History of Understanding

NandrinoYou (and your colleagues at ScaLab ) and I seem to share a common interest in the seemingly increase in Emotional Regulation (ER) Capabilities of LTA members of AA. In the AA world (which I am more familiar with) I think increased ER is called Serenity which we pray for on a regular basis.
I started viewing this process from the perspective of the ANS and wondered if this increase in ER could be a result of transfer of activity from the SNS to the PSNS could be. I suspected that a person in the “ego” state (as defined in AA terminology) had an activated SNS while an old-timer with LTA  experienced  more ER (serenity) as a result of an activated PSNS.So I studied the major processes that AA uses (Steps, Sponsorship, belief in a Higher Power and Meetings). What I found was that each of these processes involved a humbling action on the part of the recovering person with AUD. These humbling actions could have helped move the ANS from an active SNS to a more active PSNS.Once a LTA’s  PSNS was active, the experience of fear would diminish and the LTA would be more likely to be able to accept his here and now,  less likely to trigger his amgdala  and thus have increased ER abilities.