORROR

Horror is a form of shock; sensations are diverted from the periphery of the body, reducing the sensitivity of the body in anticipation of the onset of the last agony. This is withdrawal.

* A child who experiences terror in relations with his own parents develops a schizoid personality. All the corresponding signs appear in his body: it becomes stiff and stiff or flabby, with weak muscle tone. The surface of the body is not sufficiently charged. The eyes are usually empty, the expression on the face is frozen, like a mask. Breathing is severely restricted by spasms of the muscles of the throat and bronchi. The inhalation is shallow, and the chest is held in the exhalation position. Lack of movement leads to depersonalization, that is, the separation of the perception of the ego from the body.

* This range of simple emotions and their descriptions are not complete and comprehensive. This is just a diagram that seems convenient to outline the existing biological system and show the mechanism of its functioning.