Shifting the Imbalance

"A Chemical Imbalance"

One of the regrettable fallacies that circulates in anxiety discussion is that anxiety is a "chemical imbalance", and therefore out of the control of the anxious person.  However, that is false.

Yes, anxiety is a chemical imbalance.  However, it is a thought-driven chemical imbalance.  Just as the imbalanced blood sugar of a diabetic is influenced by how much sugar she eats, the imbalanced mental and physical chemicals of an anxious person is influenced by the thoughts her mind "eats", dwells upon.

While a diabetic can't really think his pancreas into greater work, any relatively sentient human being can change their own mental chemicals.  In fact, we do it all the time.  We want to be happy so we get ice cream and watch a comedy.  We want to feel energised and aggressive, so we watch an action flick.  We want to create so we listen to unusual music.  We want to relax so we go to the beach or the mountains.  Children suck their thumbs, adults make love, boxers play their psyching up playlist on their ipods....all behaviors we choose, on purpose, to adjust our chemicals.

Instinctively we know how to do this.

If we can choose to listen to a playlist or go to the beach or binge-watch The Three Stooges so that we can feel a certain way, in essence to change our chemicals, we can use this same technique on purpose to overcome anxiety.

Still doubtful?  We can prove it.  Think of someone you deeply love and feel tender toward.  It could be your favorite dog or your lover or your best friend.  Could be your mom or your child or a little baby chick, all yellow and fuzzy.  Close your eyes and picture this person or critter until your breath regulates and you feel like sighing.  Your heart is slowing a bit, your muscles relax a bit, and you feel a little rush of the "warm fuzzies".

You just changed the chemistry in your brain.   You just, through thought alone, stimulated your mind to something peaceful and sweet and released oxytocin and prolactin.  Just with a thought.

Wanna try again?

Ok, this time think of something that infuriates you.  Think of an injustice against children or a pain you are struggling with or someone who is acting like a jerk.  Picture that person laughing at you, maybe shoving you.  Get mean.  Get "mad dog mean".  Feel your heart race and your muscles start to tense.  Notice if you tilted your head down slightly and are furrowing your brow in a classic fighter nod to protect your eyes and intimidate your opponent. (or maybe you didn't go that far....but you would if you were confronting that person)

Not so much warm fuzzies now, eh?  You just made your body stop producing oxytocin and prolactin and told it, with just a thought, to produce testosterone, adrenaline, and cortisol.

Ok, take a deep breath and go back to the puppies and kittens thoughts so we don't leave you hanging with a bunch of extra anger coursing through your veins.  We'll wait......

You just did two seriously impressive things here that will change your life if you are an anxious person:  You chose to think two disparate thoughts on cue and your deliberately adjusted your brain chemistry.  You have the mental ability to change the chemical imbalance in your brain.  It is just going to take some practice.

(BTW, if you are not anxious yourself but know an anxious Outlier or a neurotypical type, you can demonstrate this very thing.  However, understand that people, even geniuses, are afraid to change.  They would rather be afraid than face their fear, though that does not make sense.  So if they balk, don't take it personally.)