Same Brain, Different Emotional Illnesses

We are all born with the same physical mechanism so far as the brain is concerned. Any attempt to relate either behavior or emotional states to inherent physical differences in brain structure has to date been unsuccessful. One individual takes the same intricate structural makeup, having the same physiology in the chemical and electrical system of the brain but uses his mind in a continually destructive fashion. Another individual does the opposite with the same device, employing his mind constantly in a constructive manner. The physical apparatus of the brain works the same in everyone. Why then are people so different? And, how do we understand ourselves and others? Psychotherapy helps. Although psychotherapy does not approach the study of brain function in the way a neurophysiologist does, still it provides a unique opportunity to observe varying thinking methodologies from a wholly different aspect. The psychotherapist, focusing on the unconscious vectors motivating individuals, suspends himself at depths beyond conscious levels. Remarkable differences are seen in the patterns of thinking from person to person. Such distinctions demonstrate the extreme range in which the mind can be programmed in attempting to solve the problems of existence. These differences also mold the variety of resulting emotional ills that we have. The question is: can we see and understand such differences outside of a psychotherapy experience?