Fear and panic transmission and the hypocratic tangle

We are all prejudiced and we are all hypocrites too. Where we cause most harm to each other is when we lose control of our emotions and feed the negative ones the most. There are times when we are right to be concerned but in doing so become susceptible to panic attacks. Panic attacks do not in themselves kill us but the more we dwell on our troubles the more severe our judgement over what is good for us gets impaired.

The solution as ever is simple. We need to take a step back from our personal situation to gain a more realistic perspective about the situation as a whole. It is true that things are concerning, but not as bad as they could be. The majority of people on this gorgeous planet are not dead. The sun still shines and the rain still falls to enable food to grow to feed us.

It is undeniably harder for those with more than us to have fewer concerns but there is always someone working through far greater trauma than we are because we are individuals with very different fears as to what it the worst that can happen. For some, dying of dementia is the worst, for others it's cancer while sadly, someone else is dying of starvation, Ebola or from torture.

The thing we need to focus on most are all the days we were not suffering in this way and the prospect of those days returning. Then we start to facilitate the means by which such dreams can become possible for ourselves and by ourselves as individuals. The more relaxed we can be and the more we look for the opportunities to make things work from what we already have that does still work the easier it starts to get. But it is hard work and continuous work too.

We all have bad days, tired days, frustrated days and it can all too easily seem that every day is like that but that is merely our perception of things at that moment and it is never entirely true if we choose not to view things that way.

Those with close family and friends can find that easier than those who have none, but even some people with no support from others can find it much easier than those with hundreds of contacts because they are less likely to get muddled and confused by other people's opinions and fears.

"Fear itself is a demon. 

Fear wants us to follow its instructions all the time."

The smart thing to do is to not let fear in. Fear is merely a lack of control over our own perception of things. It is right that we have that emotion because there are dangerous things to avoid but therein lies the answer. Avoid the danger in the first place. If people are confusing you, find someone who doesn't that does not preach or teach harm or hatred or... just ignore them. Let them deal with their fears their way to leave you to deal with yours your way which we hope is to note it as maybe something you might need to be aware of but not to dwell on it as your top priority for now.

"Fear's instructions should only ever be followed
in a genuine life or death threatening situation."

As soon as the immediate danger is past we enter a state of shock which in itself can all too easily lead to panic and more fear that is not based on reality at all, but based in perception. We often trick ourselves into believing we are in more peril than we actually are.

Luckily our emergency services know what to do if we play our part in following their instructions to the letter at that point. When we fail to listen to instructions that lead us to safety we make matters much worse for both ourselves and them. This is why we recommend relaxation so that our natural instincts will kick in as and when they are required to so that we can return to a state of stability far more often and frequently. That way we can enjoy our lives and have happier and healthier ones too.

Most people have heard the term transference and we transmit alarm signals far quicker with our non-verbal senses than we do by any other means - just like any other species in fact. In common with them all we also then explain when, what and where the danger is using language. What we don't currently do is then fall silent to be on the alert for an even bigger danger. In these troubling times it is necessary now to do so, while helping in our communities those who are unable to switch back to standard alert mode quickly.

Physiologically what is happening is that a rush of signals and chemicals whizz round our brains because we are in danger and most people have metabolisms that reset everything quickly given the chance. It's the discussions of every concern in our frantic lives that has become the problem now. Let emergency teams come and ask you for more details, let them do the analysis straight after any upset from anything. Give yourself time to remember more details to help them further and it becomes a much clearer picture than if you try to blurt out everything in one go anyway. Your responses will be less clouded by emotions then which is good news because it means you yourself have recovered from that one incident and are already ready to continue as normal again but primed to respond a bit better should another emergency occur.

The great news is that even severe and critical conditions are greatly eased by learning to relax and switch to making the most of life all by yourself... so long as you're not upsetting anyone else in the process that is. Be respectful of all as you never know what troubles they may have. They might be working on how to save your life for all any of us actually know. Too much noise and fuss is hardly going to help them to think straight, is it?

This article has two pictures of trees. The second is clearly a tree, but the first one has had some human alternations to make it appear more interesting as if it wasn't fascinating enough. Our species has to make some alterations in order to ensure no species takes over everything. It's the same with our own cultures. We're great when we tinker about to make things work a bit better most of the time. It's only when we all decide that we can do much better if we change everything all at once that our species hits brick walls which seem impossible to overcome.

Even so, during major overhauls it always comes down to tinkering with the tiniest of details to make things work best of all for everyone and everything. As a species we've been doing this for centuries, it is time we did so with less fuss and panic. It saves lives by saving time, energy and a great deal of totally unnecessary distress to. We can but do what we can but do.

The whole of life on Earth is a tangled mesh of paradoxes like these because it is so varied. It is what makes it magical, beautiful and worth living for too though. So... enjoy the best of it and work through the rest of it even when it isn't so pleasant because actually, for most of us, that part of life is but a tiny fraction of the whole of our experiences on Earth.  

