Self-esteem

Every human is judgmental. It is an inherent aspect of survival.  However, it is not a trait that engenders close enjoyable relationships or peace of mind. It is made worse by our cultural programming that having self-esteem is essential for happiness. Nothing could be further from the truth. To attain and maintain high self-esteem requires endless comparison to those around you and also to norms that society, your family, friends, and you have set for yourself. You will eventually wear down and crash. There is not an endpoint to this process.

The pursuit of self-esteem can’t and doesn’t work. At some level, we all know this. Whenever your peace of mind and/ or identity is at the mercy of external circumstances, including other’s opinions, you’re at the mercy of them. Also, it gives others power to shut you down, which is one of their efforts to improve their self-esteem. You are riding on a universal merry-go-round that will never let you get off. The eye of the storm

Envy

As these attempts at “improving self-esteem” eventually and miserably fail, the next level of emotion is envy. It isn’t pretty and interferes with almost every aspect of life from work to your personal life. Although you may be on the same pursuit of happiness like the rest of us, it can’t happen if you are perpetually envious. Happiness and envy are not compatible emotions. What is even more ironic is that when you are judging someone else, you are just projecting your view of yourself onto someone else and broadcasting your insecurities to the world.

I have an exercise you may want to consider. Think of someone that you dislike. He or she usually isn’t too difficult to identify. Then in one column, write down as many things about them that you dislike. The to the right of each pronouncement, write down what you dislike about you in a similar area. You may not like his or her work ethic. Maybe you think they are lazy?  Do you procrastinate? Or are you in a reactive pattern where you are a workaholic? “He’s fat!” Are you happy with your weight? Maybe people think you are too thin. You don’t like her political views. Who is to say yours are more correct.

What is fascinating and disturbing is that many people are often unhappy about other’s success, even if they are a close friend.

Schadenfreude

There are two basic types of envy. One is being unhappy with another’s success, whether it is a friend or competitor. The other is silently rejoicing when someone you are envious of suffers a loss. The term for this second scenario is “schadenfreude”. Both elicit feelings of guilt because we know we shouldn’t feel this way. But when you try not to feel a certain way, it becomes worse. It’s even more problematic if you feel the person you have envied didn’t originally deserve his or her success.

In light of the current neuroscience research, we now understand the impact of sustained frustration on your body’s chemistry and the resulting physical symptoms. This unknown writer succinctly points out that good health is the essence of living a good life. Yet, when we spend our energies comparing ourselves to others, we are frequently frustrated. This chronic anger with the attendant elevated levels of stress hormones wreaks havoc with every organ in your body and you’ll eventually get sick.

Envy and pain

I’ve had as much of a challenge with self-esteem and envy as anyone. I came from a tough household and it seemed if everyone had a life that I wanted. I was envious of friends, accomplishments, adventures, families, and the list went on. What is now obvious in retrospect was that my mother was insanely envious and our family’s situation was never good enough. She would become unhappy to the point that our whole family would move to another town to start over. The cycle would begin again and she would complain about any and everything. By the time I was 18 years old, we had lived in 11 different houses. After I refused to move from my high school area in Napa Valley, they kept on moving. It’s clear where I learned this pattern of behavior.

When I ended up in chronic pain, it all become much more intense. It seemed everyone had something I wanted. The first thing I was envious of was not being in pain. Then it seemed that everyone had a better family life than I did. I become more and more socially isolated and I withdrew even more. Although, I wanted to re-engage with friends, my fear of rejection became almost a phobia. Holidays were particularly unpleasant. It seemed like every person in the world was having a better time than I was. Of all the terrible experiences I endured, the loneliness was crushing. It is one of the reasons I have described the world of chronic pain as, “The Abyss”.

Self-destruction

Additionally, anger is destructive, including self-destructive. One of the ways this plays out is disregarding your own health. All of us have a choice of how we choose to treat our bodies. Chronic frustration is possibly the main reason why you wouldn’t choose to feel physically great. It’s hard to really enjoy life if you don’t feel vigorous and energized. Ongoing self-neglect is a form of slow suicide. You’re angry and take it out on yourself. We all have some degree of self-destructive behavior and many of us have a lot. So, the emotions that you might be feeling from another’s success are sucking you dry. You now have less of a chance of “being successful” whatever that might mean. Jealousy and frustration aren’t solving much.

Moving forward

I have undergone many phases of healing. However, I have never forgotten the intensity of the loneliness and envy. It was the accidental discovery of the expressive writing exercises that halted the downward descent and it is still the one necessary starting point of the healing process.

One exercise I frequently discuss with my patients is similar to the one I presented above. I ask them in the room to visualize someone they dislike. They have read enough of the DOC process to quickly understand where I am going. I point out that they know the being judgmental is problematic and then I ask them what happens when they try to not be judgmental. Of course, you will become more judgmental. So, whether you are judgmental or not judgmental, your nervous system remains fired up. What can you do? Write down your specific thoughts and immediately destroy them. This allows you simply to separate from your thoughts, not to solve or change them. You may not become friends with this person or even like them. But in that “space” you’ve created, possibilities arise. Once you can see your judgements as a projection of you, you may be able see this person in a different light. At a minimum, it certainly makes life more interesting.

The Way to Love

So, the solution doesn’t lie in “not being envious.” Another key to dealing with it is to become more aware of it and the impact on your quality of life. I have now incorporated Anthony DeMello’s book, The Way to Love, into the DOC process. He defines love as awareness.  I frequently re-read a few pages. He’s clear on the consequences of being attached to your external circumstances for your peace of mind. Becoming aware is a critical step and a significant part of the solution.

