Depression Zapper: New Understandings of The Damage Control Tool

Judy Zehr who directs clinical education for the Institute just alerted EBT providers to a wonderful video of Louis Cozolino, author of The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy. His work has influenced EBT, and how I think about The Damage Control Tool, the importance of it for the treatment of depression.

When the brain’s fear center, the amygdala is wired with early memories of abandonment, we respond to current day experiences — the rudeness of the cashier, the friend who doesn’t return the call – as if they will die. Abandonment means death for primates, and the challenge is to rewire the hippocampus which puts the amygaloid terror into perspective, questioning that fear response. Depression seems like an illness of low stress, but it is actually a reflection of high stress, and that is why The Damage Control Tool is so powerful.

The point with this tool is to meet the brain where it is: in fear, in terror, which means the cortisol cascade is affecting focus and concentration so keeping it simple is key, and they giving ourselves what we all need, which is whatever mirrors a responsive parent, what they would do in that situation. That’s evolution for your, fitting with lock in key precision to calm the brain and return to states of well-being that increase the chances of survival in the long term.

So that’s where getting an index card or two can be quite the ticket. You write the words down:

I will not judge myself or others.

Minimize harm.

Know it will pass.

Then you repeat it out loud to another person 10 times. Then you do that again. Then you take a shower and shout it. Then you go for a walk and shout it and then you get back on the phone and say it to another person 10 times.  Then you start from the top and do it again. This is downloading the wiring of secure attachment, and such treatment needs to be combined with healthy lifestyles, good medical care, and the other four EBT tools, but it’s a great start.

So if you know someone who is depressed, let them know that it’s not them. It’s just a wire, and there is help. They are not alone, and get out your own index card and read those words to yourself, and to them. Downloading Mom is something the whole world needs right now, so why not start at home?

New Version of iPhone App days away!

Annual Retreat – April 16-17 in Tiburon, CA

Today I drove home after work, cruising across the Golden Gate Bridge toward the rolling hills of Marin County, and the sun was breaking through, and the Bay was shimmering. I could see Tiburon from there and started thinking about the upcoming National Retreat . . . Trainers will be coming into town, and this our 7th year of national meetings and a weekend of celebration and important moments seems like the most important one.

The discovery of survival circuits, how to identify them and reconsolidate them has been the missing link in the method, and the retreat will be a time for everyone to learn how to break these circuits. Today in a group at UCSF, we tackled them, and then tonight in a survival circuit group aimed at weight loss and clipping the cords to sugar addiction we did, too. The stunning work of Jeffrey Schwartz from UCLA contributed to this based on his work with OCD. So did Elizabeth Phelps from New York University, but it’s a great time to be alive, and have the power to arouse circuits of your choosing, and, then go about the business of weakening and breaking then. I hope you will be joining us for our most exciting retreat ever!

Happy regardless of circumstance: Eudonic Rewards

In researching the upcoming Wired for Joy (released June 15, 2010) I became convinced that Eudaimonia, “the goal of a good life is excellence in the pursuit of fulfillment of personal potentials in ways that further an individual’s purposes in living. The brain science is fascinating in that with sufficient activation of the left prefrontal cortex associated with positive emotions from eudonic reward, the activation of the right prefrontal cortex associated with negative emotions ceases. What’s more, Davidson, 2007 is associated with an insufficient joy response, not enough of that left prefrontal activation.

Confused? Spinning? The Line Up for Using Damage Control Tool

We’re using new applications of The Cycle Tool, so that it is easier to do a “2-Minute Cycle” as part of the daily stress clean-up that keeps you at Brain State 1 more of the time. Yet one of the most powerful tools is still Damage Control Tool . . .

How do you know you are in Brain State 5? Here’s the line-up!

1. You’re doing a Cycle and forget what it was about . . .

Wired for Joy Pre Order Now Available!

Wired for Joy! :

A Revolutionary Method for Creating Happiness from Within

is now available for Pre-order.  It will be shipped in June.

