A chaotic, even abusive upbringing predicts a long and harsh life. There are many chronic mental and physical health issues that occur that shorten lifespan and also markedly compromise quality of life. Raised in this environment, a child cannot reach his or her full potential when so much energy is consumed by trying to survive. Consider a young plant in rich soil with plenty of sunlight and water. Compare it to the same plant in poor soil, limited sunlight, little water. It may even look a different species.

Feeling unsafe

When we don’t feel safe, we’ll do whatever we can to achieve it. Feeling unsafe drives many, if not most destructive behaviors. Feel trapped causes us to react aggressively to solve the situation. The physiological response is called anger, which represents the body’s powerful last-ditch effort to regain control.

Since the most stressful problems are ones we can’t solve, sustained anger (threat physiology) turns into rage, destructive behaviors, and chronic illnesses as the body breaks down. Consider how many life situations are unsolvable. One of the deadliest and universal problems is feeling trapped by our thoughts.

We cannot escape our thoughts. Suppressing unpleasant thoughts fires up the threat response even more than experiencing them. Suppression causes the hippocampus (memory center) of the brain to shrink¹ and increases craving for opioids.²  Distracting ourselves with experiences, pursuing pleasure, adventures, and achievements also fires up the immune system.³

So how do we behave?

ADDICTIONS

Addictions create a sense of safety while engaged in the activity, but obviously are not long-term solutions. The reason addictions are so destructive is they temporarily mask mental and physical pain, and pursuing relief is compelling.

POWER

A deadly outcome of feeling chronically unsafe is the relentless pursuit of power in order to gain more control. It can’t and doesn’t work, but few of us are taught alternatives. The manifestations are almost infinite and infiltrate every domain of our lives and relationships with others. People closest to us are the most affected. No one wants to be controlled, yet trying to control others is almost universal. Anger is generated in those being controlled and also in those exerting control. There is never enough to assuage the unconscious brain. Unfortunately, anger is intentionally destructive, as it is your body’s last-ditch effort to survive emotionally or physically.

The data is deep, beginning in the schoolyard. We try to avoid anxiety, or – if we already have it – we try to get rid of it. Nothing enhances our feeling of control more than by gaining power in some way. This need is expressed in our interactions with each other; in fact, it dictates much of human relations.

Every child has significantly increased anxiety when they leave home to begin school, regardless of their family situation. They want to be accepted but there is also the greater need to diminish their fear. The need to get rid of fear and gain power is played out in forming cliques, excluding others, and overt bullying.

Researchers did a study of students who have been bullied versus the bullies to see if there was any difference in their physiological makeup. ⁴ They looked at the levels of a substance called C-reactive protein (CRP), which is elevated in the presence of inflammation; it’s often drawn to determine the presence of a hidden infection. Chronically elevated levels also indicate a stressed and overactive immune system. It is not desirable to have an elevated CRP.

The study revealed that children who had been bullied had significantly elevated levels of CRP compared to those who had not been bullied. Being bullied as your introduction to the real world is not a great start. What I find even more disturbing is that the levels of CRP in bullies was lower than the norm. As it turns out, there is both a social and physiological reward for possessing more power. How all of this plays out in adulthood is not subtle. Why would you want to give up power and control? Especially when feeling the pain of anxiety is the other option.

Every child has a strong need to be accepted, yet what should we make of the fact that it gives him or her more power (and self-esteem) to reject someone else? This is an endless loop, the root cause of which is the solvable problem of anxiety.

SELF-ESTEEM

The other as futile effort to counteract these deeply upleasant survival sensations is to pursue more self-esteem. This is problematic for seversal reasons. First, it is a gross mismatch of your unconsious brain overpowering your conscious brain by about a million to one. Anxiety and anger are hardwired automatic survival reactions over which we have absolutely no control.

Second, the unconscious brain never stops for a millisecond and is always on the lookout for danger. It is why we evolved and stay alive. The conscious brain’s attention is not sustainable and we quickly develop cognitive fatigue trying to stay happy. We also become physically tired as 20 to 25% of your entire body’s energy is used to run your brain.

Third, we are programmed by everyone around us about who we should be or not be. These voices in our heads become as concrete as any object and we act on them. Unfortunately, the “stories” in our heads are essentially all cognitive distortions. Self-esteem represents a huge distortion of labeling. We expend a tremendous amount of energy building up our ego, and then spend endless efforts defending it. The relentless pursuit of self-esteem disconnects us from the reality immediately in front of us. In other words, you lose awareness of other’s needs and relationships are compromised. Look at the human experience of how terribly we treat each other as individuals and societies. We have the resources to create a planet that could thrive yet we are at the mercy of our personal and societal “stories.”

What can you do?

Learn vulnerability. Being vulnerable is at the core of meaningful human relationships, but there is no reward in nature for being physically vulnerable.  Since emotional pain is processed in similar regions of the brain as physical pain, there are penalties for being emotionally vulnerable. Language creates a massive problem causing emotional pain that is much more complex than in other mammals. Anger, as unpleasant as it is, is powerful, addicting, and masks being vulnerable. Anger creates a sense of emotional safety, but no one around you feels safe. How do you learn to be vulnerable when you are used to dealing with a lot of anger?

DYNAMIC HEALING

Needing to pursue the above-mentioned destructive behaviors drops as you address the root cause of sustained threat physiology. You cannot control the survival reactions but there are numerous ways to regulate your physiology. When your body is bathed in safety physiology, you feel safe, connected, and incredibly relaxed. We use the term, “dynamic healing”, which addresses factors affecting your physiology.

• Input – dealing with life’s challenges in a manner that less impact on your nervous system.
• State of the nervous system – calm or hyperactive
• Output or the physiology – can be directly regulated from threat to safety.

The details of the Dynamic Healing model are beyond the scope of this discussion. The focus is on you and learning skills in each category to create “cues of safety”, and not on fixing or solving your pain. It is a healing process, and not “self-help”.

RUTs (repetitive unpleasant thoughts)

Regarding the onslaught of unpleasant thoughts, consider the metaphor of a hornet’s nest, with the nest being your brain, and the hornets your thoughts. At rest, the hornets are busy collecting food, building the nest, cleaning house, and reproducing. If the nest is shaken, the hornets will become aggressive and defend themselves. When your nervous system is inflamed and hyperactive, your thought patterns become intense, since your conscious brain interprets your internal physiology.

The usual approach is to use cognitive rational techniques to counter bad thoughts with good thoughts, which is an impossible task. Then we put up our “shield” (self-esteem, self-affirmations) to protect us. It also overwhelming and wears us down. Exerting increased control (suppression) is also futile. Then the more attention you pay to the thoughts your brain is fired up even more. It is a bi-directional process.

The answer lies in “quit shaking the nest.” The hornets will calm down and return to their usual activities. As your nervous system calms down, your unpleasant thought patterns will lessen, which in turn helps calm your brain. Although cognitive approaches lower the input into the nervous system, calming it down is a separate skill. There are endless other ways besides unpleasant thoughts that fire it up.

There are four aspects of creating a safe relationhip with your thoughts.

• Thought separation
• Calming the nervous system (processing anger)
• Creativity – stimulating new neurological circuits away from the unpleasant ones.
• Dissolution of the ego – once you learn to feel safe, there is less need for it.

Calming your nervous system allows you to feel safe. It allows you to break free of ruminating thought patterns frees you up to create and live life on your terms.

References

1. Hulbert JC, et al. Inducing amnesia through systemic suppression. Nature Communications (2016); 7:11003 | DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11003
2. Garland EL, et al. Thought suppression as a mediator of the association between depressed mood and prescription opioid craving among chronic pain patients. J Behav Med (2016); 39:128–138. 10.1007/s10865-015-9675-9
3. Cole SW, et al. Social Regulation of gene expression in human leukocytes. Genome Biology (2007); 8:R189. doi: 10.1186/gb-2007-8-9-r189
4. Copeland W, et al.” Childhood bullying involvement predicts low-grade systemic inflammation into adulthood.” PNAS (2014); 111: 7570-7575.

