Comments on: Why and How You Should Trust Your Gut

By: azannie

azannie — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 20:11:16 +0000

I get the gut feeling two days before i return to work! Nothing can be done besides quit work and go homeless, right? I do go to work though because my brain has intervened. My job is new which means I’m in the middle of sorting my new coworkers into piles of ‘are they going to treat me bad’ or ‘I should keep my distance from this one’. Lousy way to live ones life.

By: Search for Meaning

Search for Meaning — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 08:17:12 +0000

Thanks for the article.
I have connected with you over your book recently and a copy is on the way.
The gut issue is central for me because I grew up in an area not well resourced, the family was away from the extended family links and my parents were not psychologically in tune generally. There was a loose connection with Christian faith which also had disconnected in moving away from our country of birth. Messages I got were that parents are right. Much as you followed your husband through the forest I followed my parents’ direction into life. I had a strong gut feeling at the point of leaving school about what I wanted to do but my father’s direction was otherwise. I followed the latter and have suffered as a result. The loose faith connection gave me the message that that was a good way to go. I get strength from faith and have stuck with it but spend a lot of energy untangling religious messages from gut messages. Even therapy available locally is limited and discovering your book is helping me to add to the work I need to do for myself with the therapist I have been using recently. Thanks again, I look forward to ongoing contact and to your book arriving.

By: Capt Tom Bunn

Capt Tom Bunn — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 20:57:53 +0000

In reply to Jonice Webb PhD. Got it. Thanks. I was concerned that a person who really needs to push outside their comfort zone might us the advice to justify avoidant behavior.

By: Jonice Webb PhD

Jonice Webb PhD — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 16:13:10 +0000

In reply to Capt Tom Bunn. Hi Captain Tom, thank you for reading my book, for quoting me in your newsletter, and for your message. I take your point about the risks of giving the gut too much power. My intention in this article is NOT to say "Obey your gut, no matter what it says." I am, however, encouraging people, especially those with CEN, to listen to what their gut is saying also. I've seen that CEN folks tend to over-rely on their brains, and ignore messages from their bodies. Decisions are best made when both sources are taken into account, especially in light of new research which shows that the relationship between brain and gut is far more complex and multi-directional than we ever knew before. Again thanks for your support of my work and for you thoughtful comment.

By: Capt Tom Bunn

Capt Tom Bunn — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 15:24:47 +0000

Jonice, I’m a big fan of yours. I’ve read one of your books. I’ve quoted you in the SOAR Fear of Flying Newsletter I send out (http://www.fearofflyingblog.com). But, I hope you will do some additional thinking about this essay.

Here’s the problem. Gut feelings come from the release of stress hormones by the amygdala. It has no ability to think. It does not know what is safe and unsafe. The way it served reptiles well. But it does not serve humans well. Why Because reptiles have no executive function. Humans have executive function and need to use it to take note of gut feelings but to override gut feelings if the cause of the stress hormone release can be determined to be no threat.

You write, “Your gut informs you when you’re making a mistake.” No. Absolutely not. The amygdala triggers a gut reaction (a.) when there is change. That produces a LOT of false alarms. It causes the urge to escape, and when there is no thinking part of the brain to say, “Hey. Wait. Let me check this out before running.” It is primitive.

The amygdala (b.) also reacts to s-shaped things on the ground; that’s good. Could be a snake. It reacts (c.) to the feeling of falling. That us OK unless you are in a plane that is in turbulence; then you get unnecessary gut reactions that you need to escape, and you can’t. Then the next step is to avoid flying.

In other words, your advice can lead to unhealthy, unwise, avoidance behavior. What you are recommending is that we give this 100 million year old, primitive, non-thinking part of the brain priority over all the gains made since then by evolution.

You also know that the amygdala reacts (d.) based on trauma. It can continue to give a gut reaction today to a trauma years ago. Therapy often cannot fix that. Either the person must tough it out or turn to avoidance behavior. Or, in the case of fear of flying, train the mind to release oxytocin every few minutes when flying so as to keep the amygdala inhibited.

By: Little Drummer Boy

Little Drummer Boy — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 10:38:54 +0000

I thought this was called intuition, our innate “pattern” library, aka built in bullshit detector built up over those gazillions of years of survival and development…Kinda handy when you meet politicians and see another miracle cure, which requires a “presentation” Er no, something ancestral within me says avoid all slithery things……Mine works very well providing, I’m listening and not talking, happy and not depressed, and there are no female “little fingers” in the vicinity…lol

By: Jonice Webb PhD

Jonice Webb PhD — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 18:24:00 +0000

In reply to NJR. Yes I am, and happily! It's the only mistake he's ever made :)

By: NJR

NJR — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 17:57:41 +0000

Good story and advice. Are you still married to the same man? 🙂

By: IC

IC — Sun, 12 Jun 2016 19:10:41 +0000

thank you Jonice for this insightful and astute comment of brain and gut connection. It is difficult for some that i work with to accept this..somehow it appeals to those open to hearing it at the right time…

By: 1960mph

1960mph — Sun, 12 Jun 2016 15:24:38 +0000

I have always been aware of my gut feelings but what baffles me is the fact that I choose to rationalize them away. This has cost me a lot in the way of peace and serenity. It’s like I have been trying to live a lie my whole life. Does that make sense to anyone?