Chemical Imbalance

[popsy]

Question - If panic disorder/anxiety/depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, which lots of people suggest it is then can it really be possible to stop panic/anxiety by using the 'acceptance method' which is what Claire Weekes etc support? How would this rectify the chemical imbalance? or does it? Anyone any ideas, im confused?
Hugs Charlie xxx

[popsy]

hummm, me's wondering if that was the wrong thing to ask?
Anyone?

[bluebell68]

Hi Popsy... no definitely a good thing to ask... i have wondred about the same thing... my doc seems to think that at least 50% of anxiety sufferes are suffering from a chemical imbalance, which is why they respond so well to anti depressants, like SSRIs ......which really only do one thing, which is to inhibit the bodys ability to reabsob Seratonin before we can get the benefit of it. So what about the other 50% of people?....i know some people do not respond to anti-depressants at all, so maybe there is some truth in that theory but i personally think that SSRIs do help me but i also think that the other coping stratergies help me too, like breathing techniques and distraction when i feel anxiety rising and also the method you have mentioned... so i think that rather than us all falling into one of the two catergories my doctor identified, i think its more a case of most of us falling somewhere between the two... but thats just my opinion ... it is a really interesting question tho and i would be interested to hear how others feel...
Thanks Popsy

Rachel

[AtmoLav]

I wasn't going to post any more, but I think this is important.

In my opinion (and that's all it is), the fact that you are asking or thinking this Popsy shows perfectly the anxious mindset - the "what if" way of thinking.

The bottom line is it doesn't matter. If it IS a chemical imbalance, then don't go thinking that you have no control over these chemicals - because you do. Chemicals respond to mood - and mood is ultimately controllable, using the "accept and move on" methodology. You can control how happy you feel - maybe not in a "right here, right now" way, but in a gradual way - by constantly doing things you enjoy. You can't switch happiness on and off - but you can continually expose yourself to happy things and happy thoughts, and happiness will inevitably result. I believe the same goes for anxiety. If you think enough non-anxious thoughts, and spend long enough not being scared, the anxiety will lift.

"Chemical imbalance" is a horrible term, and I don't think it's fair. What causes the chemical imbalance? Is it some sort of "disorder"? Not in my opinion, no. It's thoughts, it's moods, it's behaviours. A bit like when you lift weights and then your arm hurts - lifting the weights has caused the pain (we could call it "muscle imbalance", as I'm sure that accurately describes what's going on).

The first stage of getting rid of this - no matter whether you think it's a chemical imbalance is just to accept. I believe this. I know this. Accept it, and carry on. Don't fight it. Don't feed it. Don't hate it. Just accept, and move on.

There are too many confusing lables: "disorder", "imbalance" - even "symptom" that just don't help.

The bottom line is we're suffering from too much fear, over too long a period. A bit like temperature: expose yourself to too much cold weather over too many hours, and you'll feel cold until you get warm again.