The Unconscious- How It Operates?

A lot has been written about the Unconscious in psychology literature. During my own training, I found it hard to understand the intricacies of the Unconscious. But over the years, I have learnt something more than what the books taught me. This article is about my own experiences and the understanding of the Unconscious.

The part of the nervous system that controls our internal organs and is affected by and regulates our emotional state is the Unconscious. Initially made popular in the Western world by Freud, the Unconscious has been an accepted phenomenon in Eastern cultures for a long time. References to the Unconscious have been made in Bhagvatgita, a holy book for the Hindus. Arjuna, the protagonist, in Bhagvatgita, is advised by Krishna, to rise over the emotions and anxiety that he is experiencing in the battle-field. Through cognitive therapy, Arjuna is advised to deal with his physical and emotional state first, before he fires the first arrow at his enemies.

Recently, it has been scientifically shown that a part of the nervous system called the ‘limbic system' is responsible for controlling emotions in the humans. The limbic system is located in the center of the skull. It gets its input from the sensory organs. It is connected to the ‘logical' cerebrum on one side and on the other it is connected to the nerves that control the functioning of internal organs like heart, lungs, stomach, liver and the kidneys. It is also connected to the master gland of the endocrine system- the hypothalamus.

The limbic system gets its information from the senses, the logical part of the brain and also the internal organs. As soon as we think of an event, or become aware of an event in our environment that causes emotional arousal, the limbic system stimulates the endocrine system. We feel emotional due to the production of particular hormones in particular quantities. The impact of these emotions depends on what the limbic system has observed (by preconditioning) of how the event is perceived- threatening or non- threatening.

The Unconscious determines our behavioral responses to the environmental cues. To change our behaviour, it is the Unconscious that needs to be trained to respond in a different manner. This can be done either by using reason or by dealing with the emotions that are experienced in a particular situation. The interesting part of the change process is that once the emotions, relating to a particular event are experienced fully, the nervous system becomes tired of it and spontaneously changes the behavioral response of the person.
This is the reason why counseling, hypnotherapy, emotive therapy and cognitive therapy work. If someone does not get well with these therapies, it is not that the particular therapy does not work, but because the emotional experiences have not been concluded.