Information in our brain is stored through the formation of associative chains of neurons. For example, a child was sitting next to a Christmas tree, eating an apple and watching cartoons. Suddenly, next to me, mom and dad scandalized, moreover, gu.e. and sharply. The child was frightened: he clenched his muscles, his heart beat quickened, his breathing became ragged — he became scared. And at this moment, dad shouts to mom: “Yes, you’re just a fool!”, slams the door and runs out, leaving a frightened child and a sobbing mother, the sight of which continues to frighten the child.
What happens in times of stress? — The body, in order to find out such a “terrible” situation in the future and avoid it, just in case, captures all the elements of the current situation: the smell of a Christmas tree, the taste of an apple, the cartoon on the TV screen, the words “you are a fool!”, mom’s crying, dad’s voice timbre. And all these elements of the neural record called “that situation with mom and dad” are connected into one “stress” node, the elements of which are associated with each other by an associative feature.
And what happens then if one of the elements is suddenly reproduced, using the neuron associated with it? — The whole chain of connected memories and sensations is turned on. For example, a child, having heard the smell of a Christmas tree in the future, may suddenly tense up, because other elements connected in a single chain have worked, and the child “sensually” remembered the situation in which this chain originated. The more elements are simultaneously reproduced, the greater the chance that the sensation in its entirety will migrate from the past situation to the current moment. Well, if that unpleasant situation in which the child experienced strong fear was repeated more than once, then the connection between individual, repetitive elements of the situation recorded by neurons becomes stronger, and when one of the elements is reproduced, all other links of the chain turn on more reliably and faster — it appears «sore», the soreness of which is the greater, the more often it is poked around.
What is the most interesting thing here? — The fact that the chain of associative connections can really live in a person for a very, very long time, especially if each time he experiences an unpleasant state, colliding with one of the «stressful» elements, and fixes the mechanism for the occurrence of this state, making the «associative neural path» more and more worn and trodden. And, on the one hand, this confirms that there are “mental illnesses”, and it can be difficult to simply ignore them, they must be dealt with. But here another circumstance arises: these “sores” exist as long as a person has all the elements of the “sick associative chain” connected in only one, sick, chain. And if you create other associative chains? “Then the situation changes.
For example, this happens when a person, doing auto-training or just muscle relaxation, creates a blissful state of mind and body by volitional and purposeful effort, while reproducing in memory situations that previously traumatized him. That is, a person is afraid, for example, of a loud voice or the dad’s phrase “you are a fool”, and in order not to be afraid anymore, he creates a relaxed state for himself and, against this background, recalls what used to scare him. Gradually, the “frightening elements” of the associative chain are associated not only with bodily tension, but also with a relaxed and calm state. And the person ceases to automatically turn on the «tense» chain of neural connections, because he has a choice.
It’s as if, imagine, a person first had one path from the door of the house to the store (and this path was through weeds, nettles and garbage in general), and then he found another (and, perhaps, more than one) path, which goes through a beautiful garden, and where the path is more pleasant, well-groomed. And now a person has a choice: either to go along a terrible and uncomfortable path, or along a new one, where it is pleasant to go. Perhaps at first a person will catch himself on the fact that, having thought, he suddenly again went down a terribly familiar path, and, returning, he will force himself to go along a new, pleasant one. But if a person walks along the new path often enough, then it will become the new automatic and natural choice, and the old path will be forgotten like a bad dream.
It is the same with neural associative chains: we create new associative connections, force (directly force!) ourselves to reproduce them more often, developing a new automatic habit of feeling, perceiving the situation in a different, more comfortable way, and then we walk all life along the “new path”, without returning to the old one.
Does this mean that the old associative chain will be completely erased? — Not. You can play it if you want. Those. both that path and the new one will be preserved. But if the old one is not used, it will gradually overgrow with weeds, become dull and hardly guessable. And the new one will become wide, well-groomed, trodden and familiar.
Total: sores, in fact, do not exist. There are only our «sore states», which we habitually create for ourselves, including the reactions of the body to the associative-remembered elements of external reality. And we can either continue to reproduce these states, or create others, good ones, using the same associative principle. And then we have a choice: either the old and familiar path, which is scary, or the new and pleasant, beautiful path, which will soon become familiar and natural.
In terms of duration: if you work on the chain and get used to it, then a month is usually enough for it to become quite automatic and familiar. Think, perhaps such a “payment” for the removal of a mental illness will suit you.