Breaking the Black Emotional Dysfunctional Code

 by Kenny Anderson

I often hear young adult Blacks say use the terms that they’re ‘hyped-up’, ‘amped-up’, ‘geeked-up’, their use of these terms generally refers to them being excited, provoked, or stimulated by drugs or alcohol.

Unbeknownst to young adult Blacks and to the overwhelming majority of us the terms ‘hyped-up’, ‘amped-up’, ‘geeked-up’ can also be used as psychological 'clinical' terms that describe historical ‘hyper-arousal’ symptoms of Post-Traumatic Slavery Disorder (Cultural-Specific PTSD).

Hyper-arousal is a primary symptom of general Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that occurs when a person’s body suddenly kicks into high alert as a result of thinking about their trauma. Even though real danger may not be present, their body acts as if it is causing lasting stress after a traumatic event.

The relentless brutal enslavement and traumatization of our Ancestors, this intense chronic stress environment negatively altered their genes ‘epigenetically’ amplifying their temperaments and nervous system producing a temperamental predisposition to hyper-arousal passed down to us genetically.

Behaviorally this hyper-arousal causes hyper-sensitivity ‘emotional over-sensitivity’ and ‘emotional agitation’ (irritability). Moreover hyper-arousal increases a state of being emotionally ‘hyper-vigilant’ causing over-sensitivity to your surroundings, being 'over-alert' to hidden dangers from others even when real danger does not exist; hyper-vigilance increases pre-emptive strike violence, distrust, and alienation.

Emotional irritability is a personality dimension characterized by a tendency to be thin-skinned, moody, easily annoyed, defensive, dissatisfied, frustrated, angry, and reactive to pettiness, slight provocations, and disagreements.

When you combine hyper-arousal emotional irritability with unrealistic expectations, negative self-fulfilling prophecies, and Black self-hate you get failed or dysfunctional relationships, Black-on-Black violence, intra-organization divisiveness, and overall disunity.

This unaddressed self-sabotaging hyper-arousal is expressed by Black folks all the time, you know we say towards so many of us individually “if it aint one thing with you it's another” and “I can’t stand you – you get on my last nerves,” and we say collectively about us “Black folks just can’t get along with each other, we aint gonna never stick together!” “You know when a lot of Blacks folks come together something bad is going to happen.”

The great Black revolutionary psychiatrist Frantz Fanon remarked that racially “colonized people suffer many psychological wounds which are horribly afflicting, and there is no reason to believe that such illnesses will ever completely resolve; thus the patients’ lives will always be ‘compromised’.”

Indeed, white supremacy has genetically imprinted us with hyper-arousal; severely left us emotionally compromised ‘over-sensitive’ and ‘emotional agitated’ that undermines our ability to get along with each other on a basic level.

As Black folks we must deepen our understanding ‘emotional intelligence’ of the impact of historical racist forces on our emotional lives that negatively impacts our well-being, our families, our relationships, our organizations, and our communities by practicing emotional mindfulness. Indeed as Black folks we must emotionally uncompromise ourselves!

Breaking the Black Emotional Dysfunctional Code (BEDC)

Breaking the Black Emotional Dysfunctional Code healing method works by figuring out and detecting your specific negative emotions ‘codes’ that are energy ‘chords’ that binds us back ‘originally’ to our enslaved foremothers’ womb ‘emotional distress fetal programming’.

During pregnancy our enslaved foremothers were gripped by the emotional distress of extreme homesickness (anxiety trauma) ‘forcibly stripped from Africa’ and heartbrokenness (depression) of ‘children stripped from them and sold’. These original distressed maternal emotions are genetically embedded in our subconscious.

These inherited dysfunctional trapped emotions are the basis of ‘Post Slavery Emotional Distress Disorder’ (PSEDD) that causes pain, self-sabotage, emotional problems, and all kinds of malfunction and disease - such as physical pain, anger, depression, fatigue, chronic stress, PTSD, phobias, panic attacks along with relationship problems (conflicts, violence, divorce, etc.).

As Black folks these trapped emotions are negative emotional energies that we still carry around ‘DNA’ from slavery; past events, traumas, abuse, and current emotional distress. Trapped emotions can contribute significantly to physical health problems ‘chronic diseases’ like hypertension, heart disease, and stroke;

Without awareness of these disturbing and disrupting negative trapped emotions there is a ‘fatalistic tendency' amongst Black folks to view them religiously as a ‘curse from God’, or ‘it is what is’ – apathetically aint nothing you can do about it.

As mentioned these negative emotions are trapped in the subconscious that retains everything emotionally about you: your Ancestral emotions and your emotional experiences that unconsciously ‘drives’ influences your specific situational feeling ‘reactions’. Indeed negative trapped emotions can exert a dramatic effect on how you think, the choices that you make, and how you react to everyday life challenges.

Again the accumulation of Black emotional distress begins in our genetic emotional predisposition, emotional state of our mothers during pregnancy; the emotional quality of family and community relationships; the emotional quality of significant relationships throughout our lives.

Consider thinking of trapped emotions as blocks of energy that can be ‘stuck’ barriers in the body; that these stubborn emotional traits block positive emotions from arising. Unblocking trapped negative emotions should be identified individually and released one at a time, not in groups or bundles.

Breaking the Black Emotional Dysfunctional Code is an ongoing practice of deep reflective and analytical review ‘unblocking process’ to identify, to understand, and to release trapped negative emotions for the goal of ‘emotional management’ and transformation ‘emotional emancipation’.