Although, it’s a daily, minute to minute exercise in awareness, not being caught in the quicksand of envy has been a remarkably freeing experience. Try it. At least become aware of your resistance to living a different life.

1. I was going through some old files and happened to find this paragraph that I had clipped out over 30 years ago when I began my spine practice. It initially had a big influence on me and I would read it intermittently to remind myself to keep both feet on the ground regardless of major successes or failures. Life began to cave in on me and I lost touch with these concepts amongst many other losses. I don’t know the source but the wisdom of it struck a deep chord with me. A reader just let me know the writer was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
2. Schadenfreude: Understanding Pleasure at the Misfortune of Others. Wilco W. van Dijk, Jaap W. Ouwerkerk; Cambridge University Press, Jul 24, 2014.

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At some tipping point, this becomes the new trajectory of your life. Life’s challenges continue to come at all of us. As life becomes easier to navigate, your body is exposed to less threat (stress) physiology and more to safety. Safety is where fuel moves into cells, and your body regenerates and heals.

The metaphor for this navigated course is the ski slope. No matter what your skill level, you must get down the hill. If the ski run is above your skill level, you may not be only stressed, it can be terrifying. The goal is become an expert at life skills and learn to feel safe a higher percent of the time. Here are the prerequisites.

• Have a working knowledge of The DOC Journey course.
• Understand the natural resistance to change.
• Review the “circle of life” with the “ring of fire.”
• Begin to connect to your vision of what is possible.
• Your healing emanates from feeling safe and creative.
• Constructing your new home (life) is the final focus of the journey. Enjoy!!

Overview

First of all, congratulations for reaching this level. The key to healing is persistence and you have already shown a willingness to fully engage in learning to create and live the life you want. Before you began this journey, that may not have seemed possible. But to be clear, your journey is not about completing a course or believing in David Hanscom. It is about connecting your own capacity to heal. Healing of any part of the body is nothing short of miraculous, but so is the gift of life.

Many people arrive at this point of their journey and they feel better. So, being back to their baseline, they quit. “I am good enough,” and they move on with their life. I think that it is tragic to stop now. Your creative brain is coming alive and the potential for future learning and growth is unlimited. Why would you want to stop?

There are actually a few reasons why this happens so often.

• Humans are programmed by every second of their lives. Our brains unconsciously memorize everything. Familiar patterns are not noticed since not only are they embedded in our brains, but they are our version of reality. Any new or unusual data catches our attention and stimulates some level of threat physiology. We feel anxious and instinctively resist change. So, maybe you are back to a comfortable baseline state. Why would you wish to continue?
• There is a lot of anxiety with success, if you are used to simply trying to survive. When is the shoe going to drop? A classic example is golf. It is remarkably predictable that when you have shot well for three or four holes that your anxiety levels rise. Of course your muscle tension increases, and suddenly it seems like you don’t which end of the club to hold. The same scenario holds true in any performance arena at home, work, or even relaxing.
• Examples are present in every kind of performance. Maybe you have been promoted and have a higher profile in your sphere of influence. More eyes are on you, and many people might jealous of your success. They may look for any opportunity to cut you down. There is a term for this phenomenon called “Tall Poppy Syndrome.” It is easier to just blend in with the crowd.
• Understand that the shoe will always drop. That is life. If your goal is to be in an endless state of bliss, you’ll fail. Life presents an endless number of daily challenges and at some level of stress, your body will respond with threat physiology. Maybe it will last for an hour or even days. It is what your body is supposed to do – protect you. But you now have choices regarding how long you wish to remain there.
• A different problem arises in that now you have tasted what it is like to be in the green center, and you don’t want to leave. Additionally, when you are triggered and in the red, the contrast is sharp and you may get more frustrated about what is possible compared what you are experiencing in the moment. I call this, “the curse of awareness.” What you want to do is nuture emotional flexibilty, be present with whatever state you are in, and move in the direction of your choice.
• I experienced a common scenario in that I had no idea that there were other possibilities about the way I negotiated my life. All I ever knew was anger and chaos. Although, I attended workshops, read self-help books, and underwent extensive counseling. I did not connect with how angry I was until I was 50 years old. It was an incredibly unpleasant experience and I did not have the tools to deal with it. Healing happens with connection – to yourself and then to those around you. Not wanting to experience unpleasant emotions may be a major reason why people don’t engage in this process or pull up short of really moving forward. One of my friends has often quoted the phrase, “you have to feel to heal.”

The ”circle of life” containing the “ring of fire” is the signature tool of this journey. A version of it was created by Dr. Paul Gilbert, who was the founder of compassion-based therapy. Compassion (love) as defined by Anthony DeMello in his book, The Way to Love, is awareness. Anxiety blocks awareness. But as you nurture awareness, you’ll actually feel more anxiety, and it requires tools to tolerate it. This is a bidirectional interaction. So, this final level is focused on not only learning to nurture joy, but also to better tolerate anxiety.

The metaphor is building and decorating a new house. Each room represents an aspect of your life that must be addressed. Use it daily as a quick mental checklist as you go from room to room in your own home. The “lot” is the green center of the circle of life. With repetition, you’ll create the life you want. “To have a good life, you must live a good life.”

Books to read

Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness

Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can’t control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus was born on the eastern edges of the Roman Empire in A.D. 55, but The Art of Living is still perfectly suited for any contemporary self-help or recovery program.

The healing journey progresses from “reaCtive to Creative”. You must first see where you are at before you can change direction. You can’t heal by focusing on problems. Healing occurs with creativity and moving away from unpleasant neurological circuits. The wisdom of the Stoics is remarkable in that it is as, or more, relevant as it was 2000 years ago. Regaining a healthy life perspective is the definitive solution to decreasing your suffering.

