Hank had made an appointment with a neurologist at the recommendation of his family doctor. He had experienced several health problems. He lacked energy and had trouble sleeping. He had experienced more headaches than normal and was having muscle pain. He admitted that he felt burned out and overwhelmed. He and his family had become estranged.
Hank’s neurologist asked him to take an MRI scan and was ready to share the results with Hank. “I’ve got some bad news for you,” the neurologist began. “I’ll try to make this easy for you to understand.”
“First, the insular cortex in your brain is not where I would like to see it. That’s the part of the brain that controls compassion, self-awareness, and some cognitive functions. When we first met, you told me that you became easily depressed and were not on good terms with your family. Your insular cortex seems to validate those concerns.”
Next, your putamen is troublesome. This could affect how you learn. But I’m even more concerned about the chance of degenerative neurological disorders like Parkinson’s.”
“Your left superior frontal gyrus is another region of the brain I’m concerned with. This part of the brain is where your working memory resides, but it also controls your inhibition.”
“Finally, your premotor cortex is abnormal. This region of the brain impacts reasoning and judgment. Even more important, it can trigger brain regions associated with distress and head to maladaptive responding and judgment.”
Hank was shattered. He knew there was something wrong, but this seemed more serious than anything he could have imagined. “What can I do?” he asked. “Do you know what caused this? Can I take a pill to make my brain right?”
“I’m going to give you my best thinking, but you may not like what I have to say. What you are exhibiting comes from a prolonged history of hatred in your life. Let me give you some questions to think about. Do you associate with people who view those outside of your group in disdainful ways? Do you consume TV, social media, and print that is derogatory toward others? Are you fearful for your job? Do you lack confidence in yourself? Are you a believer in conspiracy theories as explanations for your personal failures? Have you lost your faith? If you are honest about yourself and can say that many of these questions apply, then hate may be affecting your brain.”
“We don’t have a pill you can take. What we do have are hate reversal groups that may help. They don’t work for everyone, and they are guaranteed not to work for you if you aren’t committed. We still don’t know if they can reverse or just stall the brain damage. But what we do know is that you will feel better about yourself, and many of the symptoms that you mentioned earlier should decline.”
Hank left his neurologist’s office with a lot of questions he needed to resolve. But looking back at his life, he began to wonder why he let hatred consume him.
Just imagine how many Hanks exist in our society today. There are 917 organized hate groups. On social media, the comments and likes generated by these hate groups have risen by 900% in just two years. It seems as if hate has become the new norm.
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“No one is born with hate in their heart. Hate is something that has been taught. It is not an innate survival skill that we need; It is a form of stupidity that penetrates our minds and will eventually destroy us.”-Frank Lero