The post Our Need to Feel Safe first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Our Need to Feel Safe appeared first on Back in Control.

• Honor your suffering. You are trapped by physical and mental sensations without an apparent way out.
• You feel extremely isolated but many people in this hole (The Abyss) are also suffering badly. You are not alone.
• Your rightful frustration (rage) fires up your symptoms even more.
• Systematically learning and using tools to calm your body, will allow you to heal.

The Depth of Your Suffering – Darkness

All of us seek safety – physically and mentally. When we don’t feel safe, our bodies switch to a flight or fight mode, and we feel stressed. Another descriptive word is “anxious”, which is simply the feeling generated when you sense danger. We yearn for safety and detest anxiety, and when we can’t resolve the problem causing us to feel uneasy, we feel trapped. The word for this more intense bodily response is anger. It is our last-ditch effort to regain control and feel safe. When we still can’t escape a real or perceived threat, our bodies break down with the outcome being chronic mental and physical diseases.

Anxiety and anger are not psychological constructs; they are your body’s warning signals, and they evolved to be intentionally unpleasant. They are the pain and are manifested in many ways. Even with physical symptoms, the cause is unclear. There are reasons. Chronic stress translates into threat physiology (how your body functions), which causes symptoms, illness, and disease. Unless you know how to effectively process stress, you are trapped.

Feeling trapped causes deep suffering, creates many problems. BTW, everyone suffers. There are degrees, and not having basic needs met such as safety, food, shelter, and companionship creates havoc with every aspect of your health and life. I do not want to dishonor this level of suffering. For example, the incidence of significant anxiety issues is 100% if your income level is less than 19,000/ year.¹ This is 1994 data that translates in approximately $38,000 in 2024.

We are also trapped by being a species with language, abstract thinking, and awareness of the finite nature of life. We can’t escape death. In addition to our physical challenges to staying alive, we cannot escape our thoughts. We have no protection from mental pain and suppressing unpleasant thoughts inflames the brain even more. These translate into RUTs, (repetitive unpleasant thoughts). They are universal varying in severity and frequency. The range is:

• Occasional unwanted thoughts
• Repetitive thoughts
• RUTs
• Repetitive disruptive thoughts
• Invasive thoughts

 “The Abyss”

One afternoon, I was listening to a patient attempting to describe the depth of her suffering and it hit me how deep and hopeless this hole is for most people. I realized that words were inadequate to encapsulate the degree of misery. Since no one seemed to have any answers, there was no apparent way out. The description that seemed to fit for this dark, bottomless pit was “The Abyss”.

A recent research paper documented that the effect of chronic pain on one’s life is similar te the impact of terminal cancer.² You hadn’t anticipated the possibility of your life being consumed by pain. The paper showed that chronic pain was worse in that with cancer, you at least know the diagnosis and there is an endpoint, one way or the other. This statement might sound harsh in that suffering from terminal cancer is horrible, but ongoing pain (mental and physical) without knowing if there is an endpoint is even worse.

A stark example of how uncertainty can eat away at you is illustrated in Dr. Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning.³ He was an Austrian psychiatrist who was imprisoned in a concentration camp during WWII. He lost several close family members and experienced unspeakable horrors. As he describes his personal experience, it is difficult to imagine anyone enduring even a fraction of what he witnessed and endured. Yet, he points out that the worst part of it all was not knowing when it was going to end. 

Life in The Abyss

In addition to other life stresses, patients are trapped by unpleasant mental and physical symptoms, illnesses,and diseases. You are also trapped by the medical system, which is not consistently showing you a way out. Over time, you become discouraged (despondent). My equation for it is:

The Abyss = Anxiety/Anger x Time

Why isn’t pain part of this equation? It is because anxiety is the pain. When you are stuck in a whirlpool of relentless anxiety and frustration, life goes dark.

How deep is this hole? Here is a short list of the suffering I have encountered both personally and witnessed in my patients.

Losses include:

• Independence
  • Financial
  • At the mercy of the disability system
• Capacity to enjoy good music, friends, fine food, and hobbies without the experience being marred by pain
• Peaceful family life
• Feeling good – there are over 30 symptoms created by a chronically activated nervous system. There are also many other mental and physical disease states. Your body breaks down.
• Integrity – people don’t believe you and often the harder you try to convince your friends, family, peers, employers, and health care providers, the less you are believed.
  • Being labeled – malingerer, drug-seeker, lazy, not motivated, and difficult
• Unlimited physical activity
• Peace of mind – RUTs are relentless and may be the worst part of the ordeal.
• Hope – this may be the worst aspect of it all. Repeatedly having your hopes dashed induces a depression.

No Way Out

Consider the depth of “The Abyss.” Your soul is being pounded into the ground by a pile driver of anxiety/anger as you remain trapped in your body, riddled by mental and physical pain. Your life is being systematically destroyed, but in some cruel cosmic joke, you’re alive to bear witness – without hope. This dark place in your mind is unusually deep – bottomless. And no one is listening………

Recap

Allow yourself to comprehend the depth of your suffering and degree of damage your pain has inflicted on your life. Awareness is the first step in successfully reversing this downward spiral. Right now, you are at the bottom, except there is no bottom……

Chronic illnesses are complex and random treatments can’t and don’t work. It is necessary to break your unique situation into its component parts and systematically deal with them. There is a way out of this incredibly dark place, but you cannot go from the depths of suffering to better health with willpower and belief. As you methodically acquire knowledge and skills to deal with each aspect of your situation, you’ll be able calm and re-route your body to break free and heal.

Questions and considerations

1. First, give yourself a break. You are suffering badly. Many treatments have failed, and you may even be worse. No one seems to be able to show you a way out or even offer hope. There is no reason to have positive feelings about any of this. Allow yourself to feel the depth of your suffering and frustration. Express it a piece of paper and immediately tear it up. A few people have difficulty processing the feelings released with this exercise, and if you feel uncomfortable, immediately stop.
2. Consider what is important to you in life, but you can’t access or experience them. Write down two or three things you would like to experience. Not being in pain is not one of the choices. You’ll see why as the course unfolds and it is also a given. None of us want to be in pain.
3. List three to five of your most intolerable symptoms. For many people, the relentless onslaught of unpleasant thoughts is the worst aspect of it all.
4. Give yourself credit for staying on your feet long enough to keep trying. A willingness to learn and practice is the number one factor predicting success.

 References:

1. Kessler RC, McGonagle KA, Zhao S, et al. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of dsm-iii-r psychiatric disorders in the united states: Results from the national comorbidity survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994; 51(1): 8-9.
2. O’Connor AB. Neuropathic pain: quality-of-life impact, costs, and cost effectiveness of therapy. Pharmacoeconomics (2009); 27: 95- 112.
3. Frankl, Viktor. Man’s Search for Meaning. Beacon Press, Boston, MA, 1959,1962,1984, 2006.

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“The gift of the unconscious “– life

The interoceptive nervous system is intertwined with every cell and organ in your body. The interpretation of these internal signals gives rise to consciousness. The warning signals evolved to be intensely unpleasant so as to compel the organism optimize function and act in order to survive. Conversely, sensations of safety became equally as powerful to drive cooperation and reproduction. The reward and warning system are both always active and in a delicate balance. This finely tuned interaction allows immediate action in either direction. However, since survival is clearly the primary need, unpleasant sensations will be more frequent. Most of the time, your actions will minimize them quickly, and avoiding physical pain and unpleasant sensations is how we are programmed to stay alive. This incredibly powerful complex unconscious system is the “gift of life.”

