anxiety, depression, OCD and the power of the mind

I have been reading various forums and groups etc and I see recurring themes that people post about. Namely that many people see themselves as victims, they are helpless and at the whim of their brain chemistry, the only option seemingly to take medication and if this does not work then to change or increase the dosage.

I see some potential faults in the logic of this way of thinking when referring to anxiety, panic attacks, mild to moderate depression and OCD.

Firstly, one of the most common themes is that the person is a victim of their brain chemistry. Imagine your favourite food, imagine its smell, taste, look, feel, imagine it as vividly as you can. Do you notice anything? chances are your mouth is watering, your stomach may even make an anticipatory rumble. There is no food present, except for in your mind. what you have just demonstrated to yourself that just by thinking about something you have created a physical and chemical response in your body!

If just by thinking of your favourite food can create real chemical and physical responses in your body, then what chemical and physical responses could other thoughts do?  What about if the thoughts were subconscious and you didn't even realise you were thinking them? What if some of your thoughts were subconscious and habituated?  Just like riding a bike or walking or writing or reading. With all of these activities you actually think about what you are doing as you do them, they just happen. Through learning, the activity has become habituated and all the thought processes that go with the activity are committed to memory and most of the brain power associated with it is dealt with on the subconscious level!

Two Steps Forward, and 1.9 steps back

This anxiety habit, mindset, condition, call it what you will, is a tricky thing. Just when you think you are making good progress something comes up and seems to set you right back.

For me it was having to get up at 3.30am for a one off job that set me back. It was the worry of not getting enough sleep which of course became a self fulfilling prophecy, which triggered anxiety which led to yet more sleepless nights which led to more waking up up early in a state of high anxiety.

It's crazy really, my intellectual brain knows I should not worry about sleep, or most other things for that matter, especially when in bed trying to sleep. But try telling that to my primitive limbic brain when it's running riot in my head, releasing cortisol and adrenalin at the drop of a hat.

A life time of the bad habit of letting my limbic brain be in control is not going to change as quickly as i would like!

For me, when i am in suffering anxiety and panic and ultimately depression, I want to reach for the pill cabinet for some magic pill that will make it all better. unfortunately that has not been invented yet. so in the mean time I guess we are stuck with the slow process of retraining our brains , to un-learn those bad ways of processing information, and to slowly, learn that we are in fact ok!

Practicing Anxiety calming techniques

It's difficult to change a deep seated habit, which is what anxiety is. It's a learned response to worry and stress.

I know what I am supposed to do and to think, and how to react on the onset of anxious thoughts but actually implementing the these strategies is not as easy as one would hope.

The anxious habit has a strong, deep, hold and to expect it to immediately disappear because you know how you are supposed to deal with it is probably wishful thinking to some extent.

Those of us who have issues with anxiety are usually the sort of people who wish that problems can be sorted right here and right now. However learning something, anything new takes times, breaking a habit takes time. You don't just get on a bike for the first time and be able to instantly ride it.

So what about the 'I was ok and dealing with life until .... happened, and since that day I have had anxiety and panic attacks'
well chances if you look back you were a worrier, and you 'worry cup' was filling up, you were able to empty it a little but over time more worry was going into the 'cup' than was leaving it. This eventually results in a situation where your 'worry cup' is almost always full and even the smallest events or triggers can cause it to overflow. And without begin able to empty it it will be in a constant state of full to the brim or overflowing. To empty that cup so it is not overflowing takes time and practice

An Anxiety self help iPhone app

whilst looking through the itunes store for relaxation and self help apps I found one called SmarTherapy  (clickable link)written by Australian psychotherapist Sallee McLaren (clickable link). at £1.99 i think it is really quite interesting and could potentially help. The technique Sallee uses is similar to Neuro Linguistic Programing (NLP) whereby your attention is shifted away from your anxiety and refocused on positive things. The theory is basically to reprogram your brain, overwriting the old negative habits with positive new ones.

It is definitely worth trying it out if you are looking at other angles to combat anxiety, stress and depression.

I have tested quite a few self hypnosis apps, and the quality is quite variable. I may review some of the ones I have tested out.