On the slopes

A world class skier can ski anything humanly possible if the conditions are reasonable. I used to think I was a double black diamond skier until I was exposed to US Ski Team skiers who were far above a level than I ever imagined. They not only possess a high level of skill, but they are supremely confident as a result of putting in thousands of hours of practice.

Many years ago a group of us where on the back side of mountain at Alta Utah. It was a gorgeus day with a lot of new soft powder. We were all “expert” skiers. We were standing in a narrow line waiting to head down the hill and my son, who is a US Ski team level mogul skier was on another transverse about 30 feet above us. We wondered what he wanted us to do. What he wanted was fresh untracked powder and he took off and jumped over all of us. It must have been a 40-foot drop and he landed about 50 feet down the hill. There was no hesitation. He kept going until the bottom skiing at a high speed. I realized that his was a reality I was not familiar with.

But consider any performance from art, music, dance, athletics, mechanics, business, and work. Every endeavor can be manifested at the highest level. You might be thinking, “I could never accomplish this level of expertise, and in a given field, you probably won’t. Or maybe you already have. However, life skills are accessible to everyone and anyone who wants to commit the living an excellent life. All that is required is a willingness to continue to learn and practice. The DOC Journey presents a foundational set of concepts and tools and there are endless additonal ways to enhance your journey.

The only “goal” of this course is to allow you to connect to the moment you are in and with awareness can be in any color of the “circle of life” on your terms. You have the choice to remain there or move in any direction.

Why not attain the highest level of expertise in living your life? The focus is on attaining skills and not reaching for perfect, where you beat yourself up for “failing.” It is about just learning to execute what you know regardless of the circumstances. Outcomes are usually beyond our control, but you can up the odds of success.

This level is a jumping off point for living the rest of your life. Let yourself think big and enjoy your day.

The post Be an Expert at Living life first appeared on Back in Control.

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UK Study

A large prospective study done in the UK prospectively compared mindfulness-based teaching to over 8000 students and compared it to usual practices. The mean age was 12 years. They demonstrated that there was no significant benefit and actually caused many students with prior mental health issues to have more problems. They recommended that non-specific mindfulness interventions not be implemented in the school system.²

Mental Rigidity

A 2023 paper extensively summarized the literature on the mental rigidity. They pointed out that the role of rigidity in mental health is well-known and is characterized by automaticity,  inflexibility, and centered around concepts of self. Patterns of thinking that may have been useful in the past remain fixed and often not relevant to the current situation. Rigidity can wreak havoc on relationships, quality of life, and ability to adapt to life’s challenges.¹

These changes have been documented clinically and now on fMRI’s (functional MRI) scans, which measure brain activity. Self is defined by dynamic interactions between various regions of the brain, and lack of mental flexibility shows up as disruptions between these areas. Re-establishing flexibility seems to be important in the treatment of many health disorders. The ones discussed were major depression, complex psychological trauma, and substance use/ addiction disorders. Mindfulness practices (MBI’s) have been shown to break up mental rigidity both clinically and on imaging studies.¹

It must be combined with feeling safe

What is being missed with this recommendation regarding mindfulness in schools is why it’s ineffective and can exacerbate mental symptoms. Part of the answer is looking at why rigidity exists in the first place?

One reason is that humans don’t/can’t tolerate mental/emotional pain. Rigidity is one way of limiting your exposure. As you break up the rigidity with mindfulness, what happens? You’ll feel even more emotional pain, which is often intolerable.³ It isn’t surprising that mindfulness increases symptoms in students with prior mental health diagnoses. You must also learn to feel safe in order to move forward. You would never cross a street unless you first felt it was safe to do so.

By using and testing mindfulness alone as an approach to be implemented in the school system, can’t and won’t work without also teaching students how to also calm their threat physiology (flight or fight body chemistry) in order to feel safe. Breaking up rigidity alone, opens up the dam of suppressed thoughts and emotions, and you would expect those who are already struggling to have worsening symptoms. For those without mental health issues, mindfulness alone won’t help them one way or the other without further strategies to improve their quality of life.

Define where MBI’s fit

Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) are effective in increasing the dynamic interactions and connectivity between regions of the brain that define self. The term is the “Pattern Theory of Self, and mental flexibility is increased.³

Chronic disease is complex and isolated interventions are usually ineffective. However, they should not be discarded because they can fit into a larger treatment plan. MBI’s may be an excellent entry point for many people suffering from major depression, complex trauma, and addictions/ substance abuse. However, opening up the flood gates without showing them a place to feel safe is problematic. MBI’s favorably alter brain activity that characterize these problems. Instead of discarding them, the question is, “what are additional effective treatments?”

Learning to tolerate mental pain is at the core of addressing mental health, and requires learning specific skills. Become a “professional” at living your life.

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. Montero-Marin J, et al. School-based mindfulness training in early adolescence: what works, for whom, and how in the MYRIAD trial? Evidence Based Mental Health (2022); 25:117-124.doi:10.1136/ebmental-2022-300439
3. Frisch S, et al. Forgotten negative emotional memories increase pain unpleasantness. Submitted for publication, 2023.

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The post Mindfulness Should not be Taught in School – Really?? appeared first on Back in Control.

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.

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• AI and the human brain both are blank slates whose functionality depends on what is loaded into them.
• Your capacity to navigate life depends on the quality of data and the “algorithm” loaded into your brain.
• Poor data or inept processing skills creates ongoing and progressive dysfunctional thoughts and behaviours.
• Your “trauma story” is not a “story”. It is a dynamic state, and you have a choice in directing it.

