World mental health day tip

You know when you talk to yourself and you think “am I mad?”. Well who knew it’s actually a treatment for mental illness. Okay I’ll put that in to context before you think I truly am mad and start filling in forms.

The brain is made up of primarily 2 different parts. The rational and calm side, and then the primitive, act first and ask questions later side. It’s that side of the brain that I have most problems with. A therapist will say it’s derived from fight or flight. A sufferer will tell you it’s the stupid part of the brain that makes you worry about stupid things and won’t let the rational side help out.

That side of the brain, for me, is Steve. Now Steve is an attention seeking twat. Quite often the reasons for my high anxiety is because Steve has found something that may or may not happen and pulled at that thread until such point that I’ve become a gibbering wreck and become ill. His input ranges from “why go out? Nobody really likes you, you’re just invited to make up the numbers” through to “what’s the point in you living? Really? It’s rhetorical. Kill yourself”.

Now your side of that brain, hopefully isn’t dramatic or extreme, it’s just that Steve is like a 6 year old with a tube of smarties. The way to combat it, confront Steve. Quite often him and I will have a chat, I’ll let him go off on one about how I’m safer not going anywhere or avoiding situations, and then I’ll ask him what evidence there is. Many of the situations where I get anxious are as a result of catastrophising. If it’s a hypothetical worry, then I write it down as just that. If, and sometimes Steve can be right, it’s something to naturally be anxious about, then I can write that down and see what I can do to directly influence it. 

Now it’s not perfect, Steve is a twat. However, it is all about controlling him. Listen to him and then, hopefully, alleviate the anxieties.

So, this world mental health day, confront your primal part of the brain, spoiler alert we did evolve from primal species, give them a name and talk to them. I mean, don’t do it in the middle of curry’s, it’ll probably be given a job, confusing Neanderthal with a teenage weekend worker, but talk to them in a place where you don’t relax. That can be your worry place, where all your anxieties stay. 

Right, that’s enough preachy stuff, back to work… Steve? STEVE?! No the train isn’t going to derail…

Peace 💚

 

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