23 January 2009
"The sorrow which has no vent in tears may make other organs weep."
I stumbled upon this quote by Henry Maudsley and I found it very telling in light of the conversation we were having yesterday about being able to control one's body through one's mind. If the mind is in anguish (and sorry is an agonizing emotion), does the body follow suit? At the same time, when the mind is delighted, do you notice the pains of your body? I think (and I may be making this up) that there is documented research relating to stress and its effects on the body. Physiologically, stress triggers the "fight of flight" response of the parasympathetic system causing the body to excrete adrenaline and other "protective" hormones; however, these hormones are not intended for chronic release and instead of protecting the body, they damage and fatigue it. (It's like driving your car in a gear that's too high -- you might get where you want to go, but the car's going to be in sorry shape when you get there!) Similarly, the ability to consciously calm these physiological responses in relation to bodily pain, one can reduce pain and control the body (the precept behind Lamaze breathing and childbirth). So, if the mind is chattled to the body in terms of its existence (the body can die, but the mind lives on), is not the body also chattled to the mind? The two exist within the confines of the one "person", both affected by the weaknesses and strengths of the other. How can one be dominant? In reality, it is an ebb and flow of power between the two. Then again, if you are consciously aware of the physiological damage done through your emotions, could the mind not dominate the body through control of those emotions? Which flips the coin of the argument again -- if emotions were so easily controlled, would they really be emotions? Is "feeling" therefore a specialized category of "thinking" that extends beyond conscious thought and control? If "feelings" (ie emotions) were really the result of conscious determination, why would we ever choose sorrow? So maybe there is a plane of existence between the body and the mind known as the spirit, that serves as a bridge that connects the two.
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This is perhaps not completely relevant to the point of your post BUT I did my Psych 310 project on caffeine, stress, and locus of control. In short, there is a hormone called cortisol that is commonly called the "stress hormone" which has a role in the body's physiological response to stress. Your body naturally produces a certain amount of cortisol and other hormones but like you said, they are not supposed to be prolonged (or underproduced, for that matter). I think that the body does respond in a very physical, chemical way to stress and emotions. I would agree strongly that there is a plane of existence between the body and the mind because of how much they influence on another. In the psychological realm there are things like the somatoform and dissociative disorders that seem to indicate the strong connection between the mind and the body. Those are just some things that I thought about while reading your post, that's all.
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