Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Stop Being the Victim and Take Charge (of your brain)!

I see clients constantly who are just worn down by negative feelings, minor depression, constant sadness, and even more severe bouts of depression and hopelessness.  I also see the same with anxiety and stress - clients just worn out from running around, from doing, from worrying, constantly in stress-mode, unable to sleep well, exhausted just from the daily schedule and tasks.  It doesn't have to be this way.

Now, I want to be clear, as a mental health professional, I am not talking about my clients with severe mental illness who are in need of extreme interventions.  I am talking about those of us functioning daily and suffering through these feelings of sadness, discomfort, anxiety, and stress.  Those of us barely enjoying life because it's just gotten so hard. 

For these people, the answer is to stop being victim to the wiring of your brain!  Yes, you can be in control of some aspects of this daily cycle of yuck!  You can make bad days at least ok.  You can make good days great and you can make great days joyful!

First off, it's important to understand that how we feel is a reflection of the hormones and chemicals being released into the body.  We can't control that, can we?  Yes, we can! sort of..... There are chemical and nervous system reactions to many stimuli.  For example, a woman's monthly hormone changes are triggered by internal mechanisms and not under our control.  However, the reaction that occurs when you eat a sweet roll or bagel for breakfast is under our control (by NOT eating it)!  The brain reacts to what we give it, so we can control what we give.

So what is under our control and how can we do it?  Diet, exercise, self-regulation (purposeful retraining of the brain and nervous system), thinking, socializing, and some other interventions that involve professionals are all ways we take control of the brain and nervous sytem and the chemicals and hormones the brain controls and releases.  With these, we control our feelings and stop being the victim to the brain and its wiring. 

I will begin to outline each of these in a series starting today and also in an Ebook soon to be released! 

No comments:

Post a Comment