There is a striking similarity to computer-based learning called artificial intelligence (AI) and the human brain. AI has the capacity to process sensory input, analyze it, and arrive at conclusions as well as make decisions. There is also a marked difference in that AI cannot react to the internal sensations from the body’s physiology (body’s chemistry and function) because there are no neurochemical support systems for AI. Every living creature reacts to its environment through collecting sensory input, analyzing it by the millisecond, and the signals are sent out to regulate the physiology to that of “threat” or “safety.” These internal sensations are called “interoception,” and interpreting these signals is the basis for the evolution of human consciousness.¹

Co-regulate??

Thoughts are a major form of sensory input and emotions are what you feel; they reflect your physiological state (how the body functions). Much of human physiology is regulated through the vagus nerve, which is close proximity with your facial muscles. Through a complex set of interactions, we are able to “co-regulate” with others with the first step being that of determining if the other person is “safe” or not.

AI can only react to electronic signals and can process them without any sense of threat or safety. Even if facial recognition could determine safe or dangerous, there would just be an electronic response that mimicked this state, but there is no chemistry to feel.

AI vs. your brain

The cognitive capacity of AI to accurately analyze vast amounts of data, and arrive at new insights, far outstrips the human brain. It can create art that elicits emotions (physiology) in humans, but another AI machine will be unable to “feel” anything. It also cannot co-regulate with another machine or human, although it may appear that way on the surface. For example, when patients were evaluated by an AI machine compared to physician, the AI machine was much more effective in allowing a patient to feel heard and safe.²  Of course, if a clinician is stressed and feeling rushed, the co-regulation will be in the wrong direction.

But here is the real problem with the human condition that is being highlighted by AI. It is clear that the effectiveness of AI depends on two core factors. The first being the quality of the data being inputted and second that the “rules” of processing the data or the algorithm.

Jinho/AdobeStock

For example, if you simply download the rules of chess into AI without any strategies of how to use it, nothing of significance will happen. For AI to develop a mastery of chess, the data and the approaches need to be “taught” by a chess master. Then it can analyze the approaches, mistakes, good moves, and eventually become a better player than the master.

What if you inputted the wrong rules or if you trained it with someone like me who really only knows the rules and can only see one or two moves ahead. There is little or no chance of the computer gaining enough experience to compete at a high level, much less become a grand master. The computer can improve on good and also enhance incompetence. In the business world, inputting bad data into AI costs industry a lot of money. AI is developing tools and approached to understand when bad data is being gathered and the results are not going in the right direction. Could it salvage my chess game someday? Maybe.

The human database

Let’s get back to the human brain. I often refer to David Eagleman’s book, Livewired, where he clearly describes the incredible neuroplasticity of the human brain.³ It will adapt to almost any input to optimize your chance of survival. But what he describes so well is how dependent we are on our parents for physical survival compared to most mammals. Even more clear is that ALL of our consciousness is constantly programmed every second from birth by sensory input from inside and outside of us. We are who everyone thinks we should be and eventually those “voices” become our own. There are an infinite number of data points and most of it is around molding our “identity”, behaviors, accomplishments, and surviving. Additionally, most of us are not taught effective coping skills and even fewer are taught to nurture joy.

Consider the extreme form of poor input and coping skills of being raised in an abusive environment. All a child needs from his family is to feel safe, be safe, educated, taught relationship skills, and feel nurtured. That’s it. That is not what many of us get. So, the download in our brains from the beginning is “flawed data,” we are not taught to process it, we are too busy surviving to feel safe, and we don’t have the skills to nurture creativity. So, our processing system is full of bad data, analyzed by the wrong set of rules, and our life trajectory may spiral out of control.

OlegD/AdobeStock

The real trauma story

Trauma is stored in your body, but maybe in a different way than you might think. There is a trend to develop a “trauma” story. The real trauma story is reflection of the trend of your entire challenging life. Your “personal AI” will continue to add dimensions and depth to it. You may be rapidly evolving in the wrong direction depending on what “data” has been loaded into it. This is especially true if your “processing system” is also flawed. It is ongoing until you become aware of the nature of the data that is contained in your brain up to this second and you learn more effective methods to process it.

There is good news in that by changing the nature of your input and the way you process it, you can program in any reality you wish. What doesn’t work is trying to rearrange the old data and “fix” the flawed operating system. The first step is becoming aware of the nature (not the details) of the data that has been downloaded into your brain. Equally important is understanding the ways of processing your input to break into these swirling circuits and get your brain moving in the right direction.

To have a good life, you must live a good life. It requires skills and practice.

References

1. Damasio, Antonio. Feeling and Knowing: Making Minds Conscious. Vintage Press, 2022.
2. Ayers JW. 2023. Comparing Physician and Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Responses to Patient Questions Posted to a Public Social Media Forum. JAMA Internal Medicine.https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2804309
3. Eagleman, David. Livewired. Canongate Books, 2021.

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• We are trained that if we can solve enough of our problems, we’ll have an “enjoyable life.”
• Life’s challenges never stop, and we may slowly sink into darkness, “The Abyss.”
• We become desperate trying to escape; especially from our RUT’s (Repetitive Unpleasant Thoughts)
• The most effective way to dispel darkness is turning on light.

We are born as blank impressionable slates full of openness, curiosity, playfulness, and eagerness to learn. There are innumerable sources of learning, and we trust those who we perceive as having wisdom to teach us way to live an enjoyable and productive life.  Words and concepts are important but imitating actions are more powerful ways of learning. The possibilities are limitless.

