Derealization (Disassociation and Depersonalization) and Anxiety

From my experience as a major anxiety sufferer, disassociation and depersonalization have been major problems in of themselves. I believe most people have experienced these things at some point in their lives, but if you haven't, you probably wont be able to understand it.

For me, I would describe derealization as coming on in attacks (like a panic attack). Like, it comes on all at once, and everything seems very confusing and unreal. I remember this one time in school... just sitting in the class room, and bam! (a derealization attack hit). This event happened early on in high school. If you have a real derealization attacks, it is one of the weirdest things you will ever experience. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like the soul completely (or almost) disconnects from its life. You can still observe things, but it has an incredible simplicity of focus, and nothing seems real (not even yourself).

Here, I'll just list the symptoms of a derealization attack:

-Intense mental fog
-Feeling disconnected
-Everything seems dream-like.
-Cognitive ability/control severely diminishes.
-Paranoia
-Euphoria
-Perceptual changes (you see both the world and self very differently).
-Fear of going insane/losing control.

Sounds like fun right? Probably not, lol. It can actually be one of the scariest experiences a person can have. But, it doesn't need to be scary. If we are able to recognize it when it comes, and be aware that it isn't permanent, it can be mind-expanding to an extent (although I wouldn't recommend it). The best thing to do is to not be afraid of derealization—if anxiety is the cause of the derealization, than being fearful of it will only exasperate it.

I've found the best cure for derealization is mindfulness. It seems to greatly help both anxiety and derealization. If you don't know what mindfulness is, basically it is a strong focus on the senses which leads to a stronger awareness of the self (which consequently reduces worrying thoughts, which typically is the cause of anxiety). Mindfulness can pull an anxious person out of the gutter (i.e. their imagination). If you're worried about things that are real, be mindful, all that is real can be seen there. Thoughts are thoughts, nothing more, nothing less—stop believing that your daydreams/dayterrors are real—they are just thoughts, focus on reality.

Diversion

Diversion is a technique that all sufferers of anxiety should possess in their arsenal. What is diversion? It is anything that takes the focus off your anxiety. One of my favorite diversion tactics is to count (1...2...3...4...) until I feel mentally relaxed. I find that once I reach between 500-1000, I feel much better. What diversion does is disrupt the sequence of thinking that causes anxiety. Another method of diversion (and probably the best, but takes practice) is mindfulness.

I remember back a little while ago at the college, I would use the counting diversion when walking between classes. It seems crazy, but it is much more sane than the alternative. Another tactic I've used is focusing on my breathing, again, this and all other forms of mindfulness take time to develop. It's important to be aware that diversion is NOT running away from the anxiety, it's a process of switching the thought process to something that isn't anxiety provoking. The main source of anxiety is our thoughts, and if we can control our thoughts, we can control our anxiety.

Of course there are many many times of diversion, and the key is to find the right type for yourself. Here is a list of ideas...

-Positive self-talk
-Reading
-Watching TV
-Mindfully listening to music (relaxing music)
-Going on a walk
-Writing
-Counting
-Meditation
-Talking with people (avoid stress-producing topics, talk about things that are happy/interesting)

The key is to stop your mind from worrying. One of the biggest worries people with anxiety have is the anxiety itself. So never worry about anxiety. In fact, embrace your anxiety. Anxiety is your friend, worrying is your problem. If you didn't have anxiety, you would never become aware of the real problem—worrying. Think of anxiety as being like a smoke alarm, alerting you that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Many anxious people are so used to worrying, that they don't even notice that they are doing it (it's part of their habitual routine).

For those readers with anxiety problems, try doing some diversion, and let me know how it works. I'm very interested in any and all feedback.

If Atheists Acted Religious

I thought this video was funny, so I figured I would throw it up here. Atheists tend to be a quite demographic, and only "speak out" when they are being attacked. On the other hand, atheists that try to express their views are quickly confronted about it. There is a double standard in this country. Fortunately it seems that things are getting better for atheists, and this country seems to be becoming more tolerant. At the end of the day, people should be free to both have and express their beliefs (within reason) without being attacked.

The maker of this video is DarkMatter2525, check out his channel if you liked this video.

Don't worry about your anxiety

My anxiety used to be terrible. The high levels of stress caused a depression so bad that I literally wanted to die. Overtime I begin to turn my focus on the things I was worrying about. Instead of trying to cure myself of anxiety, I sought to cure myself of the troublesome thoughts. And I've found that one of the main things a person with an anxiety disorder worries about is the anxiety itself. Ask an anxious person what the symptoms of anxiety are, and they will more than likely have a long, detailed list. Anxiety should never be worried about, anxiety is NOT the problem. Anxiety is a symptom of a problem, it is not the problem itself. In reality, anxiety is a very useful tool; it is a powerful alerting mechanism.