“The curse of cognitive consciousness” – RUTs

Language allows us to possess “cognitive consciousness”, and the capacity to describe these sensations. Meaning is given to the feelings generated by these neurochemical reactions reflecting danger and safety. Since we are always on some degree of alert for trouble, there is an endless stream of RUTs (repetitive unpleasant thoughts). Since physiology (how the body functions) affects every cell in your body, it is all encompassing, feels like who you are, and becomes a core part of your identity. So, the “gift of life” translates into the “curse of cognitive consciousness.”

Our brains become inflamed and hyperreactive with excitatory neurotransmitters and inflammatory cells when in flight or fight physiology. Humans describe these sensations generated from an activated threat response, “anxiety and anger.” They are physiologic states and not psychological.^1,2 Blood flow in the brain shifts from the neocortex (thinking centers) to the limbic system (fear and survival regions) so you cannot think as clearly when you are under real or perceived stress. An inflamed brain fires up even more RUTs, which are also perceived as dangerous and there is no end to this cycle.

                                                                     Goodtime/Adobe Stock

While we have an automatic withdrawal response (nociceptive system) for acute physical pain, there is no such response for mental pain. Suppressing RUTs only fires up threat physiology more and further creates more RUTS. There is no end to this loop, and we have no protection from mental pain.³

We attempt to create “good thoughts” from our conscious brain to counter the “bad” thoughts. This is an impossible task, as the unconscious brain continues to remain “fired up” and the bad thoughts continue to fly. Cognition requires conscious mental effort, consumes energy, is a gross mismatch of power, and is not sustainable. The unconscious brain processes between 20-40 million bits of information per second and our conscious brain deals with only about 40 per second. This interaction is why RUTs are so common, miserable for many, and the consequences are often severe.

Consequences of RUTs

One consequence is that well-intentioned people are more affected in that they may view themselves negatively because these thoughts are such a dark contrast to who they perceive they are or what they stand for. They don’t realize that these thoughts are interpretations of feelings generated from the unconscious brain. Efforts to combat RUTs often border on heroic, but the fallout is that people who potentially could significantly contribute to the common good are often crippled by anxiety (threat physiology) or just get worn down.

Less well-intentioned people may simply act out these thoughts and impulses without a lot of self-judgment. Hence, history is replete with tyranny and control. There is actually a physiological reward for power and control. Bullies have been documented to have lower inflammatory markers than average, whereas those who have been subjected to being bullied have higher inflammatory markers.⁴

Not only do humans expend a lot of energy fighting bad thoughts with good ones, but we also create “stories” to feel better about ourselves. We call it ego, self-esteem, or identity. As the powerful unconscious brain continues to keep us alive regardless of what we think or feel, there is no end to our efforts to create an identity that is bulletproof.

Another, more primitive solution, is exerting power and control based on these stories. The solution to anxiety is control, but without a way of decreasing RUTs, there is also no limit to what we do to control ourselves and others. These “stories” are often the basis evil actions. Once we label someone or a group of people as “less than” than we can justify any action in order to “bring them in line” or exterminate them. Labels are cognitive distortions that destroy awareness of details and the needs of others.^5,6

“The gift of cognitive consciousness” – choice

Anytime you are anxious or frustrated, you are reacting to something that was perceived as dangerous from the past. You are no longer in the present and cannot clearly see the details of the situation in front of you. You can will your way back to neutral or better for periods of time. But you have now lost choice, which is the gift of consciousness. It is truly a gift in that you can use the body’s property of neuroplasticity to create any brain (and reality) that you wish. But you cannot access it while you feel under threat. It is simply not possible.

The gift of our unconscious is life, and it keeps us alive at any cost. RUTs reflect this effort and are the curse of cognitive consciousness. Separating our identity from them and regulating our physiology from threat to safety allows us to access the gift of consciousness, which is choice. There are no shortcuts. You must  separate your identity from your survival reactions with awareness create choices. You are “letting go” (“Cing” first) in order to proactively move forward into creating the brain (neuroplasticity) and life you desire . Our lives can and will transform from reaCtive to Creative.

Why has this not been figured out long ago? Maybe it is because anxiety and anger have historically been placed into psychological/ mental categories instead of understanding they are such powerful activated physiological states. Avoiding the sensation of anxiety (vulnerability) drives most of human behavior. Much of it is dysfunctional and destructive. Medicine has not collectively acknowledged threat physiology as the driving force behind chronic mental/ physical symptoms, illness, and disease. It is no wonder that the burden of chronic disease continues spiral out of control.

The human race is a reactive species that knows how to physically survive. We have choice but can’t seem to access it with enough regularity to proactively create a thriving life and planet. Awareness allows choice and is where mental and physical healing begins.

References

1. Teed AR, et al. Association of generalized anxiety disorder with autonomic hypersensitivity and blunted ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity during peripheral adrenergic stimulation. JAMA Psychiatry (2022); doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.4225
2. Takahashi A, et al. Aggression, social stress, and the immune system in humans and animal models. Front. Behav. Neurosci. (2018); 12:56. Doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00056
3. Wegner, DM. Ironic processes of mental control (1994); 101:34-52.
4. Copeland W, et al.” Childhood bullying involvement predicts low-grade systemic inflammation into adulthood.” PNAS (2014); 111: 7570-7575.
5. Burns, David. Ten Days to Self-Esteem. Harper Collins, New York, 1993.
6. De Mello, Anthony. The Way to Love: The Last Meditations of Anthony De Mello. Doubleday, New York, NY,1992.

The post Accept the Gift of Consciousness – Choice first appeared on Back in Control.

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Here is the essence of the problem with RUTs and the human condition. The sequence begins with your unconscious brain that is constantly on alert for danger and is much more powerful than our late-evolving language-based consciousness. Humans use language to give meaning to everything, especially to sensations generated from inside of your body (interoception). Danger, real or perceived creates threat physiology that generates various levels and kinds of discomfort, and we have created many words that describe how badly we feel. These unpleasant thoughts evolve into concepts. They originate from the brain and also are sensory input back into it that we react to with threat physiology. We are on a spinning wheel without brakes and our brains are on fire.

New Africa/AdobeStock

The conscious versus unconscious brain mismatch

So, we generate positive thoughts to counteract unpleasant ones. We work hard to develop enough self-esteem to feel better about ourselves. But the powerful unconscious brain can generate an infinite number of troubling thoughts with minimal extra energy expended whereas the conscious brain can only create a limited number of “good” thoughts that requires effort and expenditure of energy. It is a gross mismatch, your survival brain overwhelms your efforts to feel better about yourself, you experience cognitive fatigue, and you are worn down.

The root cause driving the creation of RUTs is your fired up inflamed brain. Once the thoughts are released, how can you put them back into the box? You cannot. It is like trying to kill a swarm of mosquitos with a fly swatter. What’s effective is calming down threat physiology (anxiety and anger), the RUTs are diminished, which lessens the threat load even more. This is a bidirectional process. The medical/ psychology world has primarily focused on the RUTs without addressing the physiological root cause. Over the last decade, that is changing, and many practitioners are using methods to calm people down as the primary focus. Why not drain the swamp?

