People with ataraxia are defined by always maintaining a calm, collected and unpleasant mood. However, behind that emotional cold and the total absence of fear, some neurological changes can be hidden.
Ataraxia takes us back to ancient Greece and the Stoics: let us not touch anything, let us remain unpleasant in the face of adversity. That mood with which to get rid of fears, get rid of anxieties and run away from frustrations and anger undoubtedly seems an idyllic mood. Who would not like to advance in the journey of life embracing such increased psychological serenity?
The truth is that, although we like it, this reality would have little health or even logic. The fearless Juan of the Brothers Grimm has spent much of his life trying to get to know that emotion that, after all, defines human beings so much. We must not forget that excluding an emotion – whatever it is – from the emotional register can have serious consequences.
Therefore, ataraxia, far from being an inspiring concept, would actually define a disorder. Moreover, in some cases we may be faced with a neurological impairment. Dimensions such as anxiety, anxiety or restlessness, although annoying and disturbing, fulfill their indisputable purpose in our survival.
Ataraxia: definition and symptoms
Greek philosophy defined ataraxia as imperturbability. For figures such as Democritus or Heraclitus, this desire to reduce the inclination to passion and to show a serene behavior, content impervious to emotions and instincts, was synonymous with exaltation, with the nobility of the spirit.
This view of behavior and attitude was developed by Epicureans, Stoics, and skeptics. Thus, research such as that conducted by Dr. James Warren of the University of Cambridge indicates that the Epicureans considered ataraxia to be synonymous with mental well-being by “snatching” our fears from the mind.
Seen this way, more than one can see it as encouraging and correct. Who wouldn’t like to live in a permanent state of imperturbability? Living in a psychological realm where mobbing at work has not affected us or where our partner’s betrayals have not caused us pain would be – at first glance – something to be desired.
Now, the truth is, if we reacted this way to the adversities of life, we would not be human. We would be cars. The inability to react to environmental events or the absence of fear would in many cases define a neurological disorder.
How is a person with ataraxia?
Ataraxia does not appear as such in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). However, it can be a symptom of, as I pointed out, a neurological problem. There are changes in different regions of the brain that correlate with this reality and its symptoms.
We analyze the symptoms of ataraxia:
Passive behavior. Inability to react to environmental stimuli.
The person with medical ataraxia has no changes in his mood. I am always in a state of affective flattening in which there are no ups and downs, no joys, no fears, no behaviors of illusion, no manifestations of worry …
It’s not frustrating. That is, facts such as making a mistake or not being able to achieve their goals, for example, live it calmly and almost indifferently.
They don’t feel guilty. They have no responsibility for their actions.
It is also common for them to disregard boundaries, not see the risks to their behaviors, and tend to take risks.
Illuminated amygdala in the brain of a man who represents the origin of ataraxia
The origin of ataraxia
Clinical or medical ataraxia forms the extreme of philosophical ataraxia. That is, one can maintain a calm and calm character before the future of life. However, as a human being, it is expected – and recommended – to experience joy, a sense of guilt, fear, anxiety, the effusiveness of love and from time to time, even the anxiety of sadness.
All this allows us to adapt to the unforeseen events of life, providing us with valuable learning tools. Now, someone with clinical ataraxia has a clear maladaptive passivity. This condition defines people who are not able to react to their environment, both socially, professionally and emotionally.
Now, what is the origin of this problem?
The neurological origin of imperturbability
There are several triggers that would explain ataraxia. The most common are traumatic strokes of the frontal area of the brain, as well as strokes.
It is also important to talk about another origin. We know that Urbach-Wiethe disease, for example, has as its main manifestation the total absence of fear.
This condition occurs as a result of an injury or atrophy of the amygdala of the brain. As we well know, this region is the one that regulates some of our emotions, fear and the feeling of alertness being the most common. In this way, when we have a danger in front of us, the amygdala is the one that immediately sends the information to the cerebral cortex.
Later, this area will apply a cognitive filter to objectively assess the real risk. However, the person with ataraxia will not be able to perform any of these processes. Thus, it is very probable that the fearless Juan of the Brothers Grimm actually suffered a certain modification of the amygdala of the brain …
Source: lamenteesmaravillosa.com