Anxiety alerts us that there is a problem. Without experiencing anxiety, we would go a long time without being aware that anything is wrong (why treating the symptom is counterproductive in the long run). Like people that are unable to experience pain, they end up constantly hurting themselves more than a usual person because they don't have the "woah, something is wrong!" alert to protect them. The problem is worrying, and our anxiety is trying to tell us that. This is why awareness is key to overcoming anxiety. It is very important to be aware of the thoughts we are thinking. When we become aware of the thoughts we are thinking, and label them as thoughts, our experience of reality becomes much more realistic. After a thought is properly labeled, we then are able to dissect the thought, and determine if the thought has any usefulness. A thought should only be encouraged if it is useful. A useless worry—like worrying about anything that is "out of our hands"—is completely pointless. The only outcome of worrying about useless thoughts will be stress. If we stress ourselves out, we harm our ability to deal with the things we can control. If you notice a worrying thought, go through the following steps...

1. Become aware that what you are experiencing is a thought, and label it as a "thought". 
2. Tell yourself that the thought is just a thought, no matter how real experiencing it seemed. Reality is found in the senses, not in our thoughts. The past and future are not real, just thoughts, and thoughts need to be properly labeled.
3. Ask yourself if you can realistically do anything about the worrying thought in reality. If nothing can be done about the perceived problem, then try make yourself to understand this by making an effort to accept it. 
4. Bring your focus back to the senses, to reality. Typically the scariest things we experience in life are our own thoughts. Daydreams (or dayterrors) are the primary source of anxiety for most people. To tell yourself that "it is just a dream" (or as I said earlier, a 'thought'), takes the emotional sting out of it.    

I believe awareness and a realistic worldview is the key to overcoming anxiety. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment. Also, I'm going to be putting in a new chat room very soon.

My take on the "anxiety cycle"

I have recognized a clear cognitive cycle that perpetuates my anxiety symptom. I have some worrying thought (a thought that I believe to be real), this causes the release of stress hormone, and this causes the anxiety symptom.

Random Thought: Anxiety itself is a symptom of a problem, not the cause.

In order to stop the anxiety problem the cycle must be broken. Oftentimes with anxiety problems the biggest source of worry is over the 'anxiety symptoms'. So medicines are used to treat the symptoms, which reduce worrying, which stop (hopefully not temporarily, but more than likely not permanent) the cycle of anxiety.

But there is a much easier way to stop the anxiety cycle. The answer is to stop worrying. Worrying is caused by improperly labeling thoughts as being MORE than thoughts (if we believe a thought, it has the power to cause a stressful response in the body). The answer is to properly label a thought as a thought, whenever we experience it. Such as, if a thought about a past event, a stressful one, pops into my awareness, and I think of it as being MORE than just a thought, it has an effect on me. If I am able to become aware that the thought entered my awareness, and properly label it as just a thought (which is what it boils down to), then it will not cause the stressful response.

And that's it! To stop anxiety we must stop delusionally believing our thoughts are MORE than thoughts. Get into the habit of becoming aware of your thoughts, and properly labeling your thoughts as 'thoughts', and label your mental state when being aware of your surroundings as 'reality'. Creating this distinction is the true cure for anxiety (the cause is the lack of distinction between reality and thoughts falsely believed to be reality). Remember, thoughts are nothing more than thoughts.

I have found the answer to solving anxiety (and many other cognitive disorders)

Big claim? It's true, I have found the answer to solving anxiety. It came from a realization I have recently had that anxiety is caused by thoughts. You're probably thinking: "No, sh!t". But this is an important realization for curing anxiety. A thought causes a stressful reaction within the body when we believe it is more than just a thought. When a child believes the thoughts they are having about the boogieman are real, their bodies generate a stressful reaction. The problem here is not the thoughts, but the perceptions of the thoughts. Perception is the problem. We can think a thought all day long, and it can only causes a stressful reaction if we believe it is true. The easiest way to sort all of this nonsense out is to correctly label a thought as being a thought. Thoughts are nothing more than thoughts, and all that is real is mindfulness (the immersion into a strong awareness of the senses). The mere fact that the thoughts of an anxious person are bothering them so much clearly reflects a distorted reality (i.e. that thoughts are real, and thus causing the physiological reaction).

Well, anyways, just food for thought. I am going to make a huge effort to make people aware of the true root cause of anxiety. On this blog I'm going to talk about my journey overcoming anxiety (the realization hasn't permeated all of my worldview yet). I'm also starting a YouTube channel (click me for channel).

Thunderf00t -Westboro Baptist Church (full interview)

I threw a short clip of this earlier up on this blog. Here is the full interview. Aren't Christians adorable? :)

That old hag is probably the most annoying bitch I've ever seen. She barley let Thunderf00t get a few words out before she would cut him off. She simply isn't open to the opinions of others. She (I use the word 'she' loosely) is the perfect example of close-mindedness in action. A person who is confident with their worldview should not be afraid of the opinions of those that disagree with it. She is obviously very angry; anger is an emotion born out of fear, and it is safe to say that she fears atheism.

BTW, didn't Jesus teach love? The Westboro Baptist Church's message is the polar opposite of the one Jesus had.