Our innate desire is to be happy, and when we move away
from it, we experience fear.
This fear is actually millions of years
old, for it arises from the biological programming of our species.
While
we may not have to contend with a sabre-toothed tiger on any given day, we still
use those very reactions to deal with events looming ahead.
We think,
"Will I be fired for making that mistake at work?" or "Will I be able to meet
the mortgage after I fix the car?" or "Will my health continue to decline?" or
"Will my relationship fall apart after that argument we just fell into?"
Running questions with this type of urgency and helplessness trains our
brains to prepare now for future danger by loading our bodies up with the stress
hormone cortisol.
Anxiety is our anticipation of a dangerous future. We
imagine having even less of the little that we have today.
This anxiety
does not help us in any way to meet the future any better. In fact, it weakens
and exhausts us. We usually worry most about things that we can't even control.
Worrying about your dental visit, for example, will not make the visit better.
Anxiety, in fact, is a silent killer. It is enervating, and it drains
you of purpose and hope, faith and initiative. It fogs up your thinking. And it
makes the body susceptible to illness.
When anxiety--a fear of an event
in the future--is high enough then you feel a deep sense of helplessness. This,
in turn, translates into depression. You even begin to view the past as
disappointing.
Caught between a miserable past and a frightening future
you create a pattern of emotions that can lead to a variety of mood disorders,
including manic-depression.
How do we escape from this vicious cycle?
Here is what I did 20 years ago and I have never since suffered from any
serious mood disorder.
I started to cultivate my awareness of my mood
swings--from elation to black despair.
I did this by basically watching
myself when I was manic, and watching myself when I was depressed, and watching
what I did to turn on these states. For example to get depressed, I used my love
of literature to focus on dark, morbid, and unhappy stories about life. And to
get elated, I would talk a lot, move very quickly, and do things in a dramatic
way.
An interesting thing happened when I made my unconscious behavior
conscious. I could not take my mood shifts seriously.
This is what I
learned from that experience: when you are able to observe yourself over the
course of a few weeks, you develop a curious detachment.
A paradoxical
situation developed for me: I found it difficult to stay anxious and depressed
when I was observing myself feeling anxious and depressed.
Ultimately,
anxiety and depression are culturally-induced patterns of thinking that can be
overcome through a deliberate cultivation of awareness. When you become your own
observer, you weed out the unconscious habits that afflict you.
Despite
the billions of dollars spent to heal anxiety and depression, and all the mood
disorders and behavioral anomalies that arise from them, the cure is simple,
quick, and free.
Article Source: http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com
Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy from
California Lutheran University. His articles on the internet have inspired over
ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable
life. Free information. theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana.
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