Brain Priming - Positive Affirmation and OCPD

I love the blog Lifehacker!

They have a great post on how to “hack” your brain.   It’s all about understanding your neurology and then using it to be the way you want. Having knowledge of the brain gives you control over it!

They write:

You are not who you are, but rather the product of many influences. The saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" exists for a reason: the longer you've been the person you think you are, the harder it becomes to change. The thing is, you can dramatically change who you are.

Very comforting to anyone who get frustrated with themselves!

They are some very specific tips, but one important on is on "Priming". This is basically a mantra, or a positive group of affirmations, that create good feelings in your brain though their associations. These good associations them prime your brain to feel calm and happy. For example, you can prime yourself to be relaxed by focusing on a list of words like "calm", " sweet",  "pastel", "slow swings" and other words that comfort you. You can make a sentence, write them down, or meditate on them. You can choose or create a word list for any emotion, and then all it takes is finding the right way to get yourself to really focus on them and the feelings they inspire.

Try it! Let me know how your "brain priming" goes in the comments .

Shame and Illness: Hiding OCPD

The article "Mental Health: The Stigma is Killing Us" from Clutch Online Magazine talks about the shame certain communities can project on various mental illnesses. While I don't really go around thinking of myself as mentally ill, I rarely talk about the medication I"m on, and certainly don't feel comfortable sharing all the details with most people.

A lot of the article deals with the flaws in the treatment of mental health, both in the past and today. Because anxiety is fairly common today, there are lots of options for help. But more serious disorders like schizophrenia often go untreated because the afflicted are scared of the life-changing consequences of treatment.

The article makes the point that we all have mental states that are "Abnormal", and we shouldn't stigmatize anyone who takes the initiative to treat their inner weaknesses.

The author puts it like this:

"In the sense that we lack the knowledge and coping skills to deal with depression, yes, it is a weakness, similar to a skinny guy who is physically weak it comes to the weight room. Some people lack the reps to deal with life’s challenges because not enough time is spent properly discerning symptoms, identifying the root causes and controlling or eliminating the defect."

What do you think? Personally, I like the concept of dealing with mental illnesses not as something definitively scary, but instead a process of growing away from a weakness.