Schematizing the position of the human being with respect to the activity of walking, we could say that his experience and response is in three levels: he likes it, he resists it or he has a maniacal inclination.
On the first and the second position we have already expressed different opinions in more than a hundred previous Posts. The manic inclination obeys a need of the unconscious type; however, it also has a physical causality, fundamentally of the hormonal type.
The manic alteration in the human behavior consists of having a propensity difficult to resist that forces us unconsciously to change the place where we are or reside; it is an unconscious compulsion (irrational obsession) that impels us to get out of from the place where we have remained stable for a certain time (t), 1 week, two weeks, 1 month, several months, an indefinite time that depends on each person who suffers from it, and after a certain time (T) this impulse to change again the place where we are is reborn.
A great part of the population that suffers from this syndrome, resolves it by traveling, when their economic level and other social and family aspects allow it.
This manic inclination has been called in various ways, depending on the epoch, the establishment, doctrine, the context, the appreciation, the impulse, and even the repulsion to certain social and/or family conditions: wandering mania, odomania, poriomania, automation of moving without control, drapetomania (escape), ecdemomania, dissociative fugue (memory and perception), hypermobility, and a dozen other nominations.
This state of mind is different from the impulse that every individual generates in the age of adolescence and requires to do so in order to strengthen his personality (Post THE WALK AND THE INSTINCT TO LEAVE THE PLACE OF ORIGIN), or at least in those initial years; however, it is worth asking the question whether this imperative need has not been generated precisely because we have not allowed ourselves to respond in a timely manner to this primary instinct to leave the place of origin.
The approach I make in this Post reminds me of a trip that 6 young people made in 1967 to Monreal, Canada, to attend the World’s Fair of that year. M. Basáñez, the Paredes brothers, the Margain brothers, and myself, at the average age of 20.
I have expressed that at certain moments something much more intense is demanded, to travel to strengthen one’s own personality, unconsciously seeking its healthy development. A timely departure from our place of origin allows us to develop ourselves better and to search for our own personality and character. This is an action that all young people should carry out by themselves. This impulse is an instinct that impels us to travel, by the mere fact of leaving that place where we have remained for long months or years; a congenital impulse, which facilitates us to better develop our personality, without which it is more difficult to find the meaning of life, and it delays the achievement of vital goals.
Of course, none of the 6 of us had any idea of this. I repeat: everything is an impulse to be outside our place of origin.
I believe it is pertinent to dwell a little on this question because it is possible that many of the individuals who suffer from dromomania in adulthood have been provoked by not attending to this instinct, when it appeared in their respective adolescent ages. At this age it is common for the young person to “escape” one weekend and repeat it several times; this will be a sign of his or her instinctive and natural need to get out of his or her familiar environment, a need that must be addressed in a timely manner. As discussed in the post mentioned above, this syndrome may be caused by not having achieved the personality or having lost personal identity, which in part is lacking the meaning of life, feeling dissatisfied with what he does or with life itself: “Going for a walk is not only a physical impulse to exercise the body and give movement to the mind, but it is closely related to something much deeper in the soul: going out to strengthen the individual personality. This going for a walk is a metaphor of the unconscious that seeks the healthy awakening of the personality of the being. Leaving one’s place of origin in a timely manner -at a certain age- allows one to develop better and to search for one’s own personality. Definitely, this is an action that every human being -man and woman- must put into practice by himself, as his own decision and encouraged by his parents”.
We said in Post WALKING AND ITS SYMBOLISM: “An analogical extrapolation of this is traveling, which is nothing other than the search for a renewing experience, the beginning of a change that seeks to get somewhere; initiator of a metamorphosis for transcendence. Thus, walking, as an analogy of traveling, symbolically signifies the intrinsic need to free oneself, seeking an initiating experience of change. It is a symbol of transcendence. Trying to break away from the social status that surrounds you: friends, peers, family, work, studies, etc. The journey is the symbolic representation of a quest to face new experiences and discoveries, liberation, renunciation, atonement. It is generated by a natural state of discontent with oneself and the environment around us. Search for a change, exploration of the knowledge of the nature of life and death, to know what to do with one’s existence. Depending on the individual, it can be a trip around the world, leaving one’s village, moving house, or simply walking aimlessly. All this, to transcend inwardly towards a new way of living.”
On the other hand, the human body has needs that it satisfies with its own generation of organic substances (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE SELF-PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES), and regarding this topic it has been commented that SEROTONIN, DOPAMINE, ENDORPHIN and OXYTOCHIN are hormones that regulate certain brain functions. When their levels are low, the body loses the ability to take action and no longer wants to strive to achieve certain goals and objectives, both in the every day and the unaccustomed.
Walking -and any other acceptable exercise- is an activity, which raises the levels of these 4 hormones, among other physiological and nutritional measures (Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE HORMONES OF HAPPINESS).
Regarding the physical causality of the hormonal type -which is not of a manic nature-, we will expose the different glandular scenarios in several future posts, where we will analyze the relationship of the WALK-RWD system with each of the endogenous and exogenous glands, and their particular production of hormones, and of course, with that need to travel.
We must also point out that dromomania is generated by emotional causes (affectation of feelings), which, without reaching levels of psychopathy, generate in the human being an irresistible need to escape, (drapetomania), to flee, to leave the place where we are residing, not to mention those numerous cases of avoiding commitments, responsibilities, not facing problems (big or small), debts, obligations, family inconveniences, etc. An emotional need to evade work (in the office or in the factory), family commitments, because he does not enjoy anything since he may be suffering from an emotional depression and tries to escape.
Let’s analyze our personal situation and see what we have stored inside us on the subject of travel. Some key questions are: Do I want to travel? What is my situation? Do I want to travel alone or with someone else? The answers to these questions – and others – contain some very important explanations.
An effective way to carry out this analysis and to arrive at a sincere answer, according to our deep interiority, is by walking and putting into practice the WALK-RWD system. Do not doubt it, walking opens our mind. Any experience we get from walking is positive to open our positive emotions and our mind “Open your mind while walking”.