JayPeeEm
08-15-2014, 10:53 PM
Self-medicating mental illness has become a first port of call for many people around today. It’s often viewed as a simpler solution to deeply rooted problems, but in fact it buries a deeper issue in the form of a seed which grows into an issue much larger than the initial. This deepened issue then creates how we see ourselves and consumes our identity. Those who suffer from high levels of anxiety often do this to themselves without even realising it.
Most commonly through variations of:
• Procrastination
• Withdrawal from/avoiding everyday tasks
• Excessive consumption of alcohol, caffeine and processed foods
But rather than self-medication I prefer to call these behavioural dysfunctions “poison drips”. This term is to avoid glorifying such behaviours and view them from a different perspective, examine their long term effects, cut them down, become aware of progress, acknowledge each step as success and hence improve your state of being. Here is an example of a poison drip high level anxiety sufferers can probably relate too.
Avoiding making a necessary phone call:
Recall how it feels the moments you realise you’re going to be picking up the phone, right down to your stomach. Think about the thoughts running through your head, thinking about what the person on the other end might be thinking. These thoughts are not your identity, but are unrealistic ideas from your environment that permeate your mind then get exaggerated by your brains sensitivity. These feelings are suppressed when you decide not to go through with the call, you feel better, becoming relaxed and comfortable once again. But the suppressed feelings will manifest themselves later as part of your character, as what you identify with, you become your harshest and possibly only critic. You will start saying things like “I can’t do anything right”, “I have no skills”, “I can’t do things for myself” “I’m useless”. Alas, you have poison dripped yourself, clearly not a healthy thought process.
Poison drips represent the negative behavioural choices of the mood-behaviour cycle. In short this is the concept that behaviours stimulate moods and vice-versa, determining whether you are in an upward or downward spiral of state. You cannot simply decide to have an improved mood and receive it instantaneously; this is where something like medical intervention can come into play.
Engaging in more positive behaviours is however a matter of willpower. But It seems impossible to complete everyday tasks and far easier to poison drip yourself when your state is depleted.
This is often due to a futuristic state of thinking, believing happiness will arrive when this or that has occurred, that your ideas of how the future will turn out will save you. “I will be happy when I get this promotion” “I will be happy when I get this job” “I will be happy when I get these grades” “I will be happy when this phase of my life is over, and the next has begun”. In essence, you tell yourself you will be awesome or successful in the future. And by extension you are telling yourself you are not awesome and you are a failure now. YouTube entrepreneur Elliott Hulse shows us an improved outlook by saying “success isn’t doing things right, it certainly isn’t doing things right the first time, it’s making steps and progress towards your goal.” Each time you do you are successful, you are awesome.
Give yourself permission to take this practical approach in starting out, write down all the things you think you might be poison dripping yourself with, and rate them on a scale of 1-10 in terms of how negative an influence they are on your wellbeing. Be open and honest with this, anything could be poison dripping you. By acknowledging what the big killers are, something in you will change. Every time you don’t do these things, the stories you tell yourself will become positive. ”I went to work today, so I am awesome” “I went to school today, so I am awesome” “I studied tonight, so I am awesome” “I went to the gym today, so I am awesome” ”I made the necessary phone call today, so I am awesome”. It could be anything, “I brushed my teeth today, so I am awesome”” “I made a step towards my goal, so I am awesome”. This practice can unlock the greatness in you, and connect you with the happiness that exists within the journey of your life, in the present moment.
Good Luck
Most commonly through variations of:
• Procrastination
• Withdrawal from/avoiding everyday tasks
• Excessive consumption of alcohol, caffeine and processed foods
But rather than self-medication I prefer to call these behavioural dysfunctions “poison drips”. This term is to avoid glorifying such behaviours and view them from a different perspective, examine their long term effects, cut them down, become aware of progress, acknowledge each step as success and hence improve your state of being. Here is an example of a poison drip high level anxiety sufferers can probably relate too.
Avoiding making a necessary phone call:
Recall how it feels the moments you realise you’re going to be picking up the phone, right down to your stomach. Think about the thoughts running through your head, thinking about what the person on the other end might be thinking. These thoughts are not your identity, but are unrealistic ideas from your environment that permeate your mind then get exaggerated by your brains sensitivity. These feelings are suppressed when you decide not to go through with the call, you feel better, becoming relaxed and comfortable once again. But the suppressed feelings will manifest themselves later as part of your character, as what you identify with, you become your harshest and possibly only critic. You will start saying things like “I can’t do anything right”, “I have no skills”, “I can’t do things for myself” “I’m useless”. Alas, you have poison dripped yourself, clearly not a healthy thought process.
Poison drips represent the negative behavioural choices of the mood-behaviour cycle. In short this is the concept that behaviours stimulate moods and vice-versa, determining whether you are in an upward or downward spiral of state. You cannot simply decide to have an improved mood and receive it instantaneously; this is where something like medical intervention can come into play.
Engaging in more positive behaviours is however a matter of willpower. But It seems impossible to complete everyday tasks and far easier to poison drip yourself when your state is depleted.
This is often due to a futuristic state of thinking, believing happiness will arrive when this or that has occurred, that your ideas of how the future will turn out will save you. “I will be happy when I get this promotion” “I will be happy when I get this job” “I will be happy when I get these grades” “I will be happy when this phase of my life is over, and the next has begun”. In essence, you tell yourself you will be awesome or successful in the future. And by extension you are telling yourself you are not awesome and you are a failure now. YouTube entrepreneur Elliott Hulse shows us an improved outlook by saying “success isn’t doing things right, it certainly isn’t doing things right the first time, it’s making steps and progress towards your goal.” Each time you do you are successful, you are awesome.
Give yourself permission to take this practical approach in starting out, write down all the things you think you might be poison dripping yourself with, and rate them on a scale of 1-10 in terms of how negative an influence they are on your wellbeing. Be open and honest with this, anything could be poison dripping you. By acknowledging what the big killers are, something in you will change. Every time you don’t do these things, the stories you tell yourself will become positive. ”I went to work today, so I am awesome” “I went to school today, so I am awesome” “I studied tonight, so I am awesome” “I went to the gym today, so I am awesome” ”I made the necessary phone call today, so I am awesome”. It could be anything, “I brushed my teeth today, so I am awesome”” “I made a step towards my goal, so I am awesome”. This practice can unlock the greatness in you, and connect you with the happiness that exists within the journey of your life, in the present moment.
Good Luck