Today in the U.S. it seems the predominant narrative available to make sense of much internal suffering is a scientific narrative, the belief that, much like diabetes or cancer, mental illness can be “found,” accurately identified through formal diagnostic procedures, and addressed through scientifically vetted treatments. Much as we colloquially understand diabetes to be an imbalance in, or a compromised capacity of the body to interact with, insulin, one recent narrative of depression is that there is a similarly challenged relationship between the brain and serotonin. More generally the common colloquial explanation for much of what we categorize as mental illness has become that it is, or is often caused by, “a chemical imbalance,” a graciously vague statement which most of us could accurately use to describe as a major influence of our mood before having our morning coffee.
The Power of Choice in How We Think
We choose how we think. How we think about ourselves, our life and our worth. At first blush, this seems Pollyanna, or just plain wrong. Our thought patterns, particularly when they relate to how we feel and think about ourselves and our circumstances certainly must be “automatic” “natural” and most importantly uncontrollable. The idea of choosing to think differently must therefore be contrived, fake and unnatural.
Pet Loss and the Grief Process
A serious illness or loss of a pet can be as psychologically devastating as that of a person. Many people go through the same range of emotions and grief process when a pet dies as that experienced after the death of a person.
How to spot “The Right” Therapist
The good news is that although therapists you may encounter will have a wide range of clinical orientations, levels of education and training, years of experience in the field or high praise from other professionals, your interaction with a therapist is foremost a human relationship. We are innately wired to relate to others and interactions, particularly intense ones which therapy typically engenders result in strong reactions either positive or negative. A positive rapport usually leads to trust and trust is the key to success in therapy. So in this difficult choice, I suggest you take the George W. Bush approach and “trust your gut”. This works great for interpersonal relationships, for domestic and world policy making…. not so much.
Coping through difficult times
As we begin our blogging journey we hope to create a source of information which is helpful to those who read it and in some way can provide a source of healing, inspiration, hope and learning. To change our attitude we will need to change our self-talk to a more positive, less pessimistic, less rigid, thinking pattern in order to cope more effectively with current and future challenges we will face.
