Today's Chronic Tonic discusses two recent articles on mental health, both of which question whether or not mental problems are actually related to mental illness or to underlying conditions, both physical and neurological which are capable of being effectively addressed to resolve emotional and mental problems.
CHRONIC TONIC posts on Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST. It is a place to share stories, advice, and information and to connect with others with chronic health conditions and those who care for them. Our diarists will report on research, alternative treatments, clinical trials, and health insurance issues through personal stories. You are invited to share in comments (and note if you'd like to be a future diarist).
A recent WSJ article Confusing Medical Ailments With Mental Illness reviews a new book by Harvard psychiatrist Barbara Schildkrout Unmasking Psychological Symptoms, which details details over 100 medical disorders which typically "masquerade as psychological conditions".
What seems like DEPRESSION may actually be:
• Underactive thyroid; low vitamin D or B-12 or folate; diabetes; hormonal changes; heart disease; Lyme disease; lupus; head trauma, sleep disorders; some cancers and cancer drugs
What seems like ANXIETY may actually be
• Overactive thyroid; respiratory problems; very low blood pressure; concussion; anaphylactic shock
What seems like IRRITABILITIY may actually be:
Brain injury; temporal lobe epilepsy; Alzheimer's disease and early stage dementia; parasitic infection; hormonal changes
Hallucinations Epilepsy; brain tumor; fever; narcolepsy; substance abuse
What seems like COGNITIVE CHANGES may actually be:
• Brain injury or infection; Alzheimer's; Parkinson's; liver failure; mercury or lead poisoning
What seems like PSYCHOSIS may actually be:
• Venereal disease; brain tumors and cysts; stroke; epilepsy; steroids; substance abuse...
What seems like HALLUCINATIONS may actually be
• Epilepsy; brain tumor; fever; narcolepsy; substance abuse
Cognitive changes Brain injury or infection; Alzheimer's; Parkinson's; liver failure; mercury or lead poisoning
The article goes on to report that sometimes psychological symptoms are first signgals of conditions such heart disease and that about 1/3 of individuals experience therir first episode of depression after they reach age 55. This is due to "changes in brain circuits that are associated with hypertension, diabetes and heart attacks. Such patients are usually apathetic, have difficulty with executive planning and don't respond well to antidepressants."
Another interesting article The Neuroscience of Changing Toxic Thinking Patterns (1 of 2) presents a 'neurological' approach to developing new methods to consciously change your perceptions of your life experience, to overcome what you might have considered "hard-wired" within your self.
Toxic thinking, and anxiety which traditionally lead to misinterpretations of your perceptions "spark molecular changes in your brain" in response to interactions with the external world. The article suggests that we can control and change the way we think and thus the way we perceive of ourselves in the world as well as how we perceive the type of person we actually are.
WOW!
Follow along. It turns out thoughts are the initiators of our emotions, and the creators of "inner standards or rules" responsible for the chain of dynamic subconscious decisions which govern how we act and the choices we make.
Hard-Wired v. Soft-Wired Information Systems
Hard-wired information is akin to your automatic nervous system and operates much like a computer’s operating system. it's preverbal, it informs your subconscious mind “how your mind and body work and is responsible for the operation of the billions of cells within your body, that YOU are a human depend on for survival. Many, in fact most of these processes operateindependent of awareness. Think breathing, heart beating, instinctive movements, hunger and thirst; all directives designed to ensure you survive and thrive.
These directives are the motivational drives which, conceivably, shape your every behavior. The brain is always in one of two modes; protective (survival) or thriving (learning).
Soft-wired information on the other hand is both verbal and nonverbal: language-based thoughts, words, belief systems, etc., It informs your subconscious about how YOU interpret the world in direct relatin to your inner motivation to thrive and survive and extracts meaning from the external world which allows you to interpret and negotiate your reactions/interactions with:
• The data your five senses are picking up from life around you: visual (sight), auditory (hearing), tactile (touch), olfactory (smell) and gustatory (taste).
• The thoughts you are thinking in the moment, your “self-talk” – which may be focused on past, present or current experience, or a combination of these.
• The current beliefs or belief systems your subconscious mind holds up as perception filters to interpret any incoming data, as well as what is going on inside you, i.e., thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, wants, inborn strivings, etc.
In most situations, you can choose how sad or happy you are to be. You can consciously choose your responses to events, and in this way, wire new associations in your brain. It’s not easy, and yes in many cases, the support of a professional may be necessary.
By practicing methods of conscious relating to your self, your breath, your mind, your emotions, your body, your thoughts, you can alter the way your brain cells communicate.
Toxic thinking causes unhealthy levels of anxiety. Based on anxious thoughts (which are mostly a misinterpretation of what poses a threat or danger to you), the survival response performs a coup d’état of the body, literally, usurping the energies of all its systems, such as digestion, learning, memory, etc. This also virtually cuts off communication with higher thinking parts of the brain, by switching “learning mode” off and “protective mode” on.
So, when are you in control? You are in control to the extent that you know how keep your brain in “learning mode” in moments when you get triggered. This means knowing how to consciously use language to calm your mind and body, which allows your logic and emotions to work cooperatively, rather than than in opposition to one another.
Your 'toxic beliefs,' it turns out, are resonsible for your tendencies to demean yourself (or others0, feel overly vulnerable, avoid particular situations. These reactive behaviours CAN BE CHANGED!
Who knew?