I recently watched a programme on telly about how people, especially babies learn. Apparently when you are born your brain is completely smooth. As you start growing and learning (how to walk, talk etc.) your brain starts getting grooves in it due to repitition This is learned behaviour. This is how we learn and the more we do it the deeper the grooves become. There is a theory that anxiety and depression can also be learned too.
Not sure how much is nature or nurture. But the point I am making is the more we become anxious the more likely we are to become anxious because repititive anxious and depressive thoughts makes the grooves deeper. If we can interrupt the sequence ie make a conscious effort to interrupt these thoughts even for just a few moment on a very regular basis then eventually the deep grooves become shallower and then can revert to smooth again. The programme said experiments had been done showing this. It is just a theory but I thought it was very interesting. I am sure there are members here who can put this much better than me and I wish you would!!
Please note though that I am not a medical professional or mental health specialist but to me this theory makes a lot of sense. I have, up to a point, done this, and I am less anxious than before so maybe it works.
Hope some of you find this helpful.
Bev x
10 Replies
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Hi Bev
Thats very interesting theory , if its true , I must have deep grooves lol
I am trying though to stop my thoughts & thinking so hopefully they may smooth out
Good reading though ,thank you for sharing that
Hope you are ok
Love
whywhy
xxx
• in reply to
Thank you whywhy. I thought it was interesting. Another thought - why sometimes being very busy can help with anxiety and depression...but I know its not as simple as that!
I have heard of this, they say that if you can suppress anxiety thoughts you will make anxiety, the grooves obsolete by carrying out new habits each day, as in a different routine , to break the chain of habit, this in turn is suppose to create new nueral pathways in the brain , that being the grooves.
Yes, but they really mean for instance, if you get up and you do the same routine every morning, change that routine, do what you do maybe in a different order, but do it for at least a month, so that the subconcous takes on the new habit, as they say anxiety is a habit taken on by our sub-concous , and the more we do it, the more anxiety we get, until we break the chain.
Love bonnie
xxx
excuse me I cant spell that long word tonight
• in reply to
Hi
Well thats what I tend to do , keep my mind very busy to help my anxiety , only problem is I can wear myself out , but still it is better than my mind been left to think lol
Isnt it great we have email notifications back , I am still trying to adapt to all this but the notifications for me are certainly helping alot
xxx
I like this theory it is interesting nice for u to share it with us xxx
• in reply to
Wasn't sure if I should have Donna but glad I have now.
Hi whywhy, yes what you do is divert your mind and I have seen tonight that, that is what we should be doing, trouble is easier said than done, when you feel ill before you even start, I get up and before I am down stairs I am trembling, dizziness and palps, I sit and have drink and fag of course, in the same seat every morning, tomorrow I am going to the back of the garden and doing it on a sun bed, to see if any difference, then ill or not I am going to get in my car and drive round for as long as I can. and see what happens over a month.
Keeping busy certainly helps anxiety, doesn't get time to get a look in. This is very interesting and I wonder if I can reverse my 'grooves' after all these years. I was told to say "STOP' to myself when anxious thoughts come along but find, in reality, this is much easier said then done for me.But try to think positive and maybe I can help myself better. Thanks for posting this, hypercat.
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To recover from anxiety you MUST feel it. 
Just wanted to share this.....
Hi all new to site, pls read, like, what else you got to do anyway, by the time you finish it your anxiety will be gone or your be asleep
thought id share something with you
