A reader asked me to write some more about “de-programming” after reading my previous piece. Naturally, de-programming a successfully hypnotized society is not comparable to “de-programming” - if we can even call it that - of an individual’s OCD.
In principle, what my therapist Meir meant, back in the 1970’s, by “hitting the amygdala” was working with my symptoms on an emotional, rather than rational level. When I felt a particularly powerful wave of OCD, I was instructed to go for a one mile run, while repeating a mantra to myself, such as “it’s a beautiful day” (the mantra can be anything) The run works directly on your brain by increasing endorphins, which reduce the level of cortisol flooding your brain. Your mantra switches your brain of, albeit temporarily, and forces it into a groove different from the obsessive groove. Visualize trains switching rail tracks. After the run, I’d take a cold shower and kept on distracting yourself. The distracting stimulus must be powerful. The most powerful tools to achieve long lasting distraction are sex (excitatory) or deep relaxation (inhibitory) You simply cannot be anxious while you’re relaxed or while you’re sexually aroused. The two are completely incompatible.
The idea is the more counter stimuli you provide for your brain - via the amygdala - the greater your chance of slowly de-programming the OCD, which, at its core, is simply anxiety.
When it comes to a massive societal phenomenon, such as the mass psychosis we are experiencing now, all we can do is try to work one on one with those close to us: friends and family. We already know that numbers, graphs and charts (the rational arguments) will not move them. They know all the rational arguments and are unable to apply them. If I were to devise a tool to discourage masking, for example, I would point out how disgusting a mask becomes after a few hours of wear. I’d describe the bacteria teeming in the damp cloth, the fungus buildup- I would try to make it sound as disgusting as possible. Disgust, like fear, bypasses the rational brain. You want to paint a picture that is as revolting as possible, so your friend or relative drives home with the image implanted in their head. As long as the fear is strong, it might still trump the disgust. But it will not do it forever.
To reverse the fear on the populational level, we would probably need a leader who’d enact legislation in direct opposition to what we have now. Distancing and masking would be illegal. Vaccination would be declared harmful. Working from home undermines your health - it’s not hard to produce public service announcement in that spirit. In short, that leader (no one is on the horizon who’s capable of such drastic action) would also work on the amygdala - but in the opposite direction. There would be negative consequences if you continue to behave the way you have been. The punishment would be not for *NOT* vaccinating but for continuing to vaccinate.
I can hear everyone laughing. It is indeed a real stretch to imagine such an eventuality. But since we know rational arguments are useless, we must at least attempt to find a good counter to the prevalent hysteria. I would advocate for small steps on a personal level…small victories, one at a time