Is The Mind And The Brain The Same Thing? 💭
The Mind And The Brain
In daily life, the brain reigns supreme. Most scientists, doctors and lecturers see the brain because the supply of our conscious experience, of our states of mind, our thoughts, emotions and sensations. The basis of our consciousness.
Consciousness is oftentimes seen as the end product of the brain, in the same way, that the images of a monitor are the results of the electrical circuitry and software in the computer. This may be the concept that underlies the ‘medical model’ of mental illness - that mental issues are caused by imbalances or dysfunctions in the brain, and can be ‘fixed’ by psychoactive medication.
Psychological States Affect Neurological Links
However, it also applies to different aspects of our psychological experience. Mental phenomena like happiness, hope, love and ‘spiritual’ experiences can also be explained about the neurological activity. Significant changes to the brain like strokes, injuries or conditions like dementia can undoubtedly have an impact on and impair our psychological functioning.
Moreover, additional minor changes — like those caused by the intake of medicine — clearly have terribly marked psychological effects too. However, we have to remember that this casual relationship works the other way around, that changes to psychological functioning cause neurological changes.
A Symbiotic Relationship
If depression is related to a low level of serotonin (although this link is by no means proven), this may well be as a result of the state of being depressed makes a low level of serotonin, instead of a low level of serotonin causing depression. once depression is caused by existential or psychological factors — like lack of a sense of purpose and meaning, or negative thought patterns — it's easy to see how the state of depression arises first as a psychological state, that then has neurological effects
To treat psychological problems as medical problems are as misguided as using psychotherapy to treat injuries to the body. The brain and also the mind exist in a symbiotic relationship, in which they each have an impact on each other, but in which neither is entirely the other. As a result, to some extent, we have got to treat them as distinct phenomena.
