George Monbiot makes a telling link between individuals’ affective state and the unwitting support we lend to demagogues (Journal, 3 October). In their fascinating book The Boy who was Raised as a Dog, Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz develop this notion of state-dependent functioning and apply it to organisations. In what feels like an increasingly apt commentary on events unfolding in the institutions of democracy both at home and abroad, Perry and Szalavitz write that “the more out of control the external situation is, the more controlling, reactive and oppressive the internally focused actions of [the] group will become”.
Seeking to offer a path forward that will break this spiral, Monbiot rightly calls for us to restore the mental state that allows us to think. For each of us as individuals, what might this involve? In the language of Stephen Porges’s polyvagal theory, such a restoration entails moving from a state of dysregulation to one of regulation. This means making time in the day for activities of self-care that provide regulating sensory input. For some, this will include listening to their favourite music, doing half an hour’s yoga or going for a run, while for others it will be a cup of coffee and a piece of crunchy toast for breakfast, time spent outside, or a hot bath when the children have gone to bed.
Each of us knows what we need to feel regulated – it is often a question of claiming the time to do it. This kind of self-care promotes regulation, and in so doing facilitates cortical (higher-level) brain function and the associated abstract, creative cognitive capacities that are needed for us to find a way forward in these beleaguered times.
Rorie Fulton
Gwernogle, Carmarthenshire
• Thanks to George Monbiot for highlighting the neuroscientific evidence for creating civic spaces that facilitate “reasoned conversation” as an alternative to confrontation on complex and contentious matters. Thanks, too, for your report (3 October) on a promising French example of such a space in the form of a representative citizen panel of 150 to advise on how to cut carbon emissions by 40% before 2030.
Such evidence and positive initiatives – like proposals to set up citizens’ assemblies here – surely merit much greater media attention. How else is the general public to appreciate what a significant democratic force they could be in adjusting to Brexit and climate crises, mass migration challenges and the urgent need to adopt more egalitarian and realistic life expectations?
Richard Bryden
Llandudno, Conwy
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