Things like depression, anxiety, anger, low mood – in fact, any
problem that comes under the “mental health” umbrella (and probably any other
problem) – do not come out of nowhere and do not continue to exist in a vacuum.
You don’t feel anxious or depressed without a cause. The trick is to discover
what keeps your particular issue going. And when you’ve discovered that, you
can start to tackle it.
There’s a concept called “vicious cogs”. Imagine a large cog in
the centre and smaller cogs linked to it. That centre cog represents the main
problem – the smaller cogs are what keep it going. The two are interlinked,
feeding off one another. For instance, if anxiety is a problem, it may be kept
going by distorted thinking (always assuming the worst will happen, or that
there’s bound to be a big disaster heading your way), avoiding situations (in
order to spare yourself potential, albeit maybe unlikely, embarrassment), keeping
busy (in an effort to avoid thinking), escape (trying to get out of situations
in which you think you will feel uncomfortable). These are just examples. By
adopting these coping mechanisms you actually perpetuate the anxiety. You
assume a problem that may or may not be likely to happen, then you do what you
can to make sure it doesn’t happen. For instance, you’re afraid people won’t
like you, so you avoid meeting people. But in doing so, you never get to find
out whether they like you or not. And that keeps the anxiety in place. And so
on…
What you need to do is confront the cogs one by one. This will
require courage and you may need the help of others. But once you see that your
fears are unfounded (or greatly exaggerated), then you should find your problem
gradually overcome.
Here’s a poem I recently wrote about my own vicious cogs. Having
identified the problems I have been able to work to overcome them.
*Tiredness*
Constant
plodding ache
Affecting
mood and motivation
Keep
on turning
Keep
depression turning
*Negativity*
Stupid
this, stupid that
I
don't want to do it
Haven't
I got enough to think about?
Everything
is aggravation
Keep
on turning
Keep
depression turning
*Low
expectation*
Nothing
ever changes
Nothing
ever will
As
it was in the beginning
Is
now
And
ever shall be
Immortal
stagnation
Keep
on turning
Keep
depression turning
*Withdrawal*
Shunning
human company
On
my lonesome
It's
easier that way
Don't
have to think what to say
Isolation
Keep
on turning
Keep
depression turning
*Lack
of motivation*
Can't
be bothered
What's
the point?
It's
too much hassle
Keep
on turning
Keep
depression turning
Just
do it!
Just
do it!
Be
bothered
Be
bothered
Things
can change
Exit
your safe space
There's
a world out there
And
it might just want to know you
Overcome
the cogs
That
keep depression turning
Break
each one
Break
each one
The
key!
The
key!
(You
can type “vicious cogs” into a search engine to find out more.)
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