Anxiety Long ago the brains of our earliest ancestors spilt into two halves one half for thinking and one half for fight/flight, this was driven by energy seeking the most efficient use of itself it was more energy efficient this way until brains got bigger with more IQ.
To understand mental illness in humans we must go back about three million years to a time when our ancestors were developing greater mental modelling, this increase in intelligence and fantasy was a huge step forward and accelerated our ability to plan ahead, build tools and find new uses for them. There was a drawback to greater intelligence and fantasy in an animal that had existing fight and fight mechanisms, greater intelligence and fantasy mixed with lower animal fear brain structures and made imagined fear or anxiety possible.
This anxious thought is generated in the right hemisphere of the brain the latest functional /real time fMRI scans show this, TMS is using magnets to reduce right brain use and increase left brain logical/positive thought and feeling.
EGMi is designed to maximise left brain use, it has cured my GAD.
EGMi can be called the first left brain meditation.
There are three major genetic factors that determine the type of anxiety and symptoms humans will develop: Genetic tendency to overuse the right brain this is common and right brain overuse will give a strong tenancy to develop anxiety. Genetic sensitivity to stressors incoming input to the brain this can be seen on a one to ten scale as sensitivity to stress. Genetic loudness of the mind or conscious thought as apposed to subconscious thought, this can also be seen on a one to ten scale, loudness of thought increased with more thought.
These three genetic factors give a good picture of what sort of anxiety a person will develop: Genetic over right brain use, high sensitivity and a loud mind are a warning that high generalised anxiety will be present and we will know about it. Genetic over right brain use, high sensitivity and a quiet mind can be more difficult to see at first as the sufferer of anxiety often does not know they have anxiety. Genetic over right brain use with low sensitivity and a quiet mind is not so common probably because the right brain is not stimulated as much.
Some common symptoms of anxiety were observed 10 000 years ago as societies developed to a point where philosophy was possible and these symptoms were called sin and thought to be supernatural, we can now explain all these symptoms as anxiety related and finally treat the cause and not try and just reduce the symptoms. Much anxiety goes unrecognised because we self treat from such a young age well before we have any idea what is going on, most adults are in a state of relieved anxiety and have no idea what a total lack of anxiety feels like. This anxiety relief or self treatment took many forms and I will list the most common you may recognise some in self: Aversion therapy is the usually our first self treatment for imagined fear about a thing or situation, we think anxious thought and feel anxious feeling, we face the fear by forcing ourselves to use positive, logical areas in the brain pulling consciousness away from fear/anxiety areas if we overcome the fear we have reduced fear/anxiety brain area use. If we can continue this treatment we may have low anxiety this begins in early childhood and we are of course only aware of the thought and feeling not the change in the use of brain areas. Avoidance is common we will avoid situations that create anxiety if we avoid the situation we do not have anxious thought and feeling about it, this is common with social anxiety avoidance does not reduce anxiety itself but the trigger is avoided. Fantasy is a form of avoidance drawing consciousness away from fear/anxiety brain areas if it is positive non-harmful fantasy like thinking of a bright future this is ok in moderation, if fantasy is negative/harmful then we are mixing fear/anxiety drives with fantasy this is not ok. Escapism like watching horror movies is similar to negative/harmful fantasy and more common than many like to admit and negative/harmful thought/fantasy is the cause of all negative/harmful action some call sin and evil in its extreme. Anxious thought is of course itself fantasy and all fantasy is a waste of energy all thought should be aimed at increasing energy efficiency that is its purpose, as we increase positive logical thought we feel more energy efficient or more inner happiness. Aggression is a very common form of anxiety relief left over from our fight and flight mechanism it relieves anxiety in a similar way, its very common in men but women are catching up now days. As anxiety builds aggression is used to relieve it in the short term with often disastrous results we see this in domestic violence and bullying, many will say substance and alcohol abuse are the main cause but we will see that anxiety is still the cause. Narcissism is popular nowadays and anxiety is the main cause of selfishness, we are too tied up in our own anxiety too have time for others, also anxiety reduces brain energy efficiency/goodness so there is less wisdom, selflessness, unconditional love, inner strength and inner happiness, lack of true empathy is also a common symptom.
EGMi cured my narcissism and the thing people notice first is I am no longer angry.
Depression can have a strong genetic element and is now linked to hibernation in lower animals, some depression is very hard to fully overcome but is always triggered/aggravated by anxiety and mixed with anxiety. Depression can be seen as an anxiety symptom the brain shutting down to escape anxiety as the two are often mixed and anxiety is often misdiagnosed as depression, the negative harmful thought and feeling associated with depression is anxiety based. Many shift from anxious thought and feeling to depressive thought and feeling and back again quickly, we can have depressive feeling with out thought as depression really is reduced thought, the harmful/negative thought is really anxious thought.
