“I Can’t Slow Down/ I Don’t Do Anything” – part 2.
In my previous post I described the kind of trauma reaction that involves being upset and agitated. The other common trauma reaction is to shut down. This condition is a lot like depression, but it is really an attempt to avoid reminders of the trauma. People try to avoid feelings that remind them of the trauma by numbing their emotions. Their attempt to avoid sensations that are reminders may take the form of becoming physically less sensitive to all sensations and avoiding activities that put them into contact with strong sensations.
People can change their behavior so that they spend less time with other people and less time engaging in challenging activities. They withdraw in an effort to avoid lots of things. Not opening the mail (or e-mail), leaving home only for essential activities, and cutting back on talking to friends or family are common results. Decreasing their participation in hobbies, interests, and exercise can also occur.
For people who are doing a lot of avoiding, engaging in therapy may be a really big challenge. Sometimes the last thing they want to do is go and talk to someone about the things they have been seriously avoiding. If you know someone who is struggling with this kind of avoidance you know that they will respond better to support and encouragement than the stress of confrontation. Encouraging them to gradually resume their participation in life may help. Letting them know that there are professionals out there who understand that they need support and reassurance in working with trauma issues and that there is a helpful treatment for their problem can help them to get back on the path of taking an active role in their own lives.
Bill Bonacker
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
"I Can't Slow Down/ I Don't Do Anything - part 1
“I Can’t Slow Down/ I Don’t Do Anything - part 1
We sometimes hear clients say that they can’t settle down, that they are always tense, hurrying or rapidly thinking about things. Feeling jumpy, and under pressure are also frequent problems. Sometimes the problem can be traced back to something that happened in the past. Something that has put the person on “red alert.” This condition may last long after the event that caused the upset or fear in the first place is over. Recent examples can be found in some veterans who have returned from a war zone and still feel on edge. They may recognize that they are now safe in their homes but don’t feel very safe or calm.
In persons who have had traumatic experiences this can be the mind’s way of trying to cope with the experience by staying alert for any future threat or danger, an attempt to find safety.
One of the tasks of therapy is to help these people recognize these attempts to protect themselves because they are sometimes unrecognized. People think that they are just nervous, especially if they have been repeatedly told this by friends and family. Once a person has found the connection between their “red alert” lifestyle and its protective purpose, we can work on finding a sense of realistic safety. We can work on making changes to help protect from real threats and teach calming techniques to deal with threats that are not present any more. Yes, it’s a lot easier to describe than it is to do. Like most persistent problems it will take some sustained effort and much support and encouragement.
Bill Bonacker
We sometimes hear clients say that they can’t settle down, that they are always tense, hurrying or rapidly thinking about things. Feeling jumpy, and under pressure are also frequent problems. Sometimes the problem can be traced back to something that happened in the past. Something that has put the person on “red alert.” This condition may last long after the event that caused the upset or fear in the first place is over. Recent examples can be found in some veterans who have returned from a war zone and still feel on edge. They may recognize that they are now safe in their homes but don’t feel very safe or calm.
In persons who have had traumatic experiences this can be the mind’s way of trying to cope with the experience by staying alert for any future threat or danger, an attempt to find safety.
One of the tasks of therapy is to help these people recognize these attempts to protect themselves because they are sometimes unrecognized. People think that they are just nervous, especially if they have been repeatedly told this by friends and family. Once a person has found the connection between their “red alert” lifestyle and its protective purpose, we can work on finding a sense of realistic safety. We can work on making changes to help protect from real threats and teach calming techniques to deal with threats that are not present any more. Yes, it’s a lot easier to describe than it is to do. Like most persistent problems it will take some sustained effort and much support and encouragement.
Bill Bonacker
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Mindfulness and Sustained Recovery from Depression
Mindfulness and Sustained Recovery from Depression
A study focusing on factors related to those affected by episodes of recurrent depression found that in the first episode of depression, 50% of subjects had experienced a traumatic triggering event, while in the second episode this number was 20%, and in the third, 10%. These findings suggest that our thoughts can assume the power of an actual set-back. Even when feeling well, people remain vulnerable to recurrent episodes of depression due to mental associations formed between mood and negative thinking patterns, so that mild states of depression can reactivate negative thinking patterns that can result in a full-blown episode of depression. Sustained recovery from depression depends on learning how to keep mild states of depression from spiraling out of control. Mindfulness is helpful in reducing these downward mood spirals.
So what are these downward mood spirals and how can mindfulness be helpful? Often when starting to feel low, people react as if their emotions were a problem to be solved, they attempt critical thinking strategies, re-double efforts to use them when they do not work, and then end up over-thinking, brooding, and ruminating which only succeeds in prolonging and deepening the mood spiral. “What has gone wrong, why is this happening to me, where will it all end?” This can result in a return of negative thinking, “What is wrong with me? I’m back to square one. This is horrible. It will always be this way.” This negative thinking can become a pattern which then results in another episode of depression.
And how can mindfulness be helpful? Mindfulness can be helpful in reducing downward mood spirals in many ways. One way is in by having more awareness of mind states one can recognize earlier the beginning of the spiral and “nip it in the bud” earlier than before. Another way that mindfulness can be helpful is by teaching us how to focus on the present moment rather than re-living the past or worrying about the future. Mindfulness also helps us to shift mental gears from a state of mind dominated by critical thinking to one in which we experience the world directly, non-conceptually, and non-judgmentally. So rather than having resistance to unwanted emotions and thoughts or getting caught up in them, one increases their willingness to experience them, allowing for them to come and to go while being held in awareness with acceptance and compassion.
Jaci Pekarek
A study focusing on factors related to those affected by episodes of recurrent depression found that in the first episode of depression, 50% of subjects had experienced a traumatic triggering event, while in the second episode this number was 20%, and in the third, 10%. These findings suggest that our thoughts can assume the power of an actual set-back. Even when feeling well, people remain vulnerable to recurrent episodes of depression due to mental associations formed between mood and negative thinking patterns, so that mild states of depression can reactivate negative thinking patterns that can result in a full-blown episode of depression. Sustained recovery from depression depends on learning how to keep mild states of depression from spiraling out of control. Mindfulness is helpful in reducing these downward mood spirals.
So what are these downward mood spirals and how can mindfulness be helpful? Often when starting to feel low, people react as if their emotions were a problem to be solved, they attempt critical thinking strategies, re-double efforts to use them when they do not work, and then end up over-thinking, brooding, and ruminating which only succeeds in prolonging and deepening the mood spiral. “What has gone wrong, why is this happening to me, where will it all end?” This can result in a return of negative thinking, “What is wrong with me? I’m back to square one. This is horrible. It will always be this way.” This negative thinking can become a pattern which then results in another episode of depression.
And how can mindfulness be helpful? Mindfulness can be helpful in reducing downward mood spirals in many ways. One way is in by having more awareness of mind states one can recognize earlier the beginning of the spiral and “nip it in the bud” earlier than before. Another way that mindfulness can be helpful is by teaching us how to focus on the present moment rather than re-living the past or worrying about the future. Mindfulness also helps us to shift mental gears from a state of mind dominated by critical thinking to one in which we experience the world directly, non-conceptually, and non-judgmentally. So rather than having resistance to unwanted emotions and thoughts or getting caught up in them, one increases their willingness to experience them, allowing for them to come and to go while being held in awareness with acceptance and compassion.
Jaci Pekarek
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