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I've been through the archives on depression and anxiety and would like to get anyone's opinion on a combination of the theories presented (it seems to me that people attribute depression either to a chemical imbalance or to emotional causes that talk therapy can treat). In my experience of a pretty stressful and anxious childhood, I wonder if my current predicaments with anxiety and depression and the awful associated physical symptoms that go with it could actually be a combination of the both, i.e., the neural pathways created in stress become patterned pathways of the brain that become emotional norms that generalize to become standard reactions to stressors in adulthood. Anybody else agree?
Secondly, does anybody think it's possible to "re-train" the brain's neural pathways to eliminate depression and anxiety reactions to life stresses?
I'm kind of at the end of my rope with this. Recently becoming honest with myself, I have been anxious and depressed for all of my life, and I would like to find a way out of it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
HI Chrissy - my husband gets panic & anxiety attacks,,,and he remembered what a paramedic told him to do that help......breathe slowly into a brown bag 'til you feel better,,,,was just a few min. & hubby felt the load go............
Also, I asked my alternatives Dr. about this,,,He stated, a good thorogh Thyroid test might be in order, and that Rescue Remedy (Bach flower remedy) helps.
best of luck....
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
Hi Chrissy,
Nothing is impossible if you want it badly enough.
That is why we get up in the morning.
The causes of how you feel can be a result of how you were programmed as you were growing up. Being fearful can be a good thing if it prevents you from injuring yourself or doing things that are not in your best interests.... but the same fears can also paralyze you and prevent you from wanting to even go out shopping.
There is a difference between intuition and obsession.
Anything done to extremes can be a problem. It is possible
to be depressed even if you were as successful as Howard Hughes.
Having friends to share experiences with is crucial in feeling like you are not too different. When you were in highschool, you probably did not share closeness in a clique of friends, or did not feel like you belonged to the group.
Others may always have been the center of the action and
you may have envied their popularity. That is why
some are leaders and others are followers. If you become a loner, how will you share in the happiness and fears of others? How will you know happiness unless you see it in others?
Hobbies such as music, art or sports where one can excel and
gain the ability to be praised are one route to feeling good about yourself... Some choose to educate themselves to gain acceptance and adulation of others while others seek
high office and visibility to satisfy their need for
admiration or respect.
Writing a successful book can be as much of an ego boost as
winning a Nobel Prize to those who choose that path.
Often, the way to feel good about yourself is to feel
liked or admired by others... Just look at the forces that drive politicians to seek election... It is no more than a glorified therapy session and the winner gains the accolades
while the looser sulks off to lick his/her wounds, hoping to
live long enough to fight another day.
Is it really any different than being a little bi-polar and
going through the highs and lows of everyday life?
Aren't we all victims of our surroundings and how well we do
is dependent on how we profit from the ups and downs of life?
Get good at something and you will be much happier at least while you are doing that activity.
Self help books can help, but they rely on you to fulfill
what they suggest. Those books tend to help their writers the most. Once you are happy about your own path in life,
you can write your own book for others to follow.
That is the secret.. being happy. The rest will come. :?)
Ron
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
I agree with your theory. For me, I was under an extreme amount of stress for a fairly long period of time and this triggered terribly anxiety symptoms for me (headaches, panic attacks, heart palpitations, nausea, insomnia, fatigue, etc). I feel that it created a pattern that now, even though my stress is minimal, the pattern remains. One thing that has helped a little for me is increasing my protein in my diet. I've read that protein foods have certain amino acids that are the building blocks for neurotransmitters. Although I hate to say this on this site, I have been doing SR for some time and have not found relief from it. I have been thinking about going for neurofeedback sessions, these are supposed to "retrain" the brain pathways. I wish you luck because I know how these kinds of symptoms can really disrupt your life. What are you symptoms? And, what's your plan for getting better? Have you tried medication or is that not something you want to do? I recently broke down and decided to try some different medications because I could no longer work or have a life. I haven't found complete relief yet, but am optimistic.
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
My goodness, you have learned a lot about your illness! And it sounds like you have turned a corner with it, as well. Acceptance is maybe the biggest "piece" towards getting "well". I liked Ron's answer, too. In reference to what you said, i.e.,.......
"a combination of the both, i.e., the neural pathways created in stress become patterned pathways of the brain that become emotional norms that generalize to become standard reactions to stressors in adulthood. Anybody else agree? "
You are a smart lady, and you are absolutely right! All the above is true.
Then, in answer to your question, yes, you can re-train the pathways of the brain. the whole body is a marvelously flexible organ, and we are learning a lot about the brain being able to do "re-training", as well. But remember, the mind is separate from the brain, and as Cayce said," Mind is the builder", i.e., some have said"Change your mind, change your life", and it is true. To a large extent, what you believe, you can achieve. There is one book that comes to mind..
