Emotional Plumbing

Emotions are probably the most misunderstood element within the human mind. A source of many conflicts, some seek peace by eliminating emotions. If they can be eliminated, then one must question why they exist at all. Creating a model of emotions will illustrate why they are needed, and why they have such a profound effect on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The first step in modelling the emotions is to define the need them. They are required since the subconscious responds to immediate inputs. If a zebra is hungry, and it sees luscious vegetation, it will eat. It will continue to eat until it is no longer hungry or there is no more food. If it sees a lion approaching, the zebra will turn and run away. No longer able to see the lion, it will stop at the next patch of vegetation to continue eating. This will allow the lion to catch up and kill it. To survive, the zebra needs a device that can hold the state of danger posed by the lion even after the predator can no longer be seen. What it needs are emotions.

In the brain, emotions would be controlled by some form of natural capacitor. Since many readers do not understand what capacitors are, this model will use a device that is more familiar. This model will use a compressed air tank. This tank has a valve to let in air on one side and a small hole on the other to let the air escape. When the zebra sees the lion, it will pressurize the compressed air tank assigned to “fear”. When the lion can no longer be seen, the valve will be closed. The air will slowly leak out of the hole. The zebra will keep running until all of the air is out of the tank.

This is the simplest example of why emotions are required. While it seems simple and effective, it has a serious flaw. Another example will demonstrate why the design must be modified.

Imagine a lizard walking about a desert when it spots a predatory snake. The snake’s vision is based on movement. If the lizard does not move, the snake will not see it. The valve on the lizard’s fear tank opens. The pressure causes the animal to freeze. It will remain frozen for as long as there is pressure in the tank.

Now, the snake does not hunt by sight alone. It also uses its tongue to detect scents. If it “smells” the lizard, it will follow the scent trail to the animal which is waiting patiently to become the snake’s lunch. Worse, if the snake is not hungry, the lizard will remain frozen in front of the snake until the snake becomes hungry. Then the snake will eat it. To survive, the system must be altered to allow the lizard to freeze for a short time and then run off to safety.

The system needs a pump to pressurize the air. Instead of pressuring the emotion tank, it will pressurize a larger tank that will be called the “High Pressure Reservoir”. For the sake of discussion, this reservoir will operate at a pressure of 1000. The atmosphere will have a pressure of 100. The pressure inside the reservoir is ten times that of the atmosphere, but the pressure difference between them is only 1000-100, or 900 units. In electrical terms, this pressure difference is known as the “voltage”.

Each emotion tank will be connected to the same reservoir. When the valve is opened, the tank will begin to pressurize. If the valve is shut when the pressure is at 550 units, the emotion is felt at half its maximum strength.

The pump will have multiple power settings. In the lowest setting, which will be labelled “ Normal”, the pump will not be able to keep the pressure up in the reservoir when an emotion is used. The pressure will drop to a value such as 900. The maximum emotion force of 1000 cannot be felt. To compensate for this, the pressure gauge on the emotion tank will be linked to the pressure in the reservoir. If the pressure in the reservoir is 1000, the maximum emotion value will be 1000. If the reservoir pressure drops to 600, the maximum emotion value will be 600.

This air tank model is simulating the operation of an electrical system. Electrical systems need a return path to operate. Therefore, this model will require a Low Pressure Reservoir to catch the air venting from the emotion tanks. The pump will pull air from the low pressure reservoir and push it into the high pressure reservoir.

When air goes into the low pressure reservoir, the pressure in this reservoir will rise. Since there is no valve on the low pressure side of the emotion tanks, the air will flow back into each of the emotion tanks. This will be misinterpreted as an increase in the emotion. To prevent this, the minimum emotion value will always be equal to the pressure in the low pressure reservoir. With these additions, the system is ready to protect the lizard from the snake.

When the lizard saw the snake, the valve on the fear tank opened causing it to freeze. With the valve open, air is venting from the high pressure reservoir, through the emotion tank and into the low pressure reservoir. Initially, the pressure difference between the reservoirs was 900. After some time, it has dropped to a value of, say, 300.

An equation will be defined to describe stress.

Stress = Maximum Pressure Difference

Current Pressure Difference

In this case, the stress value is 900/300 or 3. For the sake of this example, the lizard’s brain will wait until the stress is 3 or higher. Then it will stop freezing and start running. No longer able to see the snake, the valve on the fear tank is closed. The pump can now return the reservoirs to their normal pressure values. As it does this, the stress will decrease. When it reaches a value such as 1.25, the lizard will stop running.

It was stated before that the pump has multiple settings. Once the lizard has stopped running, it is important that the reservoirs return to their proper pressure settings as quickly as possible. This is done by turning the pump to a higher setting. In humans, this pump has two higher power settings. One setting causes the body to respond with “laughter” while the other causes the body to respond by “crying”. When a bride cries on her wedding day, her body is reducing the stress caused by her joy.

