Animal Instincts - Guest Blog by Julie Davis, MFT

When a monkey sees another monkey messing with his monkey he gets angry, rushes forward, bites the other monkey and other monkey runs away. Two seconds later, both monkeys are eating a banana. When Suarez saw some guy messing with his soccer ball, his mind activated the same primitive system as a monkey to get him to do something to make the guy stop messing with his soccer ball: Anger. Blood rushed upward

Image from The Chive

into Suarez’s hands, feet and jaw setting him up to fight – which is what anger is designed to do - and he bit the guy. Two seconds later Suarez is calm and re-positioned for play.

Two hours later video of the bite was all over the internet. Protests were launched as players and fans alike expressed outrage at the aggressive behavior and Suarez has been temporarily banned from future tournaments.

We expect aggression in sports events yet are shocked when we see the results of primitive mind doing its job of removing a threat. What makes Suarez an expert soccer player is possibly the very thing that got him kicked out of soccer: his ability to access and operate out of primitive mind – and, sometimes, oops, bite people.

Julie Davis
704-807-1101
Certified Rapid Resolution Therapist
Licensed Marriage Family Therapist (CA & NC)
www.juliedavismft.com julie@juliedavismft.com

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Sign up for the e-newsletter HERE.