But what often happens? In a protected and nurturing environment, the light may remain bright for many years and sometimes indefinitely. But for many of us, the light becomes progressively dimmer and at some point, we tip into the Abyss of chronic mental and physical pain. The light is extinguished, and it is a dark place without the slightest hope of escape. This is not what any of us planned when our spirits were shining.

A famous quote

It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old. 

They grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.

                         Gabriel Garcia Marquez¹

I modified this famous quote based on my personal experiences and observations of anxiety:

It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old. 

They grow old because their dreams are crushed by anxiety.

                         Gabriel Garcia Marquez

                          (Modified by Dr. David Hanscom)

Darkness

How quickly does darkness descend when you never felt safe and nurtured? Maybe you never felt the light that exists within you. Even if you had a great start, what about the onslaught of life?

• Unmeetable expectations
• Bullying – peers, coworkers, siblings
• FOMO
• Social media
• Poor diet/ no exercise
• Never-ending to-do list
• Lack of resources – housing, food, education, finances
• Job issues
• Difficult parenting
• Unrelenting Repetitive Unpleasant Thoughts (RUT’s)

The darkness settles in to the point where we can’t see a way out and eventually, we might forget what the light even felt or looked like. Additionally, there is the relentless wind, that also wears you down. Life keeps coming at us, especially the RUT’s.

So, what do most of us do? We are used to problem solving and we either keep working at fixing our lives (getting rid of the darkness) or many of us give up. Nothing seems to be working. Where do we go next and how can we get out of a place that seems to have no definition or limits? It really is an Abyss.

You cannot “fix” darkness”. It is simply absence of light. You also can’t control most of your thoughts (RUT’s) and stresses (the wind).

Darkness disappears with light. A small match is lit, and you must protect the flame from the wind. You may have to keep lighting it many times. Eventually, you are able to protect the flame and allow it to grow. Even when the light is dim, it still penetrates the darkness. As you continue to add fuel, the flame becomes a fire, then a large bonfire that can hardly be contained. The wind will eventually fan the flames and make them stronger.

“The fog rolled in.”

Many years ago, I was discussing chronic pain with a patient who was also a physical therapist. She related that she had an idyllic upbring with her parents and two siblings enjoying each other. Family outings including scenic drives, trips to Coney Island, music, and playing board games. There was a lot of fun and laughter. Then when she was 12, her father lost his job and her life permanently changed. The fun was replaced with verbal abuse, drinking, rages, and hardly even coming home. She described it as “the fog came in,” and life became dark. It never changed. I only saw her a couple of times recall how sad she was. I did not know much about chronic pain at that time and was perplexed how life could change so quickly. I did not understand the physiological nature of anger and that the thinking brain does not work is well. I don’t know what eventually happened to her.

Healing happens by moving forward towards your vision

It isn’t logical for us to spend so much time and energy fixing the dark and not paying attention to the light. But it is the only way that healing occurs. You are the only one who can light the match over and over again, protect the flame, and create a fire that can’t be put out. Knowing the tools to process darkness are necessary and are a separate skill set from connecting and nurturing your light. That is why there is a sequence of healing: 1) connection, 2) confidence, and 3) creativity.

Recap

Why do we feel that focusing and fixing our troubles is going to give us the life that we want? Not only can you escape from The Abyss with light, what about walking outside and soaking in the warmth of the sun?

Your dreams and play are always within you. Connect with and nurture them and allow your body to heal.

Questions and considerations

1. Our biological imperatives are to first survive and then pass our DNA to the next generation. Our unconscious brain evolved to look for trouble and resolve it in order to physically survive.
2. Humans are more complex in that we possess language and must deal with emotional pain, which is processed in a similar manner as physical pain.
3. Instinctively, we are programmed towards problem solving.
4. Although we also develop through play, it often gets buried in the ongoing chaos of life. We also have the human problem of our inability to escape from our unpleasant thoughts.
5. How much of your life is consumed w ith fixing problems versus nurturing joy? Have you created any “space” for joy?
6. If you wish to live a different life, you must create some “space” to nurture creativity and joy. Light will dispel darkness whereas all the fixing in the world will not pull you out of it.

 References

1. Gabriel García Márquez. Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude. 1967. Editorial Sudamericanos, S.A., Buenos Aires.

The post  Quit Fighting Darkness and Turn on the Light first appeared on Back in Control.

The post  Quit Fighting Darkness and Turn on the Light 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

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The title of this song¹ is a common way many of us deal with adversity. However, it encompasses both halves of the “ironic effect” and the actual well-documented outcome of this approach to life is more worry and sadness.

What is “the ironic effect” and how does it work?

There two aspects of it.

First, it is well known that if you suppress unpleasant thoughts, not only will they become stronger, but there is also a trampoline effect where they become much stronger.² We often joke about it, but it is serious problem that disrupts your quality of life, drives fight or flight physiology, and causes many symptoms, illnesses, and diseases. “Don’t worry” is thought suppression.

Secondly, and less known, is that setting high ideals and standards for yourself  will take you down in the other direction. For example, if you strive for happiness, you will experience sadness. If you allow sadness, you will be happier.³ So, the higher your ideals and intentions, the higher your chances of being riddled by anxiety.

Why does this phenomenon occur? The answer lies in the massive impact of the unconscious survival brain compared to the limited power of the conscious brain. Your unconscious brain processes about 40 million bits of information per second compared to your conscious brain dealing with about 40 per second. It is a million times stronger. Let’s look at the problem of “being happy.”