Click here to learn more

Sick of being Depressed? Nab a Circuit!

The anti-depressant boom may well be about to change, as word has it that depression is related to stress, not genetics. This meta analysis of 14 studies that met the criteria for the analysis and showed that it was not the genetic link in the absence of stressful life events was not predictive of depression.

How can we prevent and treat depression? It may be moving toward neural circuit-based strategies. The circuits of how we process stress are laid down primarily during the first three years of life and during the later years, during stress. The point is to prevent depression and improve resilience but acquiring the tools to process stress with precision. I have spoken with so many physicians who say, “It is all about stress. We see a patient now and then who has a rare condition, but 80 percent of visit primary care visits are due to stress symptoms.”

It’s a new option. Instead of popping a pill, to break a few stress circuits, and prevent the stress buzzer from getting stuck on.

NIH Advisory Committee — Kelly Brownell’s Rudd Center

During the last two days, I had the opportunity to be in meetings with Kelly Brownell of the Rudd Center at Yale. Kelly has devoted himself to obesity treatment research for decades, and the talk he presented was all about how people don’t change their behavior, that over time intake of fruits and vegetables and exercise/week have stayed stable. He is interesting in changing the defaults so that people are not tempted. They don’t have to decide not to eat something. It’s just not available to them or at such an expense that they decide against it.

There is no question in my mind that the industry advantage, that they have addictive foods to sell and set it in front of people every chance they get, poses a public health risk, and I’m hopeful that some kind of flat playing field for whole foods will begin to appear.

Jim Billings: Insight plus 5 cents gives you a nickel

One of the most cherished individuals who has contributed to the method is Jim Billings, PhD. Jim is a psychologist, theologian and clinical director of Dean Ornish’s Preventive Medicine Research Institute, in Sausalito, CA, down the road from the Institute for Health Solutions, within the time frame of a nice long run. About 15 years ago, I consulted for Dean Ornish, in an effort to bring his method to more people. In the process, I met Jim Billings, a big bear of a man, with full white beard, and a formidable presence at the Institute.

Childhood Obesity . . . Michelle Obama

Bravo to Michelle Obama for taking on pediatric obesity. If only she had identified the role of stress in the condition. The method started with treating pediatric obesity and the Shapedown Program. A comprehensive approach to problems always offers important advantages. In 1993, I write the Childhood Obesity Clinton. I attended a fundraiser for then Candidate Clinton and it was a summer evening. It was held in a palatial home in San Diego and guest were scattered around the pool. Diane Feinstein was there, and other politicians. When President Clinton arrived there was lots of scurrying around, and after a while, when he was around the pool, I approached him. I talked with him for a good 10 minutes about pediatric obesity, and his agenda for the family.  He said, “If I am elected, I will advocate for you.”  Afterwards, I asked Marion Nestle, at the time my colleague at UCSF what to do and she said, “He told you he would advocate for you, so tell him what to do.” So I contacted other obesity experts and wrote these guidelines. What that doesn’t say is the role of stress in pediatric obesity. It’s all about stress, whether from genetics, health problems, school problems, and more, and I am very sad that Michelle has not dealt with the underlying cause. At this point I have written to her, but I can imagine she may be difficult to reach. Who can argue with good nutrition and physical activity, but the children who are already healthy and happy will be apt to benefit more than those who are in stress. So those she most wants to help are those who will be apt to be least helped by the plan.

I’m hopeful that her new life as a child obesity advocate will be a learning experience. She’s not dealing with stress, but I’m hopeful that she will either catch on to that need or pass it by for now, and identify it on the second round. It is hard for me to imagine taking on pediatric obesity without seeing that the problem is the drive to overeat, and these kids need the tools to connect with themselves. Their parents need support in honoring how difficult it is to parent these days, and to get the tools to pop to 1 where it is easier to set limits and nurture, and really connect with kids.