Pathway of Pleasure

Child psychology and pleasure

Since pleasure us deeply associated with reward reflex and reward function if the brain, child has a deep effect on this mind about pleasurable activity.

Reward function of the brain is associated with ID type of personality where a person seeks basic need for survival of him and his species – food, shelter and sex. The great almighty has created a fine system that after getting these basic things person achieves a sense of pleasure. So he repeatedly performs the similar thing in order to do the same.

But human mind has grown up since thousands of years. Because of abundant materials and living space, mind becomes free from thinking about food, shelter and sex. So his mind is diverted to other issues like society creation, maintenance and its function. As this concept developed, man begun to think what to do and what not to do in society, I mean methods of living, life style, status symbol and all those crap things. This created another level of personality called EGO. As the ego develops, man began to suppress his pleasurable activities in order to stay decent in society, to stay in discipline, to stay in queue. This is the basic reason why man is unhappy most of the times.

A very few man can go further and can achieve SUPEREGO state which is more spiritual, more artistic, more near to God and far away from the silly things of the world. It really plays with the pathway of the pleasure but in a different way than ID state. In ID state, man always seeks survival. But in SUPERRGO state, man seeks pleasure from creativity, from spirituality. They are the alternative stimulators of the pleasure centre and they make him a happier man.

It is proven that for optimum function of mind, stimulation of pleasure centres is required. People live in EGO state usually don’t have access to this kind of stimulation, so they seek another easy ways to stimulate the centres like, addiction. This is manifested in the state of “Reward Deficiency”. When person is not having pleasure in his daily activity; of course he is being forced to do the job, to earn or to cook for the family, not by his heart; then reward deficiency may develop. Not only at old age, during childhood, it may develop if parents don’t pay attention to child’s demands and his pleasure points. This creates a permanent Reward Deficiency and that child is liable to addiction later on.

Studies have shown that love, passion and intimacy stimulates the similar area of brain that simulated by food, sex and shelter in rats, and by cocaine in addicts. All these methods use similar pathway of pleasure. They are manifested as serotonin, adrenaline and nor-adrenaline release in neurons of fronto-temporal lobe cortex and limbic system. They give sense of gratification to brain and it optimises its function.

So I think it is better to be a sex maniac rather to be an addict. At least sex won’t harm the body.

HABITUATION OF PLEASURE

It comes when child is given enough input so that he can enjoy the pathway of pleasure several times a day. Because of these repeated exercise, child’s mind begins to understand which thing is pleasurable and which is not. So he begins his search towards pleasure unconsciously. But to achieve this, one should give abundant input to child to satisfy his pleasure centres. He can easily manage and go through the EGO state if ID is developed adequately.

After child learns what is pleasurable, another sequel of understanding starts. He begins find pleasure in everything he does. This is how he becomes versatile. He loves to do everything he is asked. In this way, he is exercising his mind with multiple pleasurable things. In absence of one, the other will take care of the pleasure points. He is now habituated to pleasure. Whatever he does, one thing is sure, there will be pleasure.

If child fails to develop this learning process or fails to enjoy the things than he is quite vulnerable to addiction later on. Addiction is not only of drugs, cigarette or nicotine. It may be manifested as possessive love, book worm type of personality, sex maniac and so on...

For them, all these are the sole method to stimulate the pleasure centre, hence it is called addiction. Man’s mind needs them desperately to work efficiently but his body doesn’t. So, one should have hundreds of alternative to stimulate the pleasure points so that addiction cannot occur.

Sometimes what happens that person, at the age of 25, realises that he didn’t develop a good pathway of pleasure than he should not worry too much. Because I believe that whether pleasure achieved by good, bad and ugly methods; every method is fine unless it harms the body and disturbs others.

To be joyful and happy personality is not in your hands, it was in your parents’ hand!!!! So don’t repeat the mistake if you feel that it is done with you!!!