Overcoming Anxiety & Depression
A newly referred client came into my office some months ago and shared with me that she had struggled with anxiety her entire adult life. She had been in therapy with the same person for well over six years and had made little progress. I inquired as to what she had learned from their work together. If I actually had hair on the back of my neck, it no doubt would have stood straight up upon hearing her response. "He told me the best that we could do we be to try and manage my anxiety," she offered. So many mental health professionals are literally trained to believe that matters of anxiety and depression can at best be managed, and often with the associated medication to achieve the lessening of symptoms. This speaks to their mindset of pathology and the absence of a deeper understanding of the relationship between thought and anxiety or depression. The limitations of such a worldview are limiting and produce a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure...
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Transcending the Epidemic of Anxiety and Depression
Tens of millions of people in the United States suffer from anxiety and/or depression. The enormity of these numbers suggests that we are dysfunctional at levels that usher in a new norm, one of mass disquiet. This malaise has indeed reached epidemic proportions. Given that, we might well reconsider the very nature of this phenomenon. Millions of individuals spend billions of dollars on psychotherapy and medication, which generally fall well short of alleviating the problem. Our society is rapidly turning into a drug addicted culture, albeit by prescription. Yet, no one is asking why this epidemic is occurring. Therein lies the greater problem...
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The Power of Mind: Overcoming the
Epidemic of Anxiety and Depression
Tuesday, June 9th, 7:30pm
NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South,
Rosenthal Pavilion, 10th floor
Limited seating. Pre-register: $25, Door $30
Tips for overcoming anxiety and depression:
- Notice your thoughts—what are they telling you? Don't confuse your thoughts with being the truth. Our thouhgts and feelings tend to construct our reality. Learn to appreciate the difference.
- Upon witnessing your thought say to yourself—It's just a thought. Reframe your experience by saying—I'm having a thought which is telling me....
- Do your thoughts tend to measure and analyze? If so, witness the process but don't become the thoughts.
- Analyzing is a skill that is well utilized—but we must be master of it not servant to it.
- If you are judging yourself, are you speaking in the second person (starting your thoughts with the word, you)? If so, whose voice is speaking?
- Do you feel separated and isolated from others? If so, remember that the universe is inseparable. Choose to participate in that unfolding flow.
- Coming out of our comfort zone provokes disquiet. We must change our relationship with this anxiety. Make the disquiet your ally, treating is as a signal that you're breaking free from the familiar. Don't use discomfort as your justification for remaining stuck in the comfort zone.
© 2008 by Mel Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Anxiety & Depression