EGMi cured my clinical depression, it went first and then all GAD. Bi polar is brain hemisphere shifting and thought staying in that hemisphere for long periods in anxiety mode a mixture of anxious thought often negative/harmful thought mixed with depressive feeling is a dangerous combination. When the shift to positive brain areas happens mania often occurs and this mixed with fantasy can also be a dangerous combination, drive shifting and mind control needs to be approached slowly to achieve an energy balance not sudden shifting.
OCD obsessive compulsive disorder is said to be genetic to some degree and probably is it is connected to the brain stem area where many instinctual lower animal traits linger, most OCD is strongly connected to anxiety and will always be reduced by reducing anxiety or right brain use and increasing energy efficient left brain logical/positive thought and feeling. The thought associated with OCD is anxious thought if the right brain is overactive bizarre negative/harmful thought can occur and produce anxious feeling, a compulsion can develop to relieve that anxious thought and feeling although this often leads to more anxiety in the long run the mind in this state wants immediate relief. We can all theses disorders right brain anxiety driven or RBAD OCD's. We associate OCD with disorders that we consider out of the ordinary like compulsive hand washing or cleaning but obsessive thought and compulsive action is so common in humans that its the understanding of what a disorder is that needs changing. A disorder is anything that reduces energy efficiency/goodness so lets look at some of these lesser recognised disorders: Greed/Wealth ( more than we really need ) OCD is encouraged in most societies the anxious thought conscious or subconscious about lack of wealth drives the compulsion to have more and more, this is the biggest cause inequality and suffering at the moment. Control ODC is also very common anxiety relief is achieved by controlling our immediate environment down to a fine detail, if control is threatened other anxiety symptoms will appear aggression is a common anxiety relief in this situation. Sexual OCD is very common and responsible for many sexual disorders, a sexual activity will become an obsession to relieve anxiety and a compulsion may follow to commit a sexual act. Much LGBT is non-genetic and even the experts can often not tell genetic gender dysmorphia from right brain anxiety driven gender OCD, as one can see its more matter of which OCD we have rather that if we have OCD. Pornography addiction OCD is a good example it can begin as a simple anxiety relief and spiral out of control, and activity that produces anxiety symptoms when we abstain from it means we need to address our anxiety. Gambling OCD is very common and often has disastrous results and is a waste of resources. Eating OCD's both over eating, purging and under-eating the list of OCD's is very long and the sooner we address our anxiety as a species the better. Religious OCD is having a resurgence now often mixed with greed OCD to form right wing OCD, there is also extreme left OCD which is on the rise. It is right brain anxiety driven BBAD OCD that drives most human made suffering.
EGMi cured all my OCD.
ADD attention deficit disorder is an inability to focus on a single task this is becoming over diagnosed in school children, this is similar to procrastination in adults where we can not begin a task because the mind will not settle and focus. This is usually anxiety driven as the mind can not lock on to the logical positive left brain and focus on a single task as thought constantly changes, this can be a form of anxiety relief. A dead giveaway for this is that they are now prescribing the same drugs for some anxiety and for ADD, speed like drugs that cause a shift to positive, logical brain areas with some success.
Autism is strongly genetic it appears to be extreme oversensitivity to incoming stressors but anxiety is an aggravating factor, when anxiety is high in some people without Autism symptoms of Autism can appear, we can shut down to incoming stressors and someone talking can feel like being poked with a stick. This now being called SPD sensory processing disorder, increasing use of the left logcial/positive brain should reduce this.
PTSD post traumatic stress disorder is common in returned soldiers but can result from any long term unresolved stress this can make the right brain overactive, even some drug withdrawal can bring on PTSD as the right brain becomes overactive as medication is withdrawn quickly. If we use the left logical/positive brain we handle stress/pressure better and will not develop PTSD, it is the right anxious/negative brain that keeps trauma fresh in memory, the left brain will allow it to fade like music on an old tape.
EGMi cured my CPTSD.
Thrill seeking is a very common human activity and not normally associated with anxiety it can be seen a little like hard physical exercise in that it shifts our consciousness from right anxiety to left positive as we focus on the extreme task at hand, this temporary anxiety relief also gives us things to fantasise about similar to a expensive holiday or a new car which also relieves anxiety.
Substance Abuse its time we stopped treating substance abuse as a crime and began to see it as an anxiety symptom, most substance abuse is relief from anxiety many do not realise they have, there is often a physical addiction that develops but the addiction to anxiety relief is often much stronger. Once we fully understand anxiety it appears that in fact all adults have GAD generalised anxiety disorder its just a matter of degree or what we see as a disorder, what symptoms develop and how we handle it, I believe if humans begin to understand and recognise their anxiety then use a basic practice like EGMi we will all be happier and healthier we may even self evolve out of anxiety in the long term. We are all a little different and our anxiety is a very different but we all share soul the source energy and it appears we all generate anxiety in the right hemisphere of our brain, we have much in common as a species.
There is a free start up practice on the EGMi free practice page, try it and see if one gets results, then download the full system.
Always consult your doctor before changing medication or treatment in any way.