Consider a hornet’s nest where the inhabitants are minding their own business. They are working together constructing a home, gathering food, watching out for danger, and reproducing. Then someone or animal comes along and starts poking at the hive. Appropriately, they sense danger and use the weapons at their disposal to fight off the threat. Swarms of hornets attack the predator with the intention to inflict pain and they do. What is the best answer? Is it trying to battle the hornets once they are in the battle mode, or would it be easier to quit prodding the nest? It is impossible to do battle with your innumerable RUTs. Why not calm down your inflamed brain? Your RUTs will quiet down. Then you have the ”space” to move into brain circuits where you can nurture joy, move away from pain circuits, and where the definitive healing happens.

schankz/AdobeStock

Dissolution of your ego

The final step of allowing your ego (self-esteem) to dissolve can’t happen until you are able to tolerate the painful thoughts arising from your unconscious brain. Emotional pain is processed in similar regions of the brain as physical pain. The reason we spend so much time and energy on our self-esteem is because RUTs make us feel so badly about ourselves and we don’t like to hurt. Once you have no more need to “defend” your identity built largely from cognitive distortions, you can live your life in freedom.

There is another layer to the devastating effects of RUTs. “Good” self-esteem is a cognitive distortion of labeling. It doesn’t matter whether your label is “better than” or “less than”, it is still a distortion and where does it end? Then think of how many aspects of your identity are determined by “stories” consisting of cognitive distortions. A major one is “should or should not” thinking, which is at the core of how we are programmed from birth. It manifests in perfectionism and self-critical voices. These voices become stronger with time and become embedded in our brains as concretely as physical objects. At some tipping point, we spend the rest of our lives processing our worlds though our life lens and it is continually reinforced. Many people develop mental rigidity as part of this process, and it is a trait that is at the center of almost any mental health problem. Defending and becoming attached to your own sense of self is the antithesis of awareness which is essential for successful human interactions.

RUTs are one of the expressions of threat physiology. Addressing this root cause allows definitive solutions. Humans must learn to navigate cognitive consciousness in ways other than a survival mindset. Understanding the nature of the problem opens up possibilities to thrive. It is the next step in our evolution of our species with dire consequences if we don’t.

The post Understanding the “Curse of Consciousness” first appeared on Back in Control.

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I received this message from a person I have never met or communicated with. She had engaged in learning the tools to heal.

The key to healing mental and physical pain happen from learning two separate sets of skills. The first is separating identity from your necessary survival circuits, developing a “working relationship with them. The second is shifting your brain onto more enjoyable and functional circuits. You cannot experience play and joy will simultaneously fighting pain.

You also cannot heal your body, including your brain. It already knows how to heal, and the healing stories are nothing short of miraculous. But life itself is a miracle. Our conscious brain gets in the way and blocks healing. You only must believe your body can heal, let go, and allow it to occur. Her email is typical of what happens, and the healing is deep and transformative.

Not fixing yourself

One of the most difficult challenges is letting go of trying to fix yourself to rid yourself of the mental and physical pain. Why wouldn’t you? You are trapped in miserable place without an apparent way out. It is bad enough enduring the pain, but when you get angry about it, you have now doubled down, and your brain is really on fire. Dr. John Sarno, a famous physiatrist and author used the term “rage”.¹

Good Studio/AdobeStock

However, trying to solve the pain places your attention on it and reinforces it. But when you try not to think about your pain or distract yourself, the thought suppression inflames your brain even more. Either way, you are trapped. Specifically considering self-esteem, which is an endless set of judgments, trying not to be judgmental is impossible. Positive thinking is another form of suppression. Even reading self-help books is another way of staying focused on the problem. Even with my books, there is a tipping point where I recommend people stop reading them and focus on practicing and implementing the tools they have learned.

“Phantom Brain Pain”

There is the additional problem of thinking that something is being missed, and these thoughts become independent sets of circuits. They really are not responsive to reason, and the ongoing pursuit of reassurance only reinforces them. Along with all RUTs (repetitive unpleasant thoughts), I call this phenomenon, “phantom brain pain.” In my mind, the same issues are in play as phantom limb pain, where the suffering is intense, and you cannot even touch the absent limb to calm yourself. How can this happen. The known “source” of pain is completely gone, and the patient still feels the limb and the pain. So, where does this pain exist?

The key to healing lies in separating from your racing necessary survival circuits, developing a “working relationship with them, and dynamically shifting your brain into more enjoyable and functional circuits – and letting go. You cannot experience play and joy while simultaneously fighting pain.

“I give up”

I vividly recall feeling like I was in the midst of a major battle with unpleasant thoughts. The mental pain was a much bigger problem than my physical symptoms. I was never bothered during surgery with them in that I was so focused on what I was doing. For a long time, I was also fine in clinic while I was connecting with my patients. Towards the end of my ordeal, even being at work did not help, and I was pummelled every two or three minutes with ever-increasing intense, intrusive, and vivid thoughts. Meanwhile, I was trying everything possible to deal with them, including working with a psychiatrist. Nothing helped and in fact, it all seemed make things worse. It was around this period where I came close to committing suicide.

One evening, I had read yet another self-help book and I had a flash of a vision that I was standing in front of a repeating circus mirror. I can still see it. It was about six feet high, and it was in a tent. I was looking at endless images of myself. At that time, I was doing what felt like hand-to-hand combat with my thoughts. I would have a disturbing thought, and then counter it with a “good” thought. I was wearing down quickly. I could see that there was no rational solution to these RUTs. I said to myself, “I can’t do this anymore and I quit.” I felt my identity was stripped down to nothing and felt there was little left of what I thought was me.

I honestly gave up and was not sure what I was going to do next. Instead of feeling despondent, I felt a strange sense of freedom, and it turned out that “giving up” the fight was the right answer. It was after that moment, things began to change for the better. I had much to learn, but at least I had inadvertently created some “space” in my brain to allow healing to begin.

Hope

This is a link to a collection of patients’ success stories that I call, “Stories of Hope.” Essentially everyone who is trapped in the Abyss of chronic pain is in a very dark place. Knowing you are not alone is important.

ipopba.AdobeStock

It is impossible to let go of “fixing” without the tools to accomplish it and also learning how to feel safe. You can’t force it and as per her email, you just have to keep moving forward, and it will happen when you are ready. I also wish for you that it happens sooner than later, but persistence is the key. You will learn to regulate your stress physiology and become much better at nurturing joy and creativity. Your behaviors become automatic, your skills will increase and improve, and you can let go and live your life.

References

1. Sarno, John. Mind Over Back Pain. Warner Books, New York, NY.

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• Mental rigidity is a transdiagnostic process that spans many mental health diagnoses
• Creating mental flexibility may be an important early intervention in successfully treating them.
• The need to suppress unpleasant thoughts is a driver of this process.
• Creating mental flexibility is challenging in that people must be trained to tolerate and process unpleasant thoughts.
• Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) have been shown to decrease mental rigidity.

Another form of suppression?

Mental rigidity is a variation of suppressing thoughts in that you will allow yourself only certain sets and types of thoughts and emotions. You don’t allow yourself to feel so happy or sad. Your emotional bandwidth is limited and can be compared to a bowling with rubber bumpers in the gutters. This may work to a large degree, but since you are constantly monitoring your thoughts, it is difficult to see and hear messages from others. You are unaware, which is at the core of abuse. Seeing and meeting only your needs causes one to behave in a manner that may hurt and damage others. Also, mental inflexibility is a common trait shared by many mental health diagnoses.¹

It gets worse. Rigid thinking around belief systems creates deep circuits in your brain (“stories”) that detach you not only from others but also the needs of society. These obsessive thought patterns seem “normal” to a given person. And when your brain is ruminating on these circuits, you have largely “crowded out” unpleasant repetitive thoughts. So, it is helpful for you, but not so much for others. Inevitably, there will be conflicts with those who have differing patterns of rigidity that are not subject to rational conversation. The perverse aspect of this is that the ensuing angry conflicts are powerful, further mask anxiety, and are addicting. Why would you want to give up the power of anger to feel anxious. Maybe it is your energy source that drives you to be “successful?”

Rigidity can revolve anything. Religion, politics, business, race, social class, personal opinions, noble ideology, and sports. The opinions can be small or global. They manifest as rhetoric (labeling), which completely covers up the real issues or specifics of who a person it.

