ACCEPT YOUR WOUNDS: Neurons that Fire Together, Wire Together...

In my younger years I have experienced full blown, mind numbing, panic attacks and the dark abyss of major depression and I accept that the neural pathways that facilitated those symptoms are still hard-wired in my brain. Yet, I do the work to insure those circuits remain dormant (lacking electroc-chemical stimulation) and the symptoms remain at bay.

Accepting your wounds is necessary to engage in the healing process and facilitate recovery and growth and this is crucial not only for those experiencing the pain and suffering from physical disorders, but for those experiencing symptoms of mental illness because...

... "mental illness" is a brain disorder making it a physical illness having absolutely nothing, whatsoever, to do with your personality, character, value system, preferences, morality, or past choices that have resulted in success or failure. 

Not acknowledging or denying the nature of your illness/disorder may lead to medicating the pain through chemical and behavioral addictions, impulsive behaviors, excessive psychiatric medicating and an over reliance on others to provide for your relief and recovery, resulting in magnified suffering and a failure to individually engage an effective recovery/healing process.

I met with an woman recently who had experienced an unusual external crisis, which led to 3 days of internal panic/anxiety symptoms, after which she proceeded to judge, criticize and blame herself for having the panic/anxiety symptoms, by comparing herself to others who did not have panic/anxiety in that specific crisis. I then asked, "why would you expect someone who does not have panic disorder to experience panic symptoms? Does a diabetic expect a non-diabetic to understand and experience the effects of high blood sugar? Does an asthmatic expect a non-asthmatic to understand the effects of severely constricted breathing due to asthma?"

Hence, although she continues to engage an admirable recovery program, including therapy, daily relaxation exercises, attendance and full participation in community support resources, adopting healthy lifestyle changes, etc, there was still a part of her that refused to accept and denied her condition and this obstructs a fulfilling recovery.

"Mental illness" is a chronic brain disorder with symptoms manifesting from imbalances in neurochemicals and neuro-circuits, requiring you engage a recovery process that includes problem-specific lifestyle changes that will reduce potential for relapses/symptoms and improve mood and functioning by directly targeting neurochemicals and neuro-circuitry.

If you have a brain disorder then accept the diagnosis and recognize the symptoms that accompany that diagnosis will be present. Denying the facts by rejecting symptoms merely delays and obstructs recovery and, literally, reinforces dysfunctional brain circuits.

Demanding that the symptoms of a specific brain-based disorder not manifest when, in fact, you have a specific brain-based disorder, is like demanding you remain dry while standing in the rain. 

The crucial factor in any brain-based disorder is the message that bounces 'round your neuro-circuits after the symptoms are experienced, in the calm after the storm. More important than the symptoms is the the interpretation of your 'self' after the symptoms subside, how you define yourself when the peace settles in, and this will be a determining factor as to the intensity, frequency and duration of the next storm that aises through the experience of symptoms.

"Neurons that fire together, wire together," because all thoughts self-generated in reaction to your symptoms become associated with the symptoms and then hard-wire and intensify the symptoms by making the circuit stronger. Your self-negating judgments about yourself, made after the symptoms cease, merely aid in reinforcing the manifestation of future symptoms.

"The phrase, “neurons that fire together wire together” can be attributed to Donald Hebb, a Canadian neuropsychologist, who wrote those words in 1949. The meaning of Hebb’s axiom is that each experience we encounter, including our feelings, thoughts, sensations, and muscle actions becomes embedded in the network of brain cells, that produce that experience. Each time you repeat a particular thought or action, you strengthen the connection between a set of brain cells or neurons." LINK

You're Wired for Anxiety. And You're Wired to Handle it.

Acceptance or rejection are the chief factors of engaging an effective recovery. Rejecting a brain disorder by rejecting the symptoms of that disorder will weave that rejection into the symptomatic circuitry simply by association and will ultimately intensify the symptomatic circuit, intensifying the symptoms.

Artwork by John Ashton Golden- "Stress Anxiety Depression"