11/26/2025
Jaak Panksepp's work in understanding circuitry in the midbrain has informed the way I understand rage.
He discusses motivational systems in the midbrain that he calls the seeking system.
When infants are seeking care and they don't get it, first they experience panic grief.
Then, when they still don't, it turns to fear.
After that, still not getting care, it becomes rage.
This process lives within us as adults, too.
What would happen if we understood rage as a bid for connection?
What would happen if we longed for more connection together, even when we notice rage bubbling up either within ourselves or somebody else we love?