                                                elit76_d/ AdobeStock

Reactance

It gets even darker. We will do almost anything to avoid or escape from the relentless barrage of negative thoughts. The science shows that thoughts and concepts become embedded in our brain similar to us defining any physical objective.² In other words, these fixed ideas become our life lens or world view. At some tipping point it hardens, and a phenomenon happens called “reactance.” This is a basic known fact in the marketing world.³ Facts never change one’s opinion. If they agree with your views, they are reinforced. However, when are not in agreement, you’ll reject them as invalid, and it strengthens your perspective even more. The more concrete your world view, the more definitive your actions will be to defend it.

The darkest aspect of it all is that many people feel the strength of their convictions (stories) to the point that they have the right, even responsibility to impose it on others. Hence, the outcome is extremely bad actions that occur both at a personal and world level.

We all have some aspect of this trait in that we feel that our perspective is the correct one, and we’ll freely be critical of those who don’t meet our “standards.” We may just think it or take varying degrees of action. Regardless of what you do, you have now lost awareness of the details of another person or situation. How can you act or react in a productive/ proactive manner?

Abuse

What about being raised in a dysfunctional or even abusive family? Your life lens is created from a hostile and dangerous environment. Going forward, you’ll constantly be in high alert similar to a feral cat. This environment creates a terribly destructive life view that also becomes stronger over time – unless you actively reprogram it.

The essence of abuse is not being aware of other’s needs. Rigid thinking takes unawareness to the highest level. It is often couched in seductive rhetoric. People in power understand the power of simple repetition and can program in anything they wish, regardless of whether it is logical or true.

The disease blocks treatment

How can this be solved? One of the most perverse aspects of the problem is that essentially all mental disorders are manifestations of chronic inflammation and other aspects of threat physiology. It this state your brain is inflamed, your neocortex (thinking regions) become less active, and it is challenging to open up your mind to new learning. Additionally, the rigidity also compromises awareness and curiosity.

Recent research has demonstrated that Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) are effective in increasing the connectivity between regions of the brain that define self. The term is the “Pattern Theory of Self.” Alterations that affect the dynamic interaction, are a factor in creating mental rigidity. The effects are manifested in many psychopathologies.

LoloStock/ Adobe Stock

By increasing the functional connectivity in regions connected with a sense of self and decrease the activity in interpreting the self’s relationship to the world, mental flexibility is increased. Indeed, MBIs are documented to more effective than many “gold standards” of psychological treatments.²

Chronic mental and physical illness and diseases are complex, and one type of intervention alone would not be expected to be a solution. However, MBI’s promise to be an entry point in breaking through the barrier of anger and rigidity to pursue a truly healing process. Many, if not most, chronic diseases are curable or at least can be halted. Research is beginning to offer real solutions.

Recap

Repetitive unpleasant thoughts (RUTs) are a driver of mental rigidity. It is a form of trying to control thoughts that is a common thread across many mental health diagnoses. Decreasing mental rigidity is a target for improving mental health interventions. It has been documented to be effective both clinically and with brain imaging. Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) are a category of interventions that are effective in improving mental flexibility; and are potentially an entry point for effective solutions.

References

1. Giommi F, et al. The (in)flexible self: Psychopathology, mindfulness, and neuroscience. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology (2023); 23:100381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2023.100381
2. Feldman-Barrett, Lisa. How Emotions are Made, Mariner Books, 2017.
3. Berger Jonah. The Catalyst. Simon and Schuster, New York, NY. 2020.

The post Mental Rigidity – A Core Trait of Many Mental Health Diagnoses first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Mental Rigidity – A Core Trait of Many Mental Health Diagnoses appeared first on Back in Control.

• Pain from any body part is a protective danger signal that guides our behavior and physical responses to avoid danger and remain safe.
• This system is called the nociceptive system, which guides behaviors to not exceed the limits of a given structure.
• Feedback from internal organs is called interoception, and the nervous system maintains a delicate balance through hormones, inflammatory responses, neurotransmitters, and metabolism (fuel consumption).
• Unpleasant mental input is perceived in similar regions of the brain as physical pain, but there is no automatic withdrawal or avoidance response. Suppression increases the intensity. We have no protection from mental pain.

Although humans are programmed to avoid or resolve physical threats, we do not have inherent mechanisms to deal with mental threats.

Staying Alive

Every living creature, from single-celled organisms to mammals, has two biological mandates. The first is to survive, and the second is to pass their genes to the next generation.

In order to avoid danger, seek safety, and stay alive, data is gathered through sensors located on every cell in your body. All this information continually interpreted by your nervous system to assess whether the situation is safe or dangerous. Signals are then sent out from the nervous system to regulate and control your body’s next actions to optimize survival. So, a major point is that the nervous system is necessary to interpret the intensity and type of input from the pain sensors. Otherwise, pain would not exist.

There are many different pain signals such as hot/cold, loud/soft, sharp/ dull, pressure, light touch, and position. When these pain receptors send messages to the brain that a given structure in the body is at risk for danger, the brain sends out automatic signals to withdraw from the dangerous situation. Pain is protective and we cannot survive without it. It is a gift.

This unconscious protective system is called the nociceptive pain system. What you may not realise is that this system is focused on guiding our actions and behaviours in order to avoid pain and we can get on with our lives safely. So, we are not aware of its role most of the time. It is only when the limits of a given bodily structure are approximated or exceeded that your brain receivesan intensity of signals that it interprets as, “danger!” These signals have evolved to be so unpleasant so as to compel action. It is how living creatures evolved and survive. It is also the reason why when the finely tuned protective pain system becomes unbalanced and suffering from chronic pain is so tragic.

Protective responses

There are four levels of responses to input from your external environment and internal organs. The variables are intensity and duration.

1. None/protective: Your body is guided to remain safe.
2. Withdrawal: Any physically perceived threat is met with a quick response.
3. Symptoms/Illnesses: Prolonged threat – diminishes/resolves with a lower threat load.
4. Diseases: Sustained threat – your body breaks down, causing structural damage.

There are rare instances where people are born without pain fibers. Since they lack protective sensation, their tissues and joints break down, become deformed, and infected. They live only 10-15 years and usually die from infection. There are also diseases that destroy protective sensation such as leprosy and diabetes. Again, the limits of the tissues are regularly exceeded, and they break down. Often a joint will become a “bag of bones.” Survival depends on your brain accurately processing sensory input, detecting threats, and sending out signals to take protective actions.

Uniquely human

In addition to input from your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin, and internal organs, humans also receive input in the form of threatening thoughts. Unpleasant thoughts are processed in similar regions of the brain as physical pain¹, which creates a flight or fight response. Hence the phrase, “You hurt my feelings.”

The brain generates survival signals that are intended to be so unpleasant that the organism is compelled to respond in a way to resolve the threat. Once the problem is solved, your body returns to its baseline. Whenever a given response doesn’t solve real or perceived danger, the body’s physiology remains in an activated threat state. Sustained threat causes symptoms, illness, and disease.

Many, if not most, people have stresses that are not solvable, and avoiding stress becomes its own stress. As your body kicks in more of a stress response, you’ll feel angry. The longer and more intensely you feel trapped, the greater the effects on your body.

There are many ways of minimizing the impact of stress. However, a universal problem is the inability to escape from unpleasant thoughts. This may be a powerful force in driving chronic disease with sustained threat physiology keeping your body in overdrive.

Your brain on fire

A significant percentage of your brain is intertwined with the immune system, and signaling molecules (cytokines) fire up an inflammatory response. Your brain is not only hyperreactive but also inflamed. So, thoughts fire up the nervous system, and then your brain fires off disruptive thoughts.

