Affect-shame . . A facet of the #negativity_bias of our species’ partially evolved human mind . . the enormously powerful and frequent, defensive and protective, affective process of . . disaffiliation . . shutting-down . . turning-off of appetite and interest.

. . a fundamental and intrinsic dynamic in human affective machinery which, in modern times, is a root of confusion and havoc. Triggered frequently in a world of persistent forceful image and affiliation, and constituting such a force itself.

Bludgeoning, hammering, thuggish, a neurochemical/endocrine cosh . . This is the experiential chemistry of what, in psychoanalytic discourses, might be spoken of as ‘death-instinct’. It is indeed a powerful and immediately present force #in-here, which ‘deathifies’ live experience, opens a yawning liminal chasm in everyday moments, inhibits openings of the heart and mind, and generates actual sensation and body-sense that trigger actual physiological defence (which has, within its compass, violence, flight and passivity - a range of autonomous vagus responses, deep in species makeup).

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Sources

• tomkins institute nd - shame happens.pdf

• nathanson 2003 - compass of shame, learning in children.pdf

• wachtel 2004 - restorative practice, compass of shame.pdf

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More to come . . .

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