The lizard has just escaped from the snake, and its pump has returned its reservoirs to their proper pressure settings. The stress level is back to 1, and it is looking for food. It spots another predator. When it was very young, it spotted this predator. It froze and then sprinted off when the stress level was 3. Unfortunately, this predator was not hungry at the time. It did not pursue the lizard. The lizard mistakenly learned that this predator can be fooled by the freeze/sprint trick used on snakes.

Unfortunately, the predator is hungry this time, and its vision is not based on movement. It lunges at the lizard. As the teeth sink in, the predator loses its footing. The lizard manages to pull itself free using the extra adrenaline dumped into its blood by the emergency instincts that have kicked in. These instincts have opened more emotion valves, such as anger, causing the stress level to reach a value of 30. The lizard runs off to safety.

Now the lizard has a problem. The expected stress level was 3, but the actual stress level was 30. Obviously there is something wrong with the lizard’s approach to protecting itself from this predator.

We will now define a value known as “Traumatic Stress”.

Traumatic Stress = Actual Stress Level

Expected Stress Level

For the sake of argument, the lizard will trigger its PTSD response when the Traumatic Stress value is over 5. With a value of 10, this lizard now has PTSD.

The lizard froze when it should have run away immediately. It survived the attack by running away. The lizard can change its behaviour using the conditioning process first identified by Ivan Pavlov. By cycling the memory of the attack through its brain, the lizard will become conditioned to run away when it sees the predator. Note that this is not just remembering the attack. It is actually running the memory through the circuits. The lizard is now experiencing reality and the memory simultaneously. If reality and the memory become too similar, its brain may confuse the two and begin treating the memory as reality. This phenomenon is known as a “flashback”.

Also, the brain must learn to distinguish between the memory and reality. This process of learning generates the “sense of detachment” experienced by many PTSD sufferers. The longer the memory, the longer this process takes.

When undergoing PTSD, the stress level is driven to an extreme value such as 900. In this case, only one unit of air must be moved to go from the minimum emotion value to the maximum. The emotions have become hypersensitive. This hypersensitivity causes acute pain that drives the lizard into hiding. This antisocial behaviour provides the initial protection from the predator.

The system requires a timer to control how long the PTSD process operates. It uses stress and a phenomenon known as “desensitization”. If one watches violent behaviour constantly, it no longer causes the same emotional response. This same phenomenon occurs in the lizard. As the memory of the attack cycles through its brain, the lizard becomes desensitized. The valves on the emotions tanks are not opened as far. This causes the stress level to drop. As the stress level drops, so does the pain. By this time the conditioning process has altered how it responds to the predator. When the stress level drops to a value such as 25, the PTSD process stops. Though completed, the process has left its mark on how the lizard behaves: It will immediately run away from the predator from now on.

And with this, the model of the emotions is now complete. Through its creation, we have learned a lot about PTSD. We have learned why we have emotions and have clearly defined what stress is. We know what PTSD is, why the brain needs it, and how it is triggered. We have also discovered how it stops, and why the behaviour of the individual going through PTSD has changed. The reason why we laugh and cry has been identified. With PTSD requiring a high stress level as the timer, we also understand why those enduring PTSD do not laugh or cry (or will stop very quickly).

With the knowledge we have gained, we can examine the effect of stress on soldiers and why not everyone experiences PTSD. One soldier might expect the stress level to be high, say 200. The actual stress is high as well, say 220. In this case, the Traumatic Stress level is 220/200, or 1.1. Since this is less than 5, the PTSD mechanism is not triggered. His buddy beside him expects the stress level to be around 40, but the actual stress level is 220. In this case, the Traumatic Stress level is 5.5, and PTSD is triggered. Two soldiers shared the same experience and yet one ended up with PTSD and the other did not.

Now the first soldier goes home and starts reviewing the battle. At home, the expected stress level is around 40, but reviewing the battle causes the actual stress level to be 220. The Traumatic Stress level is 5.5. This causes the PTSD mechanism to be triggered long after the battle has occurred. Bottling up the emotions causes the stress levels to rise, and triggers PTSD.

So, how does one prevent PTSD? From the discussion, it is noted that PTSD is triggered when the actual stress level is much higher than the expected stress level. This is why the US Army’s bullet proofing program teaches their students what to expect. There is also the old mantra of “fight the way you train, and train the way you fight.” It is crucial to make training as realistic as possible.

As for what to do after PTSD has been triggered, different people will respond to different treatments. One psychiatrist might cure one patient but be unable to help another. The patient should try another strategy without turning friends off of the treatment that did not work. It might work in their cases.

A common theme that runs through all treatments is that problems with PTSD occur when the conscious interferes. The PTSD mechanism will cycle the memory through until the stress level drops. If the sufferer gets angry at the events, is embarrassed at having PTSD or is suffering from guilt, the conscious will cause the stress level to increase. When this happens, the person is trapped in a cycle that can last the rest of their lives. My only hope is that this document will assist in understand what PTSD is. Maybe then they can break the cycle.

John Schreiber