SciePro/ AdobeStock

Your thoughts, concepts, and behavioral reactions eventually become permanently embedded (memorized) in your brain and are unresponsive to rational interventions.² They become your “demons” that strengthen over time. Essentially, all humans have some level of annoying, undesirable thoughts that aren’t problematic. Many experience them at a level that interferes with their enjoyment of life but doesn’t affect their capacity to function. Others are greatly affected without carrying a diagnosis of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Coping behaviors include suppressing thoughts, rigid thinking, binge eating, eating disorders, skin picking, nail biting, hair pulling, “worrying,” hyper-focusing on appearance, body image issues, and addictions.

Repetitive Unpleasant Thoughts (RUTs) are worsened when trying to fight or control them³. Attempts at mental control drive them much harder, as more attention reinforces them. Suppressing them is even worse. Then, feeling trapped creates intense angry, irrational reactions. The resultant dysfunctional behaviors create a lot of damage to you and others around you, in addition to illness, symptoms, and disease. We do not have an automatic withdrawal response to mental pain – we have no protection at all.

Recap

This inability to protect ourselves from unpleasant thoughts drives threat physiology, creates many dysfunctional behaviors, and causes symptoms, illness, and disease. There are many benefits to human consciousness, but this aspect of it is “the curse of cognitive consciousness.” We have learned to physically survive but have not consistently figured out how to thrive.

References

1. Eisenberger N. “The neural bases of social pain: Evidence for shared representations with physical pain.” Psychosom Med (2012); 74: 126-135.
2. Feldman Barrett, Lisa. How Emotions are Made. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, NY, 2018.
3. Wegener DM. The Seed of Our Undoing. Psychological Science Agenda (1999)/ 10-11.

The post We have no protection from mental pain first appeared on Back in Control.

The post We have no protection from mental pain appeared first on Back in Control.

• Connect mainstream medicine with existing science – most symptoms, illness and disease  are created by the body’s physiology (how it functions), and not structures.
• Establish the necessity of a trusting dynamic relationship with your clinician. Feeling heard and safe is not a luxury. They are healing modalities in that they shift physiology from threat to safety. Also, if we don’t know you and understand the details of your situation, how can we make accurate decisions.

Most chronic mental and physical disease is caused by the body being in a sustained state of flight or fight (threat physiology). The fallout of treating most diseases from a structural paradigm isn’t effective and causes harm. It is particularly damaging in spine surgery, and the rates of spine surgery for chronic low back pain continue to skyrocket. It eventually became clear that we were performing low back fusions for anxiety (sensation created by threat physiology) with a success rate of less than 30%.¹

Understanding chronic symptoms, illness, and disease

My efforts evolved out of my own 15-year struggle with chronic mental and physical pain. Most of my approaches failed and then some began to help. As I pursued treatments that worked and abandoned the ones that didn’t, I inadvertantly escaped out of this Abyss in 2003. All 17 of my symptoms resolved and continued to improve. However, I still had no idea why I become ill and why I healed. I was shocked, as many of my fellow clinicians, that the answers have been in literature of over 60 years.

In 1962, two researchers clearly documented that stress causes illness, disease, and early death.² I was aware of this data, but I did not connect the dots. I treated my patients from the paradigm that it was my responsibility was to find a structural cause of pain, and I felt badly if I could not find a reason to perform surgery. I aggressively performed fusions for low back pain for the first 8 years of my practice. When a paper out of Washington State³ showed a success rate of less than 25% for low back fusions for pain, I stopped doing them, but did not know what to do.

The healing journey

My current approach represents what I learned from my struggles, witnessing what helped hundreds of my patients heal, and now understanding the science behind these concepts. The DOC Journey course and app and my other efforts are simply a framework that presents documented science in amanner and sequence that is accessible by patients and clinicians. My vision is to connect medicine with known science of chronic stress causing illness, with the fundamental idea being that the doctor patient relationship is at the core of healing. If a patient can’t feel safe with their health care provider, the rest of the treatments are of limited value.

Many people heal with just these self-directed concepts, but outcomes are always better and more consistent with added resources. This framework is intended to allows patients to take charge their care, the clinician can leverage his or her efforts, and provides a long-term template for ongoing learning and healing. It evolved out of my busy practice with increased efficiency, effectiveness, and enjoyment. It is inspiring and energizing to witness patients emerge from hopelessness to thriving.

An important aspect of these concepts is the clinician learning and implementing these approaches in their personal and professional life. A dynamic working partnership can  then be created when both parties understand these healing principles. These resources are an adjunct and/or foundation for other clinical practices, and not an alternative.

Anxiety is a physiological state

It took me many years to realize that anxiety is not primarily a psychological issue. It is the intentionally unpleasant feeling generated by your body when in flight or fight. Avoiding this powerful sensation is the driving force behind human behavior, and much of it is dysfunctional. We are not taught how to regulate our body’s danger response. Our conscious brain is no match and our efforts to control it create a lot of misery for us and those around us.

It is actually a gift that keeps us alive. This survival warning signal is necessary, and the key is developing a “working relationship” with it. It is what you have and not who you are.

This is an article I wrote for Psychology Today regarding the mental health crises.

Obsessive thought patterns and OCD

Crippling anxiety is what almost took me out. It initially manifested with panic attacks and progressed to severe OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) for over 15 years. The hallmark of OCD is repetitive intrusive thoughts that for me became quite intense. I had “internal OCD” which consists of a disturbing thought following by a compensatory counterthought. There were no external behaviors. So, I had no idea of what was going on, and there seemed to be no endpoint.

OCD is relatively common,⁴ and variations include nail biting, hoarding, body image disorder, skin picking, hair pulling, and eating disorders. Additionally, many if not most people are bothered by disruptive thought patterns or ruminations, which detract from quality of life. One could also consider addictive behaviors in light of efforts to escape these repetitive unpleasant thoughts. Much of the mental health world views OCD and ruminating thoughts as unsolvable and the approach is to manage them. The missing link is that threat physiology is not being adequately addressed. Half the brain consists of glial cells, which have cytokine receptors and are part of the immune response.  A fired-up brain fires off a lot of thoughts.

My hypothesis is that RUTs (repetitive unpleasant thoughts) are a major driver of chronic mental and physical disease by stimulating sustained threat physiology. Humans are trapped by unpleasant thoughts with the main variables being frequency and intensity. They are a universal function of human consciousness. They may be a significant factor in driving teens to commit suicide, “deaths of despair.” However, I am seeing RUTs create misery in every age group, and as young as 6 years old. RUTs were the main source of my misery followed closely by social isolation.

I no longer suffer from OCD, and I escaped from this Abyss over 20 years ago. I don’t even have the disruptive thoughts I had before I became ill. It has taken many years to figure out how and why I escaped from these obsessive thought patterns. High level achievers are particularly prone to them. This is a link to the section I created on my website that presents my concepts of a solution.

This RUTS section is a rough outline of my upcoming book. Solutions are discussed first and the background of the problem later. There is a large body of research of the mental mechanics of the brain, physiology, consciousness, and effects of stress. I learned a sequence of healing while helping many other people out of this hole and it continues to evolve.

Action needed soon

The burden of chronic disease continues to rise in the US and lifespans are dropping compared to other developing countries. We spend almost four times as much per capita as any other nation.⁵ The business of medicine has essentially kidnapped all of us – clinicians and patients. How can thoughtful decisions be made without patients feeling heard and clinicians not understanding all of the dimensions of their lives generatingthreat physiology (anxiety)?

Performing risky and expensive interventions that are not data-based are causing a lot of harm. “First do no harm.” Individually and as a society, do we embrace this core manifesto or is this just rhetoric? I feel there is some urgency for change as the fabric of our society is coming apart.