The pursuit of happiness

“Happy” is a conscious construct. The problem is that your conscious brain is no match for your survival reactions that evolved to be so unpleasant as to compel us to take actions to survive. The data shows that by trying to outrun or compensate for your stresses by pursuing pleasure, you’ll cause a highly inflammatory reaction. Your DNA dictates the production of destructive inflammatory cells call, “warrior monocytes” that attack your own tissues in addition to bacteria, viruses, and other foreign invaders.⁴ The sensation generated by this inflammatory response is anxiety.

Another aspect of this ironic effect is that by pursuing happiness, you’ll worry about the ways you might not achieve it. You have set a largely unconscious standard of what happy is for you. As you monitor your happiness, you are in ongoing self-judgmental mode that wears you down.

Happy is also a label, which is a core cognitive distortion.⁵ What is it and how encompassing is it? What percent of the time do you have to be in a happy state to label yourself as “happy?” What activities and accomplishments are required to reach your criteria? How do you react when daily challenges interrupt this state of mind?

Philosophers and psychologists have viewed attachment as the root of suffering. Anthony DeMello has a concise definition of it.⁶ If something feels good you want more and if it is unpleasant, you want less. Being attached to “happy” will paradoxically increase your suffering. The most well-intentioned people are the most subject to the ironic effect in that the higher their ideals, the greater the chance they’ll be riddled with racing thoughts and anxiety.

“Don’t worry?”

We all know the problems that occur when you try not think about something. One classic paper was published in 1987,² The Paradoxical Effects of Thought Suppression.” Again, more well-intentioned people will suppress a higher percent of “unacceptable” thoughts and also give meaning to them. They are just thoughts but will become more powerful as they keep being interpreted as good or bad.

Repetitive Unpleasant Thoughts  (RUT’s) are universal. When you have a bizarre, even unspeakable thought, of course you would suppress it. Why wouldn’t you?  It has nothing to do with anything about you or your value system. As it arises again and again, it is instantly suppressed.  Eventually suppression becomes automatic, which is called repression. Seems pretty normal, right? Except what happens is that your nervous system inadvertently gave this random thought a tremendous amount of power. Every time that thought is suppressed/ repressed, that neurological circuit has been reinforced. These circuits become stronger and connected with more experiences.⁷ Eventually, you may end up spending a lot of mental energy dealing with these anxiety-producing, disruptive thought(s). As you feel trapped and frustrated, these circuits are driven even harder from your brain being inflamed.

These disruptive thoughts become your “demons.” They are not your demons. They are the opposite of who you are and who you are not. My term for these irrational, non-responsive neurological patterns are “robots”. You cannot deal with a robot. You cannot talk to it or reason with it. There is absolutely nothing that can be done from a rational standpoint to change an unresponsive neurological circuit. In fact, when you discuss your demons and try to figure out why they are there, you are firing up and adding even morecomplexity to the circuits. They become even stronger and you can’t unlearn them. How do you “unlearn” to ride a bike? You can’t. They really are RUT’s.

Allow worry?

No one wants to talk about the existence of RUT’s because they are so disruptive, and often feel shameful. The initial step is to understand the nature of the problem and realize that these thoughts are emanating from your unconscious brain. You must separate your identity from them. They are just thoughts, are also universal, and you don’t have to personally identify with them.

The unpleasant emotions connected with them are your body’s physiology responding to the perceived threats. Remember, they are actually the opposite of who you are as a well-meaning person.

Fortunately, there are solutions that have been known for centuries, but don’t seem to be readily apparent in our modern world. The principles revolve around allowing yourself to be with your painful emotions, use strategies to calm down your threat physiology, and then choose joy. With repetition you’ll reprogram your survival reactions into more pleasant alternatives. As emotional pain is processed in similar regions of the brain as physical pain, it hurts.⁸ Professional support and direction are often needed.

Joy

Choosing joy is different than positive thinking, which is another form of thought suppression. It entails having a positive outlook, “taking the hits,” and consistently making positive choices. But you can’t make the positive choices without knowing where you are at in the moment. “What you can feel, you can heal.”⁹ As you learn to be with your mental pain instead of fighting it, these unpleasant circuits will become less active. It is similar to any skill that fades without practice.

Be with worry and choose happy. Learning skills to accomplish this allows you rise above your “RUT’s” and live a more enjoyable life.

References:

1. McFerrin, Bobby. Released 1988; Number 1 single from album Simple Pleasures.

1. Wegener, D.M., et al. “Paradoxical effects of thought suppression.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1987); 53: 5-13.
2. Wegner D. The Seed of Our Undoing. Psychological Science Agenda, January/February, 1999, 10-11.
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. Burns, David. Feeling Good. Avon Books, Harper Collins, New York, NY, 1999.

6. DeMello, Anthony, The Way to Love. Double Day, New York, NY, 1992.
7. Mansour AR, et al. Chronic pain: The role of learning and brain plasticity. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience (2014); 32:129-139. DOI 10.3233/RNN-139003
8. Eisenberger NI, et al An experimental study of shared sensitivity to physical pain and social rejection. Pain (2006); 126:132-138.
9. John Gray, author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Harper Collins, New York, NY, 1992.

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A representative definition of “Authentic Self”

This is a piece from “A to Zen” from the Internet that represents a common line of thinking about the term, “authentic self.”¹ The problem is that in the human experience, our powerful behavioral patterns win out and these enviable traits are buried. Then it becomes even more frustrating when we can’t live up to our “standards.” The cycle continues in that we may actually engage in destructive behaviors even though we know better.

In general, when talking about someone who is authentic, we mean that they are genuine, honest, and real.

An authentic person is someone who is comfortable in their skin and doesn’t feel the need to put on a front to fit in and be accepted by others. They know who they are, and they don’t hide it.

