Our Brain's Bias...(aka "Don't look at the Bright Side!!)

Credit: Getty Images, NBC.

I remember sitting in a conference for mental health workers, where the featured speaker was Dr. Martin Seligman--the "father" of Positive Psychology, which stresses the mental health benefits of focusing on the Positive. This was in the early 2000's when I was a young psychologist, feeling like an imposter and not so authentic, not even with myself. When I heard what he was going to speak about, I internally rolled my eyes and thought, "oh great. Pollyanna stuff! Think good thoughts and you will be healed! 'I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!---SNL, Al Franken'. "

Little did I know that I trained in a field that was pathology--focused and made up theories about why people do what they do that were focused on symptoms, "impulses of little children", and what was wrong with an individual, not ever was "right" or adaptive or a strength. Got to love the medical model--focused on disease, pathology symptoms and not the whole person.

Well, I'm a little older and not much wiser, but I do know a few things I didn't know then. We are amazingly adaptive creatures. Neuroscience has shown us that our brains have a bias toward the negative that stems from evolution. If that thing on the ground is either a SNAKE or a STICK, our brain is going to say SNAKE every time. That is because the brain prioritizes safety over everything else--it helps one be a little more prepared in case it really is a snake.

In addition, our brain is wired (again to prioritize safety) to anticipate danger once one has experienced a threat. Traumatic events (especially repeated traumas that occur over time) train our brains to be hyper-vigilant--always scanning the environment for danger. And our population has experienced far more trauma than most people are aware. I believe that our current tendency for Black-and-white, negative thinking stems from our collective trauma and our nervous systems being set in a state of hyper-vigilance and focus on what is wrong or potentially harmful.

But I digress...neuroscience now shows us that focusing instead on what is right, on what we are grateful for, and on spiritual experiences and awareness--like being connected to nature or to the universe--helps us to rise up out of her "survival mode" into "thriving mode". When we feel safe and connected to what we are grateful for and how we are all part of one loving universe, we are increasingly capable of greater love and compassion for ourselves and others---HOW CAN THIS BE BAD?? We even have a myriad of ways to enhance our connection to spirit and to maintain a loving, grateful, compassionate state of mind for others (all others), not just our close family.

Crazy as it might seem,I believe that this focus on our intuitive, spiritual nature is what will eventually save us from our outdated biology. Stuart Smalley was right!! Thinking positive thoughts, (and focusing on gratitude and connecting to a higher power of your choice) really can save us.