• 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.

He defines resilience as, the process that allows individuals to adapt to adverse conditions and recover from them. Stress susceptible individuals have a different immune system profile than that of resilient individuals. He reviews the four most notable factors that affect resiliency and therefore the reactivity of the immune system. It is desirable for the immune system to quickly respond to an acute threat and equally important for it to quickly calm down. In fact, short-term stresses enhance immune function. But chronic psychological stress tends to suppress the immune response.

The psychological factors are:

• Positive affect – “can do” attitude
• Personal control
• Optimism
• Social support

It works both ways

Although, being exposed to chronic threats is problematic, how you process them is critical. One study showed that a positive affect (happiness, joy, excitement, enthusiasm, and contentment) predicted better self-rated health than hunger, shelter, and safety. (2). A classic example is the story of Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist who found a way to thrive in the midst of the horrors of a concentration camp. He relates this incredible experience in his autobiography, Man’s Search for Meaning. (3)

Social connection was shown to counteract increased mortality in men over 50 exposed to high levels of stress over a seven-year period. (4)

It also works the other way around. When the immune system is chronically activated it can induce many unpleasant reactions. The brain is also compromised of glial cells that support the neurons and also throw off small proteins called cytokines. Under threat, inflammatory cytokines are produced that sensitize the nervous system. The inflammation can induce some of the physical manifestations of depression such as poor appetite, fatigue, and insomnia. Eventually, thinking capacity is affected. The immune system directly affects the psychological state of the person and the psychological state affects the immune system.

He also reviews the role of diet on the microbiome of the gut and poor-quality diet reduces resilience and is a risk factor for major depression. (1)

These are just a few points from his extensive review paper regarding the relationship between a person’s ability to adapt to adversity affecting the immune response but also the state of the immune response affecting the capacity to effectively deal with adversity.

You can retrain your brain

The good news is that a person can be trained to be more resilient in all of these domains. The DOC Journey is one program that presents a framework that allows participants to systematically address each of these areas.

• Sense of personal control – learning tools to regulate your body’s stress response is powerful.
  • For healing to occur, you must take control of your own care – and life.
  • You must quit blaming – period. There are no shortcuts to this step.
  • Knowledge is power and allows more control over your decisions.
  • Learning organizational tools enables you to execute your plans based on your vision.
• Positive affect
  • Positive thinking is problematic in that you are just suppressing negative thinking. If something is unpleasant, there is no benefit in pretending otherwise. However, a positive outlook focuses your brain on where you want to go and is a core aspect of the program.
  • Look at obstacles as challenges as an opportunity to practice your skills rather than viewing yourself as a victim.
  • “Do” instead of “try”
• Optimism
  • By understanding the nature of the problem and the principles behind the solution bring a tremendous amount of hope back into a person’s life. Being stuck in chronic pain without any idea how to navigate your way out is possibly one of the worse experiences of the human condition. It is ironic that being in The Abyss of pain is inflammatory and physically exacerbates the pain.
• Social connection
  • Group sessions have been the hallmark of The DOC Journey since 2013. We quickly noticed the healing power of a group in where you can share and feel safe. We have been excited in that our twice-weekly virtual sessions have been as effective as our in-person workshops. We have historically been perplexed why this has been the case but have learned that oxytocin (social bonding hormone) is strongly anti-inflammatory. Other hormones such as dopamine (rewards), serotonin (anti-depressant), growth hormone, and GABA chemicals (anti-anxiety) also create a profound sense of safety and contentment.

The video below is a compilation created from the experiences of some of our participants in our weekly group sessions. I am continually inspired by their persistence and determination to keep moving forward. Sharing in a safe environment is powerful. I have personally benefited and have greatly enjoyed getting to know this group.

The DOC Journey Q&A – The Power of Social Connection

References:

1. Dantzer R, et al. Resilience and immunity. Brain Behav Immun (2018); 74:28-42. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2018.08.010
2. Pressman SD, Gallagher MW, Lopez SJ, 2013 Is the emotion-health connection a “first-world problem”? Psychol. Sci (2013);24:544–549.
3. Frankl V. Man’s Search for Meaning. Beacon Press, Boston, MA, 1959, 1962, 1984, 1992, 2006.
4. Rosengren A, Orth-Gomer K, Wedel H, Wilhelmsen L. 1993 Stressful life events, social support, and mortality in men born in 1933. Br. Med. J (1993); 307:1102–1105.

The post The Bidirectional Interaction between Resilience and Your Immune System first appeared on Back in Control.

The post The Bidirectional Interaction between Resilience and Your Immune System appeared first on Back in Control.