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I've found this to be an immensely helpful way to work through my own struggles and maladaptive behaviors. Trying to get myself to do something challenging is more like leading a group, some of whom are gung ho and others who are terrified because something about it reminds them of something that went very badly for them back when we were younger.
When it feels like some negative attitude is overriding the whole system, it's said that a part has "blended" with the Self, and the way forward is to help it unblend, to step back or aside so you, as the Self, can be in relationship with it, can listen to it and understand it (which goes a long way in its own right), but then also help meet the need or protect from the scary thing. The part never has access to all the resources you do as the Self, and the part is often a young child trying to take on something that should be overwhelming for a child.
I have no idea whatsoever if this is the case, but it wouldn't surprise me to find that what's actually happening inside the brain in these cases is an energy shift away from, for example, this over-excited anxious part of the brain to one with more control and executive function. It might be a way of training the mind to direct the activation of the brain, not unlike training for any other sort of skill.
Someone from Reddit also compiled this (well-ordered!) list of references: https://liveifs.notion.site/IFS-Books-Youtubes-etc-b1fb32e8f...
You can use this prosthesis to tackle the underlying deeper issues.
But I do agree reliance on CBT and SSRIs as the be-all and end-all of therapy is bad and inhumane. They’re the most commodifiable techniques, but they’re Pavlovian and reduce human beings to machines you can train through a chat bot (really?).
Quite an accusation. Have you done CBT?
“I know you are afraid of walking through a crowd of people, but think of how many people do that every day. Think of all those times when you were 15 when you did it without any problem.”
E.g. your problem isn’t real, it’s all in your mind. Which of course it is, that’s kind of the point :)
The fat person in your metaphor is actually fit, surrounded by unhealthy skinny people who have been convinced they are fit.
Look, I understand what you're trying to say, but as someone who deals with all of the physical symptoms of anxiety listed above and has been told by loved ones countless times "your problem isn't real, so just don't stress about it", it doesn't help, and it's frankly infuriating to hear.
As a bipolar person I have come to semi-ironically embrace the "it's all in your mind" mindset, but with the understanding that literally EVERYTHING is in our minds, and there is no clean distinction between physical and mental symptoms. Mental and physical illness are one and the same, because our body feeds our brain and our brain runs our body.
Simple example: a stomachache involves your brain noticing and reacting to something going on in your stomach. Is it your brain's fault for telling you your stomach is upset, or your stomach's fault for having the conditions to be upset, or your brain's fault for leading your stomach to have the conditions to be upset, or your stomach's fault for altering your brai chemistry so that it has the conditions to lead your stomach to.... etc, you can understand how fuzzy it all is.
I suffer from the same, and after CBT, it’s actually kind of worse to hear “it isn’t real, so don’t worry”, because I know it (on the balance of probability) isn’t real, but somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better.
Sure, but someone with crippling anxiety could easily counter your with any of these:
* I was assaulted when I was 17 so of course I could do things more easily when I was 15.
* I feel physical symptoms of anxiety when I am around others so it's not just in my mind.
* I am a fundamentally worse person than average and do not deserve to be around other people.
* I don't care about what others can do, I would rather die than walk through a crowd.
CBT tries to meet people where they are, acknowledge them, and then give them the tools to move in a healty direction. Kinda like this:
"I know you are afraid of walking through a crowd of people. I want you to imagine walking through the crowd, and tell me what you think and feel.
OK, so you feel physically ill, and you feel like there are bugs on your skin, and you imagine people around you are talking about you. Let's acknowledge that's how you feel.
Now, let's look at this logically. Do you accept that it's unlikely that anyone is actually talking about you? Can you touch your skin, confirm there are no bugs? And, finally, do you understand that your nausea, whilst real, is likely a physical symptom of anxiety following from the other two things, so if we work on the anxiety then the nausea will subside too?
Great. So we've acknowledged how you feel, and we've acknowledged that what you are feeling is driven by anxiety moreso than reality, and we agree that it's possible for you to overcome. It's OK if that doesn't immediately resolve your fear, but next time you are near a crowd, I want you to think about what we talked about before you decide to avoid the crowd."
This is proven to be more likely to help people. If your smug "IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD" solution worked, then plenty of kids with mental issues would have been magically cured when their parents said that exact phrase to them.