They understand their purpose and follow their life’s passion. They don’t chase after money, status, and possessions and are not immorally competitive, for they are not fearful of anyone.

However, this doesn’t mean they don’t live a wealthy life and enjoy nice things, but they define and strive for success to their own standard. 

7 SIGNS YOU ARE AN AUTHENTIC PERSON

1. YOU ARE ACCEPTING OF YOURSELF AND OTHERS

2. YOU HAVE A HEALTHY EGO

3. YOU HAVE A REALISTIC PERCEPTION OF REALITY

4. YOU ACCEPT MISTAKES (AND LEARN FROM THEM)

5. YOU ARE EMOTIONALLY MATURE 

6. YOU ARE CONSIDERATE TOWARDS OTHERS

7. YOU DON’T FEEL THREATENED BY OTHERS

What if you don’t have these traits? The problem is that few of us consistently exhibit many of these admirable qualities. Where would you have learned them if you were raised in a chaotic environment? Even if we possess some of them, how often do they get sabotaged, and how many of us have all of them. If the authentic self becomes an “internal standard” of being, then our self-critical voices will chime in to remind us how often we don’t (can’t) live up to these ideals, we are less accepting of ourselves, more frustrated, inflamed, and will experience more mental and physical pain.

Your ”authentic self”

Your authentic self is right here in front of you. It is the summation of your life programming from your parents, siblings, peers, teachers, employers, societal norms, and the marketing world. In other words, you are the product of who everyone else has told you to be. These messages are internalized and become your own inner voice telling you how you should be. The outcome is a lot of noise in your brain of self-judgement and that of others. We call it “self-esteem.” It is a mismatch of your powerful unconscious brain versus your conscious one. It is endless and wears you down.

David Eagleman in his brilliant book, Livewired, points out that humans are uniquely dependent on their parents for physical survival compared to most mammals. A baby is completely helpless and cannot survive on its own for many years.²

The emotional brain is even more complex in that we have language with an infinite number of possibilities. We are programmed by every moment of our lives, which means none of us are the same. Humans give meaning to everything, and no two people can look at a physical object in the same way. Thoughts and concepts are much more complex, and we are downloaded first with concrete concepts, then abstract ideas, and we don’t develop deep philosophical thinking for many years.

We are completely at the mercy of our environment as to what is inputted into our brains. What becomes more problematic is that thoughts and ideals are perceived as real to a given person as a car or table.³ They become our version of reality or life filter. Once this life lens is set, it becomes reinforced over a lifetime – unless you choose to become aware of it and change it.

Who are you?

So, we are who the world has told us we should be. We have programmed behavioral patterns that are the foundation of our existence. Most of them result from the basic need to survive. Few of us are taught how to nurture joy. Who are we?

You are who you are today. You can see yourself by becoming aware of what you react to, what makes you anxious and angry, what are your behaviors and attitudes towards yourself and others, how much personal responsibility you take for your actions, and what level of compassion and empathy you FEEL for others.

For example, most of us know that compassion is a good idea. But what happens when you are upset. You may say or do things that you are not proud of, and compassion goes right out the window. It is because compassion is a conscious construct and anger automatically arises from your unconscious brain. It is a million to one mismatch. It is that reaction in the moment is who you are because something in the present connected you to something threatening (or perceived as such) in the past. You are there and not here. It is also who you are.

“Love Your Enemies”

Anthony DeMello in his book, The Way to Love, has a chapter called, “Love Your Enemies.” He points out that if someone angers you, you should thank them. The problem is not them, but in you. Their words or actions triggered a response in you that allows you to have more awareness of what is inside of you.⁴ It is challenging in that it still feels like the other person causing the problem, but it is you that is being triggered. The exception, of course, is physical or emotional abuse. Anger is a necessary protective reaction.

Your real “Authentic Self”

This all sounds a bit hopeless but there is a lot of hope once you realize the depth of your programming and how it is playing out today. The key word is, “awareness.” Once you are aware of how your past is continually playing out in the present, you can direct where you want your brain to develop going forward. It continues to change every second and the term is called, “neuroplasticity.” The sequence is 1) awareness 2) separation 3) reprogramming. Without awareness, you’ll continue to be mired in the past.

As you learn to take full responsibility for every one of your actions without judgement, you can create any reality you want by consistently making better choices, and the above-mentioned traits can be nurtured daily.

This new evolving person is still your authentic self. You just don’t have to keep searching for it.

References

1. By Marissa on” A to Zen Life,” June 11, 2022. https://atozenlife.com/authentic-person/
2. Eagleman, David. Livewired. Cannongate Books, Edinburgh, UK, 2020.
3. Feldman Barret, Lisa. How Emotions are Made. Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, New York, NY, 2018.
4. DeMello, Anthony. The Way to Love. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. New York, NY, 1995.

The post Your “Authentic Self” first appeared on Back in Control.

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Chronic mental and physical disease are connected by a common root cause – stress. How and why?

Stress (threat) creates chemical (physiological) changes in your body (fight or flight), which creates mental and physical symptoms. When you are subjected to chronic stress, the ongoing inflammation and increased fuel consumption (metabolism) breaks your body down. Hence, you’ll eventually develop illnesses and disease.

Stress kills

It is well-documented that stress kills. The Holmes-Rahe stress scale was developed in the early 1960’s with points assigned to life events – both positive and negative. If your score was 300 or more, there was an 80% chance of developing a major illness within two years.¹ I have a close friend that I took the test with recently. His score was 463. Guess what? He developed cancer in his spine.

