Bio/Psycho/Social - The Big Three In Getting It Right

We are excited to introduce you to part 2 of our three part series.
Written by Jon Amundson M.A.; M.A.P.P.; PhD and Minnie Cho B.A.; MS.

The Second Domain

When it comes to psychology, it is important to understand that the mind has a mind of its own. What does this mean? Let’s use an example:

You decide you are going to (fill in the blank with things like; stop being angry, learn a language, eat better, exercise, keep a cleaner house, get sober and so on). You even start and proceed with action. Then after an hour, a day, a week, a month or whatever time frame., the ‘mind of its own’ says (fill in the blank with things like; you don’t feel like it, it isn’t making a difference, nobody supports you, this is stupid, I want pie, you can’t really believe you can do this, who are you fooling and so on) The ‘mind of its own’ has accumulated data and uses past experience or habits developed over the years to interfere!

Habits or for the cognitive psychologists, schema, as ground fighter, emerges to undo, effect, derail or otherwise lay claim to what the mind has decided. WE are not the free agents we imagine! This mind of mind dynamic is a conservative, cling to the past/habituated aspect of being, even when this ‘mind of its own’ is self-defeating!

A patient is told that unless they lose some weight, the surgery can’t take place; unless they stop smoking they are at significant risk for a second coronary event, that if they don’t stop drinking morbidity is imminent and so on AND the mind hits the ground running totally serious and committed but an hour/day/week/month/year later the rascal emerges, with the siren call to old habits. In the most dire outcome, the mind tires of the nagging, naysaying, invitations to self-sorrow, fatigue with will power exertion, and demands for self-discipline AND gets angry and, eats pie, doesn’t work out, smokes, drinks, or otherwise says subliminally “to Hell with it!”

So, of this what can be done? Well, as we see front and center in pop psychology, reflected in self-help books, blogs, podcasts, seminars, there is an emphasis upon things like dopamine fasting, mindfulness and yoga, self-care through taking time for oneself, ego-focused kindness, gratitude and appreciation. The mind grabs these and embraces them and uses them to, if not overcome the ‘mind of its own’, at least sedate it for the hour/day/month/and so on. Nonetheless, even Tony Robbins can be derailed by what we describe above. Hence it is useful to look into the common features associated with these CTFD admonitions. At their core, all the self-care directives are suggesting we put an adult in the room to manage the mind and mind of its own; to not let the conscious enthusiasm of the mind nor the conservative cling to the past quality of the mind of its own get in the way. In practice the quieting responses suggested in breathing and mindfulness, yoga, meditation and reflective practice, biofeedback and heart rate training, and hypnosis and progressive sensitization are all about stepping in between these two agents. As with children, to curb the assertion and blind willfulness of the mind - for our purposes the older child - and distract, cajole, trick and nudge the more subtle mind - the younger child - into calm, coherence, and collaboration. We have all heard about the techniques!

Things like:

In the face of a task, break it down and take on a reasonable goal.
Combine the less appealing with the more appealing; reward oneself
Keep track of one’s progress and daily/weekly activity in relation to a new/beneficial activity,
Challenge oneself regarding small steps in the direction you wish to go
And so on

It is important to see these self-help suggestions as ways to get around habits and the patterns of the mind of its own. Often, I ask a patient, what would you have to think for something to not be a problem? How would you have to see it? And then see what mind of its own/habits of thought stand between them and that goal. Look at your own psychology similarly - what would I have to do or think, so this - the change in behavior - would be mine? And this is where you need to get really creative, and even crafty. For example, when there is a large task, just act as if you are just going to lay out the tools/strategies/steps/procedure; act as if you will just see how something goes, not actually make the often bullheaded commitment our all or nothing minds are so prone to do; distract and sneak up on good ideas!. Distract the ‘yeah but’ mind by buying new laces for those runners, doing one less rep with your weights, only laying out the ingredients for that meal, cleaning one side of your desk, listen to music and design playlists for your walk, if you have a report to write, just do 200 words and so on. These sly techniques often lead to, you guessed it! A meal with desert, a whole office cleaned, a look forward to that walk, a completed report or paper and dodging the two aspects of our nervous system that give us so much but can also take so much! The adult in the room who quiets these two through clever means will ultimately awaken a compulsivity which we would call a new habit. And when a new habit imports positive affect - makes us feel good thinking about it and doing it - we are on the road. Our next blog will focus upon the social.

Pep 3.jpeg — Jon Amundson M.A.; M.A.P.P.; PhD

Jon Amundson M.A.; M.A.P.P.; PhD has been in independent practice since 1980 in Calgary. Working in a family practice ranging from direct clinical service through forensic and court-related expertise, he has taught, trained/supervised and written and published professionally. Aside from many thousand of hours of professional practice, he has been a national and international elder athlete, competing in cross country skiing and Polynesian canoe racing.

Minnie Cho B.A.; MS.

“As a 1.5 generation Korean American, Minnie grew up in Southern California. She received her B.A in Social Ecology from University of California, Irvine and her M.S in Educational Counseling from the University of La Verne. She is also a licensed professional clinical counselor, specializing in working with children and adolescents. Minnie currently works as a school counselor and therapist in private practice in Southern California.”

References

1. Adan, R., Van Der Beek, E., Buitelaar, J., Cryan, J., Hebebrand, J., Higgs, S., Schellekens, H., Dickson, S. (2019, October 11). Nutritional Psychiatry: Towards Improving Mental Health By What You Eat. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924977X19317237

2. Dwyer, P., Chang, Y., Hannay J., Algoe, S. (2019, September 5). When Does Activism Benefit Well-being? Evidence from a Longitudinal Study of Clinton Voters in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0221754

3. Fox, K. (1999, May 7). The Influence of Physical Activity on Mental Well-Being. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kenneth_Fox/publication/51356300_The_influence_of_physical_activity_on_mental_well-being/links/54515ea60cf24884d886ffd7/The-influence-of-physical-activity-on-mental-well-being.pdf

4. Monaghan, E. (2019, August 7). Exercise for Optimal Mental Health: Here’s Why Moving Can be as Effective as Drugs. Retrieved from https://www.psycom.net/exercise-benefits-mental-health/

5. Nummenmaa, L., Glerean, E., Hari, R., Hietanen, J. (2014, January 14). Bodily Maps of Emotions. Retrieved from https://www.pnas.org/content/111/2/646.full

6. Pugle, M. (2020, March 18). How a Chat App Can Help Relieve Lonliness During the Covid-19 Outbreak. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health-news/quarantine-chat-app-may-help-relieve-loneliness-during-covid-19-outbreak

7. Richter, A., Smith, A. (2020, May 14). How Do Processed Food Affect Your Health? Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318630#refined-carbs

8. Umberson, D., Montez, J. (2011, August 4). Social Relationships and Health: A Flashpoint for Health Policy. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150158/

9. White, I. (2009, December 10). The mind affects the body, but can the body affect the mind? [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.wellbeing.com.au/mind-spirit/mind/the-mind-affects-the-body-but-can-the-body-affect-the-mind.html