Our Stressful World

We live in a very stressful society. It's only been within the last 2 two Centuries that we have had a "Modern World" and we are starting to see the effects of such a world.

The United States has more people needing mental health support then every before. There are more people without homes then during the Great Depression, we have a over burdened health care system, and social support system. Our schools are at capacity, and the cost of living keeps growing in major cities, where the majority of the people live, and that doesn't even bring the environmental stresses we face into the equation.

I'm sure just reading this is stressing you out. Take a deep breath, in... and out... one more time. So, why have I written such stressful info in this blog? It's to give you a broad perspective on why you maybe suffering from anxiety, overwhelm and depression right now. We cannot be not influenced by our external world, we are part of it, and out internal world is greatly influenced by it, for survival.

Being effected by our external world isn't a bad thing, it's just a fact. We are so hardwired for survival, for good reason. Back in the day we had to find water, hunt and gather for food and there wasn't any central heating. We were traveling around doing our best to not get our ass eaten by a saber tooth tiger. The same brain that we had back then to help us stay alive, is running most of our brain today. We do have an executive functioning part of our brain, but we're not there most of the time. Especially in the world we live in. It's a challenge just to get all we "need to get done" off our list.

And, we have neural pathways/maladaptive beliefs about needing "to be the best, to be valuable," And "If I do this perfect I'll be loved" running around in our brains. How in the world are we supposed to get to our executive function from that state? Unfortunately, we aren't. Our brain doesn't work like that.

To access our prefrontal cortex, we must have a state of safety, calm and "everything is going to be alright." A highly sensitive/activated nervous system needs so come to a harmonious state, and adrenaline and cortisol need to be diminished to achieve that. I know, you're thinking "How the hell am I supposed to do that Ali?" I know it can seem daunting from the perspective you're currently in. Luckily, your brain has built-in resilience and adapts amazingly when we give it a little bit of perspective change. This is called Neuroplasticity. Meaning our brain has an innate ability to change how it functions, and perceives the world around us.

We can Use EMDR and other Somatic modalities to shift how your brain reads the information that is coming into the giant cable sending messages to it. This is explained in my Blog "What is EMDR." When we use methods to shift our neural pathways we can have different nervous systems. Ones that promote calm, peaceful and access our prefrontal cortex. All of our good stuff is in this part of our brain. Our top brain. Stuff like; empathy, connection, emotional regulation, language, creativity, motivation and organization. That's just a few of the functions it's capable of.

Could you use better communication in your relationships? How about motivation or organization? Yep, we all can do a better of being human with those.

So, basically, when we are out of a heightened state of alarm or survival, we are able to be the person people are asking us to be. We can be the person we wish we could be. We can feel contentment, have the ability to connect with our partners and friends, set boundaries and thrive.

Here are some practical ways to bring calm into your system in my blog about "staying calm during the Holidays."

To get your system to a calm state and shift those neural pathways, find your self a EMDR therapist, or message me for a Free Consultation.