After struggling endlessly to read traditional textual books, I decided, for sake of my mental health, to stop, even though I was in the middle of a fantasy trilogy, which to me is no big loss since I didn’t really care about the characters, the setting, or whatnot, and the books will probably never be adapated to feature film, anyway. From now on, I’ll only be reading books that have been adapted into film or will be adapted into film, are part of series I genuinely care about and love (like Star Wars), graphic novels, comics, nonfiction books that aren’t puff pieces or hatchet jobs or in any fashion political or antireligious, and so forth. Decluttering my life in this regard has actually been mildly therapeutic, surprisingly.
None in particular, really, unless I want to reread a book to refine my review of it, since I generally don’t find any kind of literature, except school and college textbooks, to be rereadable.
I expressed interest in this guide from The Depression Project since I had experienced my share of trauma throughout my lifetime, especially when I accustomed myself to the World Wide Web as it was gaining ground, even before the widespread use of social media. The introduction defines trauma not as an event but rather as how an event overwhelms the body’s capacity to process what is happening. Part one details how to map and regulate the nervous system; chief nervous components include the ventral portion that dictates one’s presence, the sympathetic sector that focuses on mobility, and the dorsal area that involves emotional shutdown.
Part two assists readers in creating dorsal toolkits, opening by mentioning both negative physical and mental feelings when the area is in shutdown mode. Comfort activities can counteract shutdown, including diaphragmatic breathing, telling oneself grounding statements to remain in the present, and aromatherapy. The chapter further suggests techniques like mindfulness exercises (which encompass what one feels, hears, smells, and tastes), gentle mobility like stretching or swaying and connecting with others who register as safe for oneself. Other methods include finding positives in the current environment and journaling things for which one is grateful.
The third section aids the reader in producing a “sympathetic toolkit” to counteract situations like one’s system being mobilized by racing thoughts, with several viable strategies to help one restore their system to safety. The chapter suggests positively reframing racing thoughts and asking the golden question: “If a friend were in my position, would I be telling them the same negative things that I’m currently telling myself?” The book defines cognitive distortions as twisted thought patterns grounded not in reality but in bias, and filter thinking focuses solely on the negative. The final part focuses on anchoring oneself in a mentally safe spot.
Ultimately, I found this to be an illuminating read on overcoming past trauma and learned the critical sectors of the nervous system, alongside terminology for negative thought patterns. However, I was aware of techniques to counter negative feelings, like deep breathing and journaling. I also didn’t care much for the segments that involved providing answer lists in between subsections. As the guide further notes, not every strategy will work for every person; as an autistic, I often struggle with attempts to remember the multitude of methods to counteract whatever hinders my thoughts. Regardless, this is an insightful resource for those wrestling with post-traumatic stress.
As a high-functioning autistic who has endured endless trauma throughout his life, I have constantly sought resources and help to deal with the anxiety said incidents have produced, which haunt me today. The authors dedicate this book to all children and adults who suffer from anxiety or panic and need daily courage to navigate their divergent experiences, with Karle acknowledging her support system. The introduction mentions the pathways of anxious thoughts, providing the example of a woman who worried about not turning off her stove at home and nearly got into an accident on the road.
The authors define anxiety as occurring without immediate peril and mention the various functions of the brain’s cortex and amygdala. They state several techniques for coping; these include changing thoughts and seeking professional health alongside reading their book. They mention one benefit of anxiousness: it can make one alert and focused. One of the initial steps they suggest is to identify one’s life goals, and they promise not to go into detail about the complicated disposition of the brain, which they don’t. They discuss the two primary pathways to anxiety, including the cortex pathway; the cortex is the wrinkled and gray outer layer of the brain, and the amygdala pathway involves the physical experience of anxious thoughts.
The second chapter discusses the amygdala portion of the brain, indicating that natural selection gave humans the aspect of fear whose central goal is protection, with some phobias biologically wired with little prompting. The amygdala creates emotional memories, positive and negative, of which humans don’t necessarily have awareness. Its central location in the brain makes it advantageous to influence other aspects of the organ that can change necessary bodily functions in less than a second and control humans in times of danger. The authors note that negative experiences can be affiliated with unrelated things, mentioning examples.
