Paul’s rather serious mental health conditions are crippling his relationships, have damaged his finances and affected his world. He can work on 12 separate areas to positively change his state and alter his experience of life radically. This is not a 12 step program, but rather an account of some of the suggestions I made to Paul about influencing his state hour by hour and day by day. Let’s go through them briefly one by one.
Physiology
1. Breathe deep
We started Paul with some deep breathing exercises. It relaxes the autonomic nervous system (ANS), bringing the parasympathetic (the brake) and sympathetic (the accelerator) into concert with each other. Deep breathing also relaxes the enteric nervous system (ENS) via deep vagal stimulation which assists digestion.
2. Stand straight
This is an experiment I had Paul try in a long straight hall way. I invited him to shuffle down it, slightly hunched over, looking down like an old person. Then at the end, he turned around, stood upright, lifted his head and walked back with authority. Outward change affects inward experience dramatically.
3. Dress for success
Just as smiling makes us happy and when we are happy we smile, dress can change our mood for the better. Paul was going for a job interview and dressing snappy gave him more confidence!
4. Get moving
I suggested Paul take a walk every day. According to Dr John Arden (author of the Brain Bible) doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day has a more positive effect on depression than all of the anti-depressants on the market. It releases endorphins, which give a natural high.
Biochemistry
5. Load up on neuropeptides
We then looked at Paul’s diet. Foods are loaded with a cornucopia of the precursors of emotion – called neuropeptides. For example, Chocolate (anandamide), coffee (caffeine) and eggs (choline) all lift mood. Simple carbohydrates (cookies, candy, cake) take mood down.
6. Element deficiency
Depression and pessimism can be associated with low levels of Omega-3s (found in fish) and iron deficiency (iron rich foods include red meat and beans). Lack of thiamine has been linked to introversion, anxiety, fatigue and poor mood. Paul decided it was a good idea to get more cereal, grains and cauliflower into his diet!