Recent thinking on Mental Illness

Recent thinking among the boffins in mental health circles is running along the lines of everyone being mentally ill. What they are suggesting now is that we are all a potential car crash waiting to happen with regard to becoming ill. All it would take is a trigger to start it all off. Or to put it another way, apparently we're all crazy, it's just a question of degrees.

Gone are the days whereby it's a simple case of nature versus nurture. The thinking is that, as genetics and environmental influences can never be separated both can be the foundation stones for someone becoming ill, but neither on it's own may trigger it. They are just two of a myriad of factors that have to be in place in the right order to act as the catalysts to illness.

This is born out by the evidence of many case studies. Mental illness may run in your family, but rather like diabetes it can skip generations so even when there is a strong genetic element it is not a fait accompli that you or your children will ever get ill. If you've been brought up with a family member who has a permanent condition of mental illness it is more likely that your own behaviour will be shaped by those experiences to make it more likely for you to suffer illness yourself.

A person from different genetic stock  with no evidence of mental illness suddenly having to live with a severe form of mental illness in a loved one is likely to experience bouts of stress, anxiety and depression, so it's become unwise just to assume that genetics are the only factor in play when people are blood relatives.

Likewise, environment or circumstances into which we are born do not in themselves mean that we will become ill. Some people brought up in a disturbed setting can follow suit but many don't. In short there is no one answer and no one way to predict who will become ill and who won't.

Everyday potential for illness
If we have a passion or interest in anything at all, some boffins now say, then we are probably suffering from some form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This includes passion for our jobs; our hobbies like sport such as keep fit, football, working out at a gym, walking, cycling etc; creative activities like art, theatre and music and even everyday interests like shopping. So long as those passions and interests remain containable we are considered well. It is when they become all consuming to the point of interfering with our ability to function in other things that adverse effects may occur.

Added to which, as human beings we are all prone to every day stresses, worries and anxieties. We might have concerns about our jobs, our health, our finances, our homes or our relationships which are all perfectly 'normal', or average. However no one can predict what events might transpire to exacerbate normal stresses, worries and anxieties into some form of illness. For example, we can not assume any of us will not experience redundancy, a house fire or becoming a victim of crime.

Given this, suddenly we come to realize that there is no such thing as immunity from mental illness and that it really does come down to a bit of a lottery as to who becomes ill and what may trigger it. You may be a person that can cope with losing a job, but are one who is more susceptible to becoming mentally ill over the breakup or loss of a loved one. Hence we can look at the statistics in a slightly different way and say that 25% of the population become mentally ill because they were unlucky in the events and circumstances that came their way and that 75% of the demographic were lucky because nothing that could have triggered illness happened during the course of their lives.

Bereavement
However bereavement is, in my opinion, a form of depression and as none of us are immune from losing a loved one, (indeed we except our parents to predecease us), we can and should expect to be pretty miserable at such a loss at some point. In that period of adjustment known as bereavement it would be unusual for people to feel like doing cartwheels and throwing a party and to continue their interests in normal life in the same way.  Even people who experience relief over an aggressor dying can experience symptoms of bereavement including guilt and shame over their relief.

80% of us can expect to experience bereavement at some point in our lives (not everyone will) and that state is a painful and distressing one often to the point of making us introspective and miserable. A mind that is distressed and/or miserable for more than a couple of weeks is considered to be a depressed one and therefore can be considered to be ill. In the light of this the stats should read that 80% will experience mental illness in some form.

It is also common for people to experience a sense of loss akin to many symptoms of bereavement when they lose partners through divorce, or lose their jobs or home. Depression is classified as a form of mental illness and one of the most common at that. Along with stress and anxiety millions of people each year go to their doctors for help with it. How is it then that stigma over mental illness still exists?

In correspondence with a psychologist in Australia I was shocked and appalled to learn that in third world countries people do not become psychotic from being left on their own while dealing with a bereavement, because in third world countries retain their sense of community and care for each other at such times. I don't know if the statement is true or not, but to me even the thought that it might be constitutes a damming indictment on the entire developed world.

The challenge has to be to eradicate the stigma to increase the chances of people feeling OK about seeking help when they need it. The stigma alone can prevent people seeking help and result in the problems escalating in their severity and becoming long-term. That said the statistics show that people rarely have more than one episode of serious illness in their lives. I wonder how many remain ill because recovery can be incomplete or prevented due to the stigma.

By being supportive of those around us, by allowing them to talk, by encouraging them to go for help early I vehemently believe we can jointly make significant inroads into reducing the severity and longevity of many forms of mental illness. To that end I feel we need to encourage people to get informed and no longer be ignorant about the subject, to deal in facts and not in assumptions because even a staunchly prejudiced person may find they could be the next person to become ill.

I don't advocate going on a crusade and turning into a raison d'etre (reason for being), but I do suggest that we become more aware and correct people in their assumptions as and when it's appropriate and when there are openings. After all there is a sharp difference between being dedicated and being obsessive. Obviously this blog is concerned with the subject, elsewhere I do other things and I recommend you do the same.