Dr. Alok Kanojia

We're biased against losing things. So we have this thing called loss aversion, right? Which is if you ask someone, hey, if I give you a 50% chance to win $250 or a 100% chance to walk away with $100, which one will you pay? Yeah, I'm taking $100. You're taking $100, right? So our brain is wired that way. You're talking about the Sunday scaries or whatever. Yeah.

So our brain has a unique ability to feel future pain in the present. Tell me about it. That's the story of my life. I think a lot of people listening can relate. Right. So my favorite example is the last day of a vacation.

So our brain has a unique ability to feel future pain in the present. Tell me about it. That's the story of my life. I think a lot of people listening can relate. Right. So my favorite example is the last day of a vacation.

So our brain has a unique ability to feel future pain in the present. Tell me about it. That's the story of my life. I think a lot of people listening can relate. Right. So my favorite example is the last day of a vacation.

My favorite hobby is ruining that last day of the vacation. Technically, you're on vacation. You get a whole day to enjoy yourself.

My favorite hobby is ruining that last day of the vacation. Technically, you're on vacation. You get a whole day to enjoy yourself.

My favorite hobby is ruining that last day of the vacation. Technically, you're on vacation. You get a whole day to enjoy yourself.

But that's not what you're doing. No. You're thinking about going back. And the interesting thing is that we know that hypotheticals are capable of activating our amygdala, which is our fear center. Right. So a hypothetical will make us feel fear in the present. It's not a hypothetical fear. It's like we feel the pain in the moment. Yeah. And that's the way that our brain works.

But that's not what you're doing. No. You're thinking about going back. And the interesting thing is that we know that hypotheticals are capable of activating our amygdala, which is our fear center. Right. So a hypothetical will make us feel fear in the present. It's not a hypothetical fear. It's like we feel the pain in the moment. Yeah. And that's the way that our brain works.

But that's not what you're doing. No. You're thinking about going back. And the interesting thing is that we know that hypotheticals are capable of activating our amygdala, which is our fear center. Right. So a hypothetical will make us feel fear in the present. It's not a hypothetical fear. It's like we feel the pain in the moment. Yeah. And that's the way that our brain works.

But we cannot feel a hypothetical pleasure in the moment. We can have some degree of anticipation. Yeah. You can be paranoid about a car crash, but you can't imagine going to the movies and then get a rush of dopamine. It doesn't work like that. You actually have to go to the movies.

But we cannot feel a hypothetical pleasure in the moment. We can have some degree of anticipation. Yeah. You can be paranoid about a car crash, but you can't imagine going to the movies and then get a rush of dopamine. It doesn't work like that. You actually have to go to the movies.

But we cannot feel a hypothetical pleasure in the moment. We can have some degree of anticipation. Yeah. You can be paranoid about a car crash, but you can't imagine going to the movies and then get a rush of dopamine. It doesn't work like that. You actually have to go to the movies.

It's wild, right? So there's a fundamental imbalance in the brain. So our nucleus accumbens, our positive emotions cannot be activated by hypotheticals, whereas our negative emotions can be. We get robbed. This is what's really important about trauma is when we have a negative experience, our brain, for survival reasons, warns us against that experience.

It's wild, right? So there's a fundamental imbalance in the brain. So our nucleus accumbens, our positive emotions cannot be activated by hypotheticals, whereas our negative emotions can be. We get robbed. This is what's really important about trauma is when we have a negative experience, our brain, for survival reasons, warns us against that experience.

It's wild, right? So there's a fundamental imbalance in the brain. So our nucleus accumbens, our positive emotions cannot be activated by hypotheticals, whereas our negative emotions can be. We get robbed. This is what's really important about trauma is when we have a negative experience, our brain, for survival reasons, warns us against that experience.

So now if I've had one car accident, we literally know that it creates something called hypervigilance. So you become hyper aware when you go into the car, because most of the time when we're in the car, we're not paying attention to the car, right? Even when we're driving, a lot of that stuff is done on autopilot. You're not consciously thinking about everything all the time.

So now if I've had one car accident, we literally know that it creates something called hypervigilance. So you become hyper aware when you go into the car, because most of the time when we're in the car, we're not paying attention to the car, right? Even when we're driving, a lot of that stuff is done on autopilot. You're not consciously thinking about everything all the time.

So now if I've had one car accident, we literally know that it creates something called hypervigilance. So you become hyper aware when you go into the car, because most of the time when we're in the car, we're not paying attention to the car, right? Even when we're driving, a lot of that stuff is done on autopilot. You're not consciously thinking about everything all the time.

And so what happens with people with trauma is that their brain hyperactivates because it's had this negative thing. It's hypersensitive to potential problems. And we feel really, really, really bad. Now, our treatment for that is usually something called exposure and response prevention. That can be pretty useful where we expose ourself to the thing and then we prevent the response.