Chemistry Of Insanity The whole world is crazy except for me and thee...and sometimes I wonder thee.
OLD QUAKER FARMER.

Our civic and social behaviour borders on insanity. Our actions are frequently irrational. We do things that hurt us and hurt our children, physically and emotionally. We do little to improve our quality of life; we prefer to multiply at three percent plus rate, see our literacy rate dwindle down and with that our chances of ever catching up with the developed world evaporate in vain. What's wrong with us? Who is to blame for this? Our politicians, our people or our stars. I am convinced that the blame lies in our stars. Our behaviour is a result of chemical transformations in our brain produced by random genetic mutations common to fast multiplying species. Some years ago, this thesis would have not been possible to adduce without being ridiculed but today, with our knowledge of brain and its chemistry, it seems plausible.

Mental illness as a disease and its chemical connection was recognized only as recently as in the middle 1970s. Our brain is bathed in a soup of chemicals, which are essential for communication between brain cells. Some of these chemicals produce excitatory impulses other transmit "inhibitory" impulses--analogous to the accelerator and brake pedals in a car. When the balance of these chemicals is upset in the brain, we begin to show abnormal behaviour. Abnormal according to the norms of the society.

Chemicals whose inhibitory action is vital to our rational civic behaviour are gamma aminobutyric acid or GABA and serotonin. Discovered in 1970, GABA is the most fascinating chemicals in the human skull. It's main function is to hold back all brain centers: those involved in action, thoughts, and beliefs. According to Paul Mandel, a French brain chemist, the world tyrants unleash their potential by suppressing their GABA and serotonin levels through ideologic excitation leaving no inhibition. Lowered levels of GABA and serotonin in our brain are related to our aggressive, often violent, behaviour. Mandel believes that emotional self stimulation modifies serotonin levels making us more likely to solve life's problems through violent means. Fanaticism, Mandel believes, is linked to reduced levels of brain inhibitors. So, today, we can hold these chemical molecules responsible for all types of bizarre behaviour of fanatics. Given the prevalence of such scenarios throughout the world, it can be safely assumed that we are in the age of GABA depression (no pun), especially in Pakistan. Can we blame GABA for the behaviour of Saddam Hussain?

Our brain GABA levels are highly sensitive to our environment. Experiments with rats show that merely watching a rat kill a mouse drops the GABA levels in the bystander rats. Sociologists of our time are now proving that indeed children watching violence on television turn out to be more violent themselves. Ironic as it may sound, publicizing crime and capital punishment may itself lead to more crime and the necessity for capital punishment--sort of a Catch 22. The old theory that publicizing crime sentences would discourage people has never withheld, to the amazement of many psychiatrists. Now we know the answer why.

The concept that it is only chemical molecules in our brain that govern our behaviour immediately invokes the possibility that our thoughts can be engineered through chemistry, a frightening idea to many, yet it is a reality. Yet, whatever is going on in the streets of Pakistan can be best blamed on the molecules of mind. Is there a better explanation? We have succumbed to these molecules because we have fallen prey to fanaticism-a vicious circle, feeding on its own. Can we get off this merry--go--round? Perhaps, but not without an equally radical fanaticism--fanaticism about our well being, fanaticism about the future of our children, our society, our culture and our religion. But if we do not do this, we would not be the first race in the history of mankind to disappear from the surface of the earth. We will still make history albeit a defeating one. The choice is ours.

[06 March 1991 The Daily Dawn]