The Freeze of Depression

Sometimes a necessary transition from our current location seems daunting. We believe that there is only one “right” solution to where we go next and if we mess it up, we will perish. This is the kind of fear response programmed into our brains. The dear alarm system, amygdala, is blaring the sirens. But what if staying in our current situation actually has a greater potential for damage than does movement? Once the alarm system has been triggered the default response is often to freeze, stay paralyzed. Shame influences how we see ourselves and others. We feel as if we truly are frozen. Depression can result from feeling trapped, disempowered for any kind of movement. The dynamic psyche, Soul, and body all require movement, flow, and flexibility in order to survive.

Alex Korb, PhD writes about the life saving power of this movement in his book The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression. “In mountaineering, if you’re stuck in a bad situation and you don’t know the right way out, you just have to pick a direction and go. It doesn’t have to be the best direction; there may not even be a best direction. You certainly don’t have enough information to know for sure. So if you start down a path and end up at a cliff, you’ll just have to pick another direction from there. Because guess what? In a dire situation, you can’t be certain of the right path; what you do know is that if you sit there and do nothing, you’re screwed.”

In my private practice, I assist many people who are experiencing this lure toward movement and transition. Old belief systems, early attachment traumas, and fear may have molded them into an image or persona that no longer fits. An initial clue that we are experiencing the need for greater wholeness often is evident in strained relationships. When we are frozen and do not speak from our deepest truths, relationships will suffer and we hold out hope that the other will somehow meet our unmet needs. Instead, it is our journey to take and meet our own needs. It is a confusing time and can require a skilled listener to help empower us to break out of the paralysis. Maybe you are afraid of movement. Consider a free consultation with Laure Schwartz, Spiritual Director, Mental Health and Somatic Therapist, at The Healing House of Saint Paul. Access the on-line scheduler at http://healinghousesaintpaul.org/laure-schwartz/

Healing the Worry Treadmill

Do you experience uncontrollable worry? It can feel like running on a treadmill, knowing you are not getting anywhere but for some reason you cannot get off. In addition, are those around you making you feel shamed for worrying? Worry is related to our brain's tendency for what is called The Negativity Bias. Rick Hanson PhD, neuropsychologist, describes this pre-historic tendency as the brain's programmed function to see the negative or the threat in order for the species to survive. In our earliest existence, we needed to watch for any and all threat in order to not be eaten!

Those neurons that fire together in repetition begin to sculpt a brain structure that keeps the blood flowing to this busy part of the brain, the limbic system. Included in the limbic system is the amygdala whose job it is to alert you to danger. The higher brain or the thinking brain (frontal cortex) cannot accurately access danger if the limbic system cannot rest. 

When we live with unresolved trauma or are currently in a persistent and toxic threat/protection cycle, it is almost impossible to make the necessary, even slight, adjustments to our thinking brain. It is NOT a simple matter of "positive thinking." The body's nervous system is stuck in a cycle that revs up the need to survive based upon the negativity bias already programmed into the brain.

How do we heal? How does the cycle settle and allow us to live less constrained by worry and fear?
One key element is healing past traumas. What is a trauma? Anything or event(s) that comes at us too fact, without any preparatory response, or that which is prolonged such as verbal, emotional, spiritual, or physical abuse. The latter is more common and is also called complex trauma because it is not as easily identifiable. Most people have dissociated from complex trauma, leaving scars and old, concrete belief systems about self and the world buried away in the unconscious or non-conscious. 

Techniques I use in healing complex trauma:

• Somatic Experiencing
• Right brain therapies like re-imaging, dreams, art, music, and poetry
• Depth Psychology
• Discovering one's unique Spirituality and Soul

To find out more and to schedule a free 1/2 hour consultation with me, go to www.healinghousesaintpaul.org and use the link to BookFresh for appointment times.

Decide its time to heal the worry treadmill. It is indeed possible.
Laure Schwartz