Anxiety and depression are becoming more prevalent year on year. And that’s only the people who are reporting it!
It is estimated that 8% of the UK population struggles with anxiety and depression. The Office of National Statistics also confirms that more of us are dissatisfied with life, which contributes to feelings of hopelessness.
Life dissatisfaction can play a role in exacerbating anxiety and depression. However, the external world is not entirely responsible for how you feel.
How you feel and experience life is largely determined by how you respond to your environment. In turn, your responses are determined by your thoughts, emotions and behaviours.
The underlying cause which directly impacts your overall well-being is determined by subconscious programs; memories of your past.
So if your past has led you into a pit of anxiety and depression, the only way out is to create new memories which bring a brighter future, one of happiness and fulfilment.
Studies show that we are happier, less anxious and less depressed when we have purpose and meaning in life and when we feel good about ourselves.
When your life has meaning, you feel good about yourself because you recognise your purpose. This helps to boost your self-esteem, and low self-esteem is a key contributor to anxiety and depression.
The longest-running study on happiness reveals that the key to happiness is meaningful relationships. Loneliness, isolation and alienation can also be central to anxiety and depression.
Neuroscientists are also showing us that the highly-rated ‘feel-good’ neurochemicals — endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin — need to be stimulated in healthy ways for us to enjoy a better quality of life.
However, it should be noted these neurotransmitters and hormones need stimulating in the right way — and many of our lifestyle choices promote these brain-boosters to secrete in irregular patterns.
Habits that offer comfort or a reprieve from stress, for example, cause a depletion of these chemicals which can lead to depression.
If you’re struggling with anxiety and depression, it may feel like there’s no way to improve how you’re feeling.
BUT there are effective strategies that can help you lift your mood and alleviate symptoms.
I’ll be honest with you. It will require some lifestyle changes and a change in attitude. And that’s not always easy when you are guided by habitual programs.
However, the choice is yours. Do you want to continue feeling shit, or do you want to get your life back?
If you want to get your life back, this article explains the psychology and neuroscience behind anxiety and depression. Take this information on board and start to engage in activities that stimulate the feel-good neurochemicals in your brain.
The strategies below are based on scientific research in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, emotional regulation and mental health.
It is widely, regarded that a combination of medication and talk therapy is the best route on your journey to overcome anxiety and depression. I would argue that talk therapy alone is the best route, but your strategy has to suit what you want to do.
Most therapists these days practice cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT is touted as the best method of psychology these days. Again, I don’t totally agree.
A dose of CBT is useful, but on its own, CBT is akin to sticking a bandaid on a gaping wound. The more effective approach, in my opinion, is depth psychology combined with CBT.
Talk therapy rooted in depth psychology offers profound benefits by addressing the unconscious roots of emotional distress. Unlike surface-level approaches used in CBT, it delves into archetypal patterns and reveals unresolved conflicts that shape thoughts and behaviours.
Depth psychology digs down to the roots of the unconscious. A skilled therapist will identify the causes of the emotional wounds, help to raise self-awareness and empower you to implement effective mindset strategies that feed your memory banks with subconscious programs that serve you better moving forward.
Whilst CBT strategies can help you implement behaviours that can help adapt new behaviours, depth psychology highlights the reasons for destructive behaviours in the first place.
Once you know the reasons why your subconscious programs are destructive, you are more inclined to change your behaviours and upgrade the program.
And changing your behaviours is key to fighting anxiety and depression. The experiences we have in life are recorded as memory and communicated between neurons in the brain.
Neurones carry information. The in-formation stored in these neurons determines how you respond to your environment and how you experience life.
Thought-Provoking Quote
“Most of us think of information as data or what a person knows. But the reach of information is deeper than this. Physical and life scientists discovering that information extends far beyond the mind of an individual person, or even all persons taken together. It is an inherent aspect of both physical and biological nature. The great physicist David Bohm called it “in-formation," meaning a process that actually "forms" the recipient.”
~ Ervin Laszlo, Science and the Akashic Field (2004)
Information directly influences how you think, feel and act and the information decoded, stored and retrieved by your central nervous system is determined by the experiences you have in life, not only by the outside world but how you perceive events and how you talk to yourself.
Depth psychology helps to foster self-awareness and provides solutions that enable us to integrate unconscious material into conscious awareness.
Unconscious material is information which is not available to the conscious mind. Here you find aspects of your personality that have not been integrated into the conscious personality — qualities that would enable you to enjoy life more.
By integrating qualities that enable you to manage your environment, your anxiety subsides and you achieve lasting effects. You become more active, harbour a willingness to engage with life and adopt lifestyle choices that nurture happiness and fulfilment.
When you consistently get rewards from your environments, the feel-good chemicals flow healthily and your depressive moods subside.
And now you know that step two is a game-changer!
A key contributor to anxiety and depression is low self-esteem. There are multiple causes of low self-esteem, but one of the more overlooked reasons is a lack of competencies or life skills.
This is particularly the case for individuals who were either:
When a parent does not encourage a child to learn new things from a young age, the child matures into adulthood, lacking self-confidence and self-trust. Every time you fail, you decide you’re not good and concede.
