Daemons, Ghosts, and Lovers

Abstract

Daemons “that inhabit the human breast” are not usually some evil creatures out to do us harm. More often they are figures once loved, now lost. Such loss is felt deeply in one’s soul and in one’s brain. Specifically the pain of loss is felt in those same parts of the brain where the pain of ongoing tissue damage is felt. Evolution made little distinction between the loss of love and chronic inflammation. They both lead to the same response from the anterior cingulate cortex—pain.

Keywords:

• anterior cingulate cortex
• evolution
• loss
• love
• pain.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Brockman

Richard Brockman, MD, is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, as well as Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Namibia, School of Medicine, Windhoek, Namibia. His book A Map of the Mind was published by International Universities Press and was reviewed widely. He lectures regularly on the topic of the interface of neurobiology and psychotherapy. As a playwright he has had his plays produced in New York, London, and in regional theaters.