Clinicians allied with patients are the only possibility of taking back our medical care. It will require ongoing collaboration from all parties. Whether my resources or another similar set are utilized, we have to treat people in a manner that honors the body’s physiology and capacity to heal. We have the data. Let’s implement what we already know!

References

1. Carragee EJ, et al. “A Gold Standard Evaluation of the ‘Discogenic Pain’ Diag­nosis as Determined by Provocative Discography.” Spine (2006) 31:2115-2123.
2. Holmes TH, Rahe RH. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale.J Psychosom Res (1967); 11:213–8. doi:1016/0022-3999(67)90010-4
3. Franklin GM, et al. “Outcome of lumbar fusion in Washington State Workers’ Compensation.” Spine (1994); 19:1897–903.
4. Carmi, L., Brakoulias, V., Arush, O.B.et al. A prospective clinical cohort-based study of the prevalence of OCD, obsessive compulsive and related disorders, and tics in families of patients with OCD. BMC Psychiatry22, 190
5. Bezruchka S. Increasing Mortality and Declining Health Status in the USA: Where is Public Health?Harvard Health Policy Review [internet]. 2018.

The post David Hanscom’s Mission and Resources first appeared on Back in Control.

The post David Hanscom’s Mission and Resources appeared first on Back in Control.

1. Repetitive Unpleasant Thoughts (RUTs) are solvable with a multi-pronged self-directed approach.
2. Consider the four aspects in the metaphor of a popcorn machine.
3. They are 1) the kernels 2) the cooking pot 3) the storage compartment 4) the power source.
4. All facets must be addressed daily, so the only person that can solve them is you.

You cannot control your thoughts and the “need for mental control” is what causes so much trouble. RUTs are solvable by approaching them from all of these perspectives.

• Thought diversion
• Calming the nervous system
• Redirecting your brain towards positive circuits
• Dissolution of your ego

Consider these aspects of calming your mind as a metaphor of a movie theater popcorn machine. The kernels of corn represent your disruptive thoughts. The cooking pot is your fired up nervous system. Obsessive thoughts are the popped corn, and the storage area is your working memory.

Thought diversion

Having fewer kernels of corn enter the cooker is an important step. You can divert your thoughts in several ways.

• Expressive writing
• Mindfulness/ active meditation
• Cognitive behavioral approaches – recognizing and separating from cognitive distortions.

Expressive writing in its various forms is simply a separation exercise. Your thoughts are on a piece of paper separated from you by vision and feel, both part of the unconscious brain. It is critical to immediately destroy it, so you can write with absolute freedom. It is the most miserable and disturbing thoughts that we suppress the most. As your body chemically reacts to them, they become real and part of your version of reality. The reality is that they are who you are not. The other reason to destroy them is to not analyze them. They are not “issues”, they are just thoughts. Rehashing them creates more of a tangled mess.

Mindfulness/ active meditation puts your attention on physical sensations that creates a shift away from your racing thoughts. It can be any sensation and can last for just a few seconds . Or you can train yourself to live much of your day in a mindful manner. Instead of doing battle with these thoughts, you have turned away from them.

Another strategy is cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). David Burns has defined ten categories of cognitive distortions that impact our decision-making and quality of life. Instead of believing these distortions, you can train your brain to recognize them for what they are, separate from them, and move on. The beauty of cognitive distortions is that there is nothing to do since they are not real in the first place.

Turning down the heat – anger

The second aspect of calming down the nervous system, is represented by “turning down the heat” of the cooker. We know that unpleasant thoughts fire up the nervous system, but an inflamed brain also throws off more extraneous thoughts. Notice how your mind races when you are upset or feel trapped for any reason. You are fighting for a way out. This is the basic survival response for a physical threat that increases your chances of survival. It doesn’t work for emotional survival. Fighting your thoughts not only increases the intensity of them, but you are also consuming a lot of fuel (glucose), as your brain consumes between 20-25% of your metabolic energy. Additionally, the activity of your brain shifts from your neocortex (thinking region) to the limbic region (survival areas) and you are unable to think clearly. The creativity you need to solve a problem is compromised.

Anxiety is the sensation generated by an activated threat response and anger is a hyperactivated one. They are physiological states and not primarily psychological. Your unpleasant thoughts are sensory input and emotions are what you feel (physiology). Anxiety and anger are the same entity, varying in intensity. Anxiety evolved to be extremely unpleasant, as it is the driving force to avoid danger and survive. The solution to anxiety is solving the threat. But when the problem is unsolvable, your body increases the survival response, and you’ll be angry. They are both activated physiological threat states.

Anxiety and anger are hardwired reactions that we have no control over. If you are triggered, you are triggered. What you do have a say about is your response to it. You can regulate your physiology through three different portals.

• Input – how you process your stress
• Lowering the reactivity of your nervous system – sleep, diet, exercise, somatic therapy
• Output – tools to stimulate the vagus nerve, which is highly anti-inflammatory – breath work, humming, listening to certain pitches of music, and vagal stimulation.

My term for dealing with anger is “anger processing.” There are many layers to it and none of these are difficult. It is a learned set of skills that are used daily and indefinitely. Unless you learn to lower this powerful (and addicting) survival reaction, you will continue to experience intense repetitive thoughts.

To have a good life, you must live a good life

The real and definitive healing occurs as you nurture and live the life that you want. Re-directing your attention to pleasant circuits is a separate set of skills. You cannot be really creative if you are continually fighting RUTs.

This is represented by how you deal with the popped kernels of corn. Over time, your attention may become consumed by unpleasant thoughts and the holding area of the popcorn machine is filled up. There is nowhere to go. By diverting the thoughts and turning down the heat, there will be less popcorn. But regardless of how quickly the machine fills up, it must be emptied to create some “space” for new input to allow for the sequence of stimulating your brain to change (neuroplasticity). The sequence is awareness, creating some space, and then redirecting your attention to what you want.

This “space” can be created in many ways including adequate sleep, exercise, anti-inflammatory diet, not discussing pain, etc. If you are trying to compensate for your anxiety with distracting activities, it is not possible. Your survival brain is too powerful. It is the reason that thought diversion and effectively processing anger are so critical. Then you have choices. Eventually, as you become more engaged in the life that you want and remain connected to it, obsessive thoughts are crowded out.

Pull the Plug – Ego dissolution

The driving force of ego is the pursuit of self-esteem, which It is an ongoing judgment pattern without an endpoint. It consists of an endless stream of thoughts and stories, most of which are cognitive distortions. You’ll wear down, RUTs will increase, your physiology attacks your own body, and you may become ill. BTW, self-esteem is a core cognitive distortion of “labeling.” As you develop your own story of who you are, it takes a lot of mental energy to maintain and defend it. Hence, a whirlwind of competing thoughts.

The final step of dissolving your ego, is the definitive solution. You cannot force or make it happen. You are allowing it to dissolve with awareness as the other three aspects are in play. The kernels of corn (unpleasant thoughts) dramatically decrease when there is no need to defend your ego and let go of pursuing self-esteem. You have “pulled the plug”  and remain connected to the present moment.

Recap

RUTs fire up the nervous system and an inflamed nervous system fires up RUTs. Both aspects must be addressed to decrease and essentially resolve RUTs. Definitive healing happens as your brain shifts to creative and functional circuits. Eventually, you’ll understand the futility of chasing self-esteem to offset your powerful flight or fight neurochemistry. Without having to defend your “identity”, disruptive thoughts will fade away.

Instead of being all that you can be, it is much easier to “just be.” There is no place, physically or mentally, that you have to go to. As your mind quiets down, you can just enjoy your day and appreciate the moment you are in.

