From the desk of Dr. Moshe Zloof: Advice of the week-- June 24, 2009

When In a Down-turn in your life,

Reinforce with Hope and Aspirations

By Dr. Moshe Zloof

When we feel good and our mind is occupied by happy thoughts, our brain releases dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin (the so called “happy drugs”). On the other hand, when we feel dejected, stressed and anxious, cortisol is released into our system, causing, among other things, ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) to creep into our mind and exacerbate the condition. To remedy the situation and get some temporary relief, we need to “inject” positive thoughts that can cause a release of dopamine, improving one’s mood and reducing the haunting negativity.*

Since the unconscious brain does not distinguish between real or imaginary events, any positive events, real, imagined, past or present, adequately influence the chemistry of the brain to tip towards recovery. This is similar to the concept of Affirmation, when patients repeat out loud that they are getting better, and the brain in turn goes about actualizing those affirmations.

Advice

1. Limited day-dreaming: To switch the negative thoughts into positive ones you can embark, from time to time, on limited day dreaming, creating positive imaginary scenarios in your mind, which will consequently make you feel good. Personally, I like to play a record of a Violin Concerto, closing my eyes and imagining that I am the admired soloist. I am sure every one of you is creative enough to come up with your own ideas.Another suggestion that many people prefer is to get extra busy, shielding the negative thoughts that are trying to invade the conscious mind.
2. Reinforcing hope and future aspirations: Ordinarily each one of us has hopes and future aspirations. Poor people, for example, participate in lotteries more than the norm, to create a sliver of hope in their lives. When we are in a down turn we need to reinforce our hopes for the future in order to weather the storm.In some cases with limited amount of expense one can embark on a new venture that so far was in the back of ones mind. But please be careful not to cling to anything just because you are down.In addition, make sure you are not in denial, because there are so many vultures out there trying to convince you to pour more money in bogus ventures.
3. Blessing in disguise: Another way to induce positive thoughts is to consider that your situation may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, and often you need to work at it to accomplish it, like the laid off GM worker who learns a new profession and excels in it. ·

*If the condition of the subjects are more severe they need to consult a doctor, and perhaps the combination of medication and cognitive therapy will do the job.

Comments welcome

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