The Body Bears the Burden" by Robert C Scaer, MD. He does a good job of talking about the effect of trauma on the body, and though he doesn't go into effective therapies as much, there is one chapter on the subject.
Have you read of the work of the scientist doing the work with crystals in water, I believe it is? Just by placing words with strong emotional content on the jars of crystals, caused great variation in the growth of the crystals! The mind is so powerful. Of course, you can change this! Best of luck to you!
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
Hi Chrissy,
I believe anxiety/depression are caused by both biochemical changes from childhood plus environmental influences. Therefore, to resolve it, you need to work on both, plus make sure your lifestyle is supportive in all ways. It may be a lifetime path to do this -- it has been for me, however it has been very rewarding to go through what it has taken to me achieve clarity.
You are at the end of your rope? Please tell what you have been doing to work with this. What are your symptoms?
About re-training: again, two things. You need to work with your thought patterns, plus you may need biochemical interventions.
I truly believe you can find a way out.
Best wishes,
Jan
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
I think you've got it! And yes, I think you can change those neural pathways (habits). If you have to go the self-help route, a good place to start might be positive affirmations, try Louise L. Hay's work in this area (look her up at Amazon.com). There are other avenues for help out there--was there an alcoholic in your family during your childhood years? Try Al Anon.
I'm very excited for you, your journey to freedom is just beginning!
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
Hi,
Yes, the more you react to a specific situation with a stressful response the more you're training your brain to react this way. The result is you create "triggers," where specific environments/actions cause you to react with anxiety or depression.
This is typical for bipolar cases. I'm BP rapid cycler and have read about this and discovered this training of the brain is why most bipolars become worse over time.
I'm sure you can reverse this, but haven't looked into it. I just take medication right now and don't return phone calls from people that stress me out and these two things have helped quite a bit.
Unfortunetly, I come from a stressful home environment and my mom, I've comed to the conclusion was a bit abusive AND manic as well, so just avoiding her, no matter how hard it is not having a mom, has really aided in reducing my stress level. ;)
Environmental change is paramount!
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
You've had lots of helpful ideas in the posts below. One more I would offer is EFT, one of several energy techniques, in which you remove negative emotions by tapping on various acupuncture points while focussing on a particular problem. There is an excellent website about this, www.emofree.com. Clearing depression with EFT is not surefire or that easy and needs really consistent work over a period of time, although there have been certainly been successes. However, it has a really good track record with anxiety, from what I can gather. It's also a very useful tool for clearing small day-to-day downers which deplete your energy, thus increasing your feelings of depression/anxiety.
EFT, in its pure original form, is all about clearing the negative and doesn't directly involve intalling positives, though simply clearing negatives frees up the system so that positive feelings can flow in. However, there are ways of working with it, see Pat Carrington's Choices method, which help directly to bring about particular postive changes in your life. Gwen Bonnell also has a very interesting website, www.tapintoheaven.com, with interesting EFT articles, but also other helpful energy balancing exercises etc and, crucially, for you, I would look at her temporal tapping article - a way of tapping positive affirmations into your system. I noticed that one of the people who posted a reply to you suggested positive affirmations a la Louise Hay. I think that's great if you can do it; but I could never get along with that sort of positive affirmation (they felt like too much of a lie) until I came across EFT, which encourages you to clear all the hopeless, non-believing negative emotions which come up when you set out to use a positive affirmation.
I wish you success in your quest for healing. Rib
I notice that
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
Hi, Chrissy.
These kinds of problems are ALWAYS a combination of both!
The most common scenario is that the chemistry gets compromised which causes behavioral problems which then grow into big problems because the chemistry is stressed when it is inadequate.
Rather than treat the chemistry when the individual is young normally any correction is delayed until there are years of psychological and behavioral layers and layers cemented into place. This is especially true when the unenlightened allopathic approach further messes up the brain chemistry with psychoactive drugs year after year.
SO, the question is: What the devil do we do with the mess NOW? The answer is: Stop beating a tired horse. Start by improving the brain chemistry. Then when the brain is working better, follow this with the counseling work that muct be done unraveling the psychosocial damage the has been done for all those years. Any enlightened modern practitioner will do both!
Making sense?
Walt
In Reply to: Depression and Anxiety posted by Chrissy [2612.74] on March 04, 2005 at 00:59:16:
Chrissy,
This may sound overly simplistic and you may not believe me, but two of the best things you can do for yourself are to get exercise at least three times a week and to practice some form of meditation/relaxation with deep breathing every day. These two things are the most effective way to deal with stress/anxiety/depression, and done properly and regularly, they will retrain your brain. And they won't cost you a dime.
WildCard
In Reply to: Re: Depression and Anxiety posted by Jayne [819.4] on March 04, 2005 at 06:34:19:
Why does the bag have to be brown?
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