Questions and considerations

1. Consider how much RUTs interfere with your enjoyment of life. Maybe they are minimal. Or have they been present for so long that they seem normal?
2. OCD is a diagnosis that has limited value. It does imply an intensity of bothersome thoughts that disrupts your ability to function in daily life. But at what tipping point would you call RUTs OCD?
3. Consider all aspects of healing. They are all important and happen simultaneously every day without an endpoint. As you increase your skills, they become habitual, requires little effort, you create “space” to reprogram your brain, and move forward away from these circuits.

The post The Popcorn Machine – Healing RUTS first appeared on Back in Control.

The post The Popcorn Machine – Healing RUTS appeared first on Back in Control.

• Mental and physical pain are processed in similar regions of the brain.
• Our inability to escape from RUT’s relentlessly drives flight or fight physiology, and people may become ill.
• There is a healing sequence to solve them – separation of identity, thought diversion, lowering anger, moving into creativity, and dissolving your ego.
• It is a dynamic process with all of these happening daily. Eventually, as it becomes automatic, and you are free to live your life.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is manifested by extreme anxiety that is driven by Repetitive Unpleasant Thoughts (RUT’s). Most people associate it disruptive compulsive behaviors such as hand washing, climbing up and down stairs, following a rigid daily regime, and the list is endless. However, there is also a form of OCD called, “internal OCD” where a person has an unpleasant thought and “counteracts” it with a pleasant thought. Either form has no endpoint and is considered a diagnosis to be managed and not solved. That is simply not true.

RUT’s are universal

Essentially every human being has some level of RUT’s. At what point do they become severe enough to be considered OCD? Why not discard the diagnosis and consider the process on a spectrum of human consciousness. The classic definition of OCD is when the thoughts/behaviors interfere with your capacity to carry out activities necessary to live a functional life.

What about enjoying your life? With internal OCD, there are no outward manifestations, but your quality of life might range from unremarkable to miserable. There also many “acceptable” behaviors such as working hard, overexercising, “passionate pursuit” of a hobby or vocation. All of these can be just fine, but what is driving them?

As I have talked to patients carefully over the 40 years, I gradually learned that mental pain is a much bigger problem than physical pain. I would ask patients that if could get rid of their physical pain with surgery and they would still have their ongoing anxiety versus resolving their anxiety and living with the pain, the majority of people wanted to get rid of the mental pain.

Related behaviors

There are also come cousins of OCD. Consider them in the context of behaviors to cope with the unpleasant sensations created by anxiety (threat physiology). They include:

• Hair pulling
• Nail biting
• Eating disorders
• Excessive attention to physical appearance
• Hoarder’s syndrome
• Skin picking
• Cutting
• Extreme convictions regarding religion, politics, or any social issue
  • Imposing these “ideals” on others is the next step because control lowers inflammation. The more power the more control.

Any addiction is an attempt to mask anxiety.

Avoiding anxiety (threat physiology) drives most human behavior

Avoiding anxiety is the driving force keeping all living creatures alive. It is the result of stresses and challenges, not the cause. Amongst the many stressors in our lives, the inability to escape from our thoughts is a major one, maybe the worst. Although we cannot control our thoughts, many activities create sense of control. Suppressing RUT’s just makes them-worse.

“Worrying” seems normal to many people. But is not particularly enjoyable. Why do we spend so much time worrying about so many things, many of which we have no control over? One reason is that it provides a feeling of control. Somehow, worrying enough will help solve the problem. What it does is that it keeps your brain and body fired up and you have less energy to effectively deal with challenges.

Or maybe you have an “anxiety disorder.” Everyone has anxiety, so why would we call it a disorder and why would you personalize these intentionally unpleasant sensations that evolved to keep you alive. It is what you have, not who you are.

What about those who don’t have any of these behaviors. Even many well-adjusted people living normal enjoyable lives can experience a level of RUT’s that interfere with their quality of life. Actually, when life is relatively calm, these repetitive thought patterns can significantly increase. Then as one pursues pleasurable activities to distract themselves, it doesn’t work and is actually highly inflammatory. The data shows that a hedonistic lifestyle creates aggressive inflammatory cells called “warrior monocytes.” In addition to attacking viruses and bacteria, they also go after your own tissues. The other factors that stimulate their formation is social isolation and CHRONIC stress.¹ Your body knows how to effectively deal with acute stress, but it needs a break to rest and regenerate.

Degrees of OCD

Obsessive thought patterns are inherent in human cognitive consciousness. There are degrees of intensity, and they vary day-to-day depending on the level of your stressors and the state of your nervous system – calm or hyperactive. Again, even if your life is relatively calm, they can also be problematic.

OCD, the extreme manifestation of this situation is considered a diagnosis to be managed and can’t be solved. However, medicine has not consistently addressed the body’s physiology. When you are in a flight-or-fight state, your brain also becomes inflamed and these thoughts will fly out like clay pigeons at a shooting range, except there are trillions of them. The medical profession has also not acknowledged the seriousness of the effects of less intense RUT’s on people’s sense of well-being and health. They still drive threat physiology. They are often referred to as a “monkey mind” or he/ she is just having a nervous breakdown. These thinking patterns are a problem and our inability to escape them is even more problematic.

Solution principles

There are four aspects of solving RUT’s and each of them will be discussed in detail in future posts. They all happen simultaneously and indefinitely. Eventually, as your brain evolves away from them, you no longer have to “work at dealing with them. They are:

• Diverting, not controlling, them – mindfulness, expressive writing, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
• “Turning down the heat” – when you are trapped by anything, your threat state fires up even more, and you are angry. Anxiety is activated and anger is hyper-activated threat physiology.
• Nurturing creativity and joy. This is where the real healing occurs as you move away from these spinning circuits.
• Dissolution of your ego – we work hard to attain enough self-esteem to feel better about ourselves. However, most of it is based on cognitive distortions that drive RUT’s even more. Without an ego to defend, these racing thoughts will abate – often dramatically.

This set of approaches evolved from my own 15-year ordeal with severe “internal OCD.” Not only do I not experience these vivid, almost visual thoughts, I don’t seem to have the random distracting thoughts I had before I became ill. There is also a vast amount of research looking at the mechanisms of why and how they occur, and now there is lot of neuroscience data supporting these ideas. The challenge is to present them in a manner so you can pursue your own healing journey. No one else can do it for you.

As your brain heals, your body heals. As your body heals, your brain will heal. The reality is that they are just part of one unit – you.

Recap

Our inability to escape our unpleasant thoughts is inflammatory. Since half of your brain has inflammatory receptors, it also fires up. The diagnosis of OCD is considered to be relatively uncommon, except many people suffer from RUT’s that interfere with the quality of their life. Obsessive thought patterns are considered to be unsolvable and just managed. However, medicine is not generally addressing the physiology. There are four aspects of dealing with OCD that will lower the intensity of these thoughts:thought diversion, lowering anger, moving into the creative part of your brain, and allowing your ego to dissolve. They are solvable.

 Questions and considerations

1. What percentage of your waking hours are you occupied with racing thoughts?
2. Do you find yourself avoiding thinking about certain things? Do you notice how often they keep popping up?
3. Are you aware how common they are and how many people are bothered by them?
4. The medical world doesn’t consider OCD a problem that can be solved and the lesser issue of RUT’s is not often addressed. By using all of the approaches presented, they are not only solvable, but you can move into a wonderful life
5. RUT’s are a function of the mechanics of the mind. Talk therapy alone is ineffective and it can be likened to having a conversation with the engine of your car.
6. It is important to understand that these “stories” and thoughts become embedded in our brains as concretely as any physical object. The problem is that since this is your frame of reference, how can you really see the problem? They become normalized.

 References

1. Cole SW, et al. Social regulation of gene expression in human leukocytes. Genome Biology (2007); 8:R189. doi:10.1186/gb-2007-8-9-r189

The post Four Aspects of Solving RUT’s first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Four Aspects of Solving RUT’s appeared first on Back in Control.