Bruce Lipton is a developmental biologist who stepped out of academic medicine in 1993 because what he was observing in the lab did not conform to the standard thinking in mainstream medicine. He understood that all life is possible because living organisms were able to transform energy into functional forms. Atoms, the building blocks of life and substance consist mostly of space and are powerful energy fields. Biologists embraced the role of quantum physics in biology in 1927, but mainstream medicine has been slow to adapt. His views have not historically been well-received, but it turns out that he was not only right but was decades ahead of his time.

Beliefs and your body

He is the best-selling author of The Biology of Belief. His work is now well-documented regarding the effects that beliefs exert on your body’s physiology. Negative belief systems fire up the fight or flight response and keeps it there. The common link to chronic mental and physical disease is sustained threat physiology and healing happens when you are in safety. Here is a small sampling of some data that supports this perspective.

• Dantzer in 2018² published a review on resilience. He documented the effects of stress on inflammatory molecules called cytokines. There are four factors that lower inflammation.
  • Optimism/ Hope
  • Sense of control
  • Positive outlook/ vision
  • Sense of social connection and community

Notice that when suffering from chronic mental or physical pain that all these factors are compromised – badly.

• Cole in 2007³ documented that chronic stress and social isolation caused the production of aggressive monocytes that he called, “warrior monocytes.” These are white blood cells that attack foreign bodies such as viruses, bacteria, and cancer cells. But these monocytes also attack your own tissues.
• Lisa Feldman-Barrett runs a large neuroscience lab in New England. She has documented that thoughts and consciousness become embedded in our brains as concretely as any object.⁴ So, each person views the world completely differently regarding threats vs safety and body’s coping resources are also infinitely unique. It doesn’t matter if the threat is real or perceived. If your perception of a situation doesn’t match the reality, you’ll have a stress response and your beliefs have to adjust for similar scenarios in the future.
• Note on the Holmes-Rahe stress scale that most of the stresses are not physical. They are real because they are events for which your body has to mobilize resources to deal with them. Unfortunately, perceived stress also causes your body to be activated.
• Consider ACE (Adverse Childhood Events) scores. The score is a rough measure of childhood trauma and higher scores cause inflammatory markers to remain elevated for decades.⁵ When you are raised in an abusive environment, you are programmed to see much of the world as dangerous, and that doesn’t change unless you thoughtfully reprogram your responses.
• Systemic chronic inflammation (SCI) is a state of inflammation that cannot be measured by blood tests.⁶ The problem arises from the breakdown of small structures in each cell called mitochondria. They are the engines whose chemical reactions create the energy of life. The “fuel” leaks outside the cell and is highly inflammatory. Over 50% of all deaths and diseases are caused by SCI. Chronic stress is one of the drivers.
• Pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) is a process where patients’ fears and beliefs about their pain are acknowledged and connected to the actual experience. Patients are reassured that the nature of the pain or problem isn’t dangerous, and then gently taken through a process of reassurance while performing actions that would normally cause pain. By feeling safe while engaging in activities they considered risky, they are able to calm down, feel safe, and the pain decreases or resolves most of the time.⁷ Again, the structure of their body hasn’t changed, it is their beliefs about it.

Why did Bruce and David team up?

It is clear that anxiety and anger are hard-wired automatic reactions that we have not control over. Bruce has pointed out that you might as well have a conversation with the hard drive of your computer. But he has pointed out for a while that you can reprogram them.

I have been on this course of action for a while but have not stated it as clearly as Bruce. I have seen so many “hopeless” patients heal that I am convinced that you can reprogram your brain around almost anything. Our brains are incredibly adaptable.⁸

Getting there

The DOC Journey course and app take you through a sequence that first teaches tools to calm down your nervous system, helps understand the principles of healing chronic disease, presents the problem of anxiety being the pain, explores awareness, teaches anger processing strategies, emphasizes repetition, and then helps you visualize and act on building your future.

The final answer to chronic mental and physical pain is shifting into joy, and where Bruce presents a wonderful picture of what that looks like.⁸ A significant aspect is programming in this outlook. We both agree that positive thinking can’t and doesn’t work. The DOC Journey course and app present practical strategies to achieve the state of consciousness that allows us to not only heal but thrive. Once you flip your beliefs to the future you want, your brain and life will follow, and it will become your reality.

Bruce and I created this four-part video series along with a lesson plan that presents an overview of the healing journey as well as suggestions how to start. We are excited about them in that we did not realize how close we were in our thinking until we made these videos. We hope you enjoy them and welcome to your new life.

References

1. Holmes TH, Rahe RH. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale.J Psychosom Res(1967); 11:213–8. doi:1016/0022-3999(67)90010-4
2. Dantzer R, et al. Resilience and immunity. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (2018); 74:2842. https://doi.orgl/10/1016/j.bbi.2018.08.010
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. Feldman Barrett, Lisa. How Emotions are Made. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, NY, 2017.
5. Dube, SR, et al. Cumulative childhood stress and autoimmune diseases in adults. Psychosomatic Medicine (2009); 7:243-250.
6. Furman D, et al. Chronic Inflammation in the etiology of diseases across the life span. Nature Medicine (2019); 25:1822-1832.
7. Ashar YK, et al. Effect of pain reprocessing therapy vs placebo and usual care for patients with chronic back pain. JAMA Psychiatry (2021); Published online 9/29/2021.
8. Lipton, Bruce. The Biology of Belief. Hay House, Los Angeles, CA, 2016.

The post Connecting the past and present to the future – Bruce Lipton and David Hanscom first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Connecting the past and present to the future – Bruce Lipton and David Hanscom appeared first on Back in Control.