Subsequently, you only adopt a few life skills. Later in life, as the challenges to manage your environment mount up, you become more anxious about your ability to cope.
As chronic anxiety ratchets up the self-doubt dial in your mind, you can stop believing in your ability to do anything. Even when you can do it. The lack of self-belief becomes debilitating.
What’s more, you perceive that everyone is criticising you when you do something wrong, which cranks up the anxiety in case you make a mistake.
Anxiety often stems from feelings of uncertainty and inadequacy in dealing with life’s challenges. Learning new competencies is an effective way to manage and overcome anxiety by fostering a sense of control and self-efficacy.
By acquiring a string of skills and knowledge, you equip yourself with tools to navigate these challenges more confidently.
When you learn something new, your brain undergoes neurogenesis and creates a synapse. Repeating the new thing you learned enables the new neuron to communicate with more existing neurons.
Changing your past memories into new memories essentially involves the strengthening of the brain’s neural networks.
Thought-Provoking Quote
“Forming memories doesn't require new synapses (let alone new branches of neurons); it requires the strengthening of pre-existing synapses….When enough new synapses form in a neuron, the length and number of branches in the dendritic tree often expand as well, increasing the strength of a number of the neurons that can talk to it.”
~ Robert Sapolsky, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst (2017)
Strengthening neural connections promotes cognitive flexibility and problem-solving abilities. This process not only enhances your ability to learn new competencies but can also help you handle stress because you learn to perceive the environment in a healthy, positive and constructive way.
Mastery of a new skill or subject can boost self-esteem because it provides you with physical evidence that you’re capable of growth and adaptation. As you build more competencies, you should notice a marked reduction in anxiety levels in everyday life.
You will still feel anxiety in moments of uncertainty and, particularly when you are faced with a challenge. But the more you develop self-confidence and self-trust, you’ll begin to approach situations with the feeling that you’re equipped to manage uncertainties.
Furthermore, engaging in the learning process introduces a sense of purpose and achievement, which can counterbalance feelings of helplessness.
Another core reason lurking behind the mask of self-esteem is abandonment and shame. This happens to children whose parents were emotionally unavailable.
A child who is not given attention, love and acknowledgement grows up thinking they are not worthy of acceptance or of being heard. From an early age, their trust in relationships is eroded and they struggle to connect with people on an emotional level as an adult.
These types of people are prone to sabotaging relationships, avoiding difficult conversations that make them feel uncomfortable, or feel as though they don’t fit in.
They also have a history of feeling alienated which makes them feel lonely and isolated.
* If you resonate with this personality pattern, read my article on healing loneliness by finding a sense of belonging.
The American Psychologist, Abraham Maslow identified a lack of belongingness as one of the chief human needs. Without it, neuroses such as anxiety and depression can emerge.
Thought-Provoking Quote
“Most neuroses involved, along with other complex determinants, ungratified wishes for safety, for belongingness and identification, for close relationships and for respect and prestige.”
~ Abraham Maslow, Toward A Psychology Of Being, p.26, Kindle Loc 436, (1962)
Studies identify the “power of socialising” connections play a vital role in how we feel. Connecting with people on an intellectual and emotional level fosters general well-being and promotes sound mental health.
However, the key to socialising is to develop meaningful connections. I know this from experience. Sometimes I would be out with my friends but felt lonely on their company because I couldn’t connect with them on an intellectual level. Essentially, we were not like-minded.
Strong relationships provide emotional support, helping you feel understood and less alone. When you share experiences, ideas, knowledge and enthusiasm with others, it helps you to develop the trust you lost in people as a child.
Deep and meaningful connections can also, therefore, provide you with a safe space when you feel vulnerable. Empathy and validation counteract self-doubt and worry, which contribute to anxiety and depression.
Additionally, positive social interactions stimulate the release of oxytocin, a hormone that promotes relaxation and reduces stress. By nurturing authentic relationships, you build a support network that bolsters resilience, enhances emotional well-being, and creates a sense of security.
Studies show that people living their life’s purpose have a deeper sense of satisfaction in their lives. They are happier, healthier and wealthier.
However, it should be understood that not everyone has the opportunity to serve their life purpose and make a living from it. For example, you may have carved a successful career for yourself as a solicitor, but don’t feel you are serving your life purpose navigating the legal field which can often seem unfair.
Yet, it is possible to find purpose and meaning in multiple ways in all areas of your life. Once you do this you get more rewards from your environment which stimulates the four feel-good neurotransmitters.
It should be understood that happiness is a habit. It grows out of your attitude towards your environment. Thus, it is your attitude towards life that makes you happy, not what you are doing or material objects that offer fleeting moments of happiness.
By changing your attitude and finding purpose and meaning in life, you make deeper connections with others, yourself and the world.
You can learn how to find purpose and meaning in all aspects of your life by downloading the free self-development tool. Click on the link below, add the tool to your basket and follow the on-screen instruction.
You will receive an email with a link that gives you immediate access to The 4-Step Path To Find Purpose And Meaning.
