Dealing with anxiety/depression - Don't give your negative thoughts power!
*Disclaimer: I do just want to make one thing clear to everyone reading this: I am no psychologist, nor do I posses any sort of medical degrees or certificates. Likewise the content and techniques you will read in this blog are purely situational, and are merely based off of my own personal experiences. With that being said, I hope that those who deal with or have dealt with similar emotional obstacles in their lives find this blog helpful. *
Hello fellow steemians ! So I thought I'd start a blog on something that so many individuals struggle with each and every day, and that is dealing with anxiety and depression. I have been fighting my own battle with both of these things since I was a teenager, and while my personal experiences are undoubtedly going to differ from those of others, at the end of the day, anxiety and depression are not as complex as we make them out to be. In a bizarre sort of paradox, our own suffering when dealing with these disorders comes from the fact that as a result of not knowing how to cope with them, we end up overthinking and over-analyzing every little situation or symptom. In an attempt to get to the roots of our problems and figure out how to end our emotional pain, we wind up confusing and tormenting our brains even more.
Every emotion we feel, each time we come in contact with a certain individual, or are faced with a particular obstacle or dilemma in our lives that make us feel hopeless, are all a direct result of our thoughts. Thoughts are what make us feel emotions, and at the end of the day, are what cause every single emotion we experience. As easy as it is to tell somebody else or yourself simply not to worry or think about something that is bothering us, doing so is way easier said than done. A strategy that I have begun to employ over the last 6 months roughly, is to just let go of negative or useless thoughts that I get. You see, our brains are constantly receiving and sending out information every second of every day, hundreds of thoughts drift in and out of our minds almost 24/7. However, a thought is just a thought. It is completely harmless, until we give it power by fixating on it, and thus allowing that thought to control our emotions.
The great news is that this process is all a learned behavior, and like any learned behavior, it can be changed by retraining our brains. I'm sure most of us are likely familiar with the fight or flight response, which is essentially a trigger response that is built into our brains, to help us when we are faced with a real danger ( ie: a wild animal or some legitimate threat that could actually cause you physical harm or kill you). Sadly, our brains do not know the difference between a real-life threat and just a mildly uncomfortable situation, such as a job interview. Let's say that you are a person that deals with anxiety on a social level. Anytime you are faced with a situation where you are required to interact with others, this could be anything from giving a speech or presentation, to approaching somebody you're attracted to, or even just starting up a conversation with a stranger, you feel anxious or tense. You may even try to avoid these situations by isolating yourself from others. We get caught up in this cycle because we have taught our brains that this emotional reaction is an appropriate response to that situation. In my experience, the best thing that can be done here is to do nothing. That's right, do absolutely nothing. Do not react to these thoughts, just allow them to drift away. You may find that if you really apply yourself with this technique, after a few seconds or minutes, the thought and the unpleasant emotion that accompany it will dissipate and be gone. As I stated above, this is something that really requires you to apply yourself, and be prepared to have setbacks and moments of doubt, and know that that is okay. Retraining our brains takes time and is definitely a huge commitment. People who are new to applying this method, are naturally going to experience more moments of frustration, but one again, it is perfectly normal and alright for this to happen.
I will definitely expand on what I've talked about today in one of my upcoming posts, but to wrap things up for now do not pay these negative thoughts any mind, they are not harmful until you make them so by fixating on them or attempting to fight or run from them. Most of all be patient with yourselves! Recovery takes time! Do not expect to be able to accomplish overcoming these thoughts overnight, it simply does not work like that! Whatever tomorrow brings, keep smiling, keep laughing, and keep loving life!