Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultra Darkness
Among wolves, staring directly at another wolf is a challenge, while keeping ones gaze averted is more polite.
When I'm talking to people, I tend not to look them in the eye. When I'm angry, however, I look them in the eye and brace my legs apart, which is something else wolves do.
Even if no one else thinks there's any instinct involved here, you've still had a science lesson, eh?  |
This was very much me UD. I have had to practice a great deal looking a person in the eye while having a conversation.
I know that BPD is VERY closely tied with PTSD, and could be a complex manifestation of it. When we've experienced trauma our brains move into a very instinctual place. In Peter Levine's book 'In an Unspoken Voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness', there are many scientific references to how we react to anger, fear, anxiety and trauma:
" When we perceive (consciously or unconsciously) that we are in danger, specific defensive postures necessary to protect ourselves are mobilized in the body. (These are automatic and controlled by the sympathetic-adrenal component of the autonomic nervous system). The specific innate bodily responses are powerfully energized to meet extreme situations. These survival energies are organized in the brain and specifically expressed as patterned states of muscular tension in readiness for action."
Often referred to as 'fight or flight'. We enter an almost 'reptilian' brain. The structure in our brain that reacts to instinctual fear or anger is the brain stem and it is VERY basic. All animals react the same way. It would make sense that your legs go apart and you direct your eyes at the 'predator' to prepare for fight.
Do many people here have trouble with eye contact?