Chapter three focuses on how the cortex creates anxiety and says that while the amygdala pathway can be powerful enough to activate instant physical reactions, anxious thoughts can also originate in the cortex pathway and come from sights seen or unseen. The cortex, say the authors, is prone to error, and it can initiate anxiety in different ways, with distressing thoughts more likely to emerge from the cortex’s left side. The right hemisphere can be a source with its ability to imagine detailed situations, and the left portion is far more analytical. The chapter concludes that those without functioning amygdala don’t experience the fear that most others do.
The fourth chapter invites readers to identify the basis of their anxiety, with much of it involving the amygdala, the cortex, or both. Different types of activation can occur, experienced as thoughts or images, that can make the amygdala activate the stress response. The authors provide several exercises regarding left and right-hemisphere-based anxiety and that humans may miss many opportunities for anxiety-free moments by pondering that which may never occur. They further describe obsessions and compulsions, the former being uncontrollable repetitive thoughts or doubts and the latter being repeated actions to calm anxiety.
The second part of the book provides more exercises for readers to control their anxiety, the first involving recognizing the stress in response to one’s anxious reactions and that panic attacks are the most unpleasant overactivation of the stress response. The fifth and sixth chapters elaborate on exercises such as various techniques of deep breathing, muscle relaxation, and medication, with visualization mentioned as a supplement. The authors advise readers to set aside time each day to focus on these efforts to counter anxiety and the physiological responses the central nucleus of the amygdala initiates.
Chapter seven focuses on triggers, where the lateral nucleus, the decision-making part of the amygdala, determines whether there should be a reaction to sights or sounds. Humans learn to fear triggers associated with unpleasant events, whether one causes an unfortunate experience. The authors define a trigger as an anxiety-provoking stimulus, such as a sensation, object, or event, one initially neutral, which wouldn’t cause fear or anxiety for most people. They advise retraining the brain, such as experiencing triggers in different situations, starting with those that interfere with daily life.
The eighth chapter says that while one cannot easily erase the emotional memory that the amygdala forms, it is possible to develop new connections there to compete with those leading to fear and anxiety. The authors then discuss exposure-based treatment, with the amygdala needing to have experiences to rewire, being a “no pain, no gain” situation. They also stress that medications can assist in exposure or make it harder for the amygdala to learn. Furthermore, a hierarchy consisting of a rank-ordered list of steps to learn new responses to different situations is the key to exposure therapy.
Chapter nine mentions the necessity of exercise and sleep for anxiety recovery, confirmed by scientific studies. Utilizing the muscles in different ways, say the authors, can reduce the influence of the amygdala, with aerobic exercise the most helpful in that it uses the large muscle groups in rhythmic movement at moderate intensity. Regarding slumber, most people know that getting good sleep makes them more refreshed and alert, with sleepless nights being detrimental and slumber a luxury for many. In the end, good habits regarding sleep and exercise can strongly influence the amygdala.
The tenth chapter discusses thinking patterns that result in anxiety, with people able to influence the underlying neurological processes leading toward the condition. The authors stress that the central approach of cognitive therapy is that some cognitions are either illogical or unhealthy and can intensify unhealthy behavioral or mental patterns. The chapter provides several exercises that involve changing one’s interpretations of situations and assessing pessimistic tendencies, with optimism tending to occur in the brain’s left hemisphere and pessimism in the right. The writers conclude by stressing that while one can’t change subconscious thoughts, one can be vigilant about those that often contribute to cortex-centric anxiety.
Chapter eleven discusses various methods to calm one’s cortex, with significant differences between thoughts about events and the events themselves. The authors indicate that those who take thoughts and feelings at face value and believe them will find it harder to rewire their cortexes to resist anxiety. The cortex, they continue, is a “busy, noisy” place often laden with ideas and feelings lacking basis, and they suggest that people develop skepticism about that part of their brain. The writers return to medication, with certain ones being helpful in changing a person’s thought patterns. They conclude that anxiety isn’t within conscious control and that mindfulness can help accept it.
Overall, while there are some techniques I already know about, this book is an informative resource on how to deal with anxiety and is recommended reading for those who suffer from mental problems as I do. However, as an autistic adult, the authors don’t mention that mental subgroup within the book, and advice for those on the spectrum would have been welcome. Regardless, the educational tidbits about the functions of certain parts of the brain, where anxiety originates, and how it travels through the nervous organ are insightful, and psychology students would probably benefit from the book as well.
Writing constructively probably brings me the most joy as a hobby, whether nonfiction (game/movie reviewing), or fiction (and I’ve gotten a ways into the prologue of a fantasy novel I’ve been trying to rewrite).
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