Linking body and mind

We have talked about the physical explanations of DPAFU. We’ve seen how what happens in the brain may lead to the particular sensations that are associated with DPAFU, i.e. feeling cut off, unreal, spaced out. We’ve also looked at psychological explanations, which detail how our thoughts and behavior in response to DPAFU can lead to these sensations becoming problematic for us. In this section we’ll briefly summarize how the body (physical factors) and mind (thoughts) can interact in general and how this relates to DPAFU.

Figure 4.5   Linking thoughts, mood, sensations and behavior

As we’ve seen, the power of thought can be tremendous and can directly affect our bodily sensations. For instance, imagine a scenario where you think about a hypothetical negative situation, perhaps taking an exam or driving test. Just sitting and thinking about that situation can trigger physiological and emotional responses – such as increased heart rate, sweating, anxiety etc. – as if the situation were real rather than hypothetical. Your mind has the power to directly influence your physical sensations. As we have noted in the case of DPAFU, this can lead to increased sensations of feeling unreal, cut off and spaced out. For example, if any person were to look in the mirror for a long period of time and think intensely about their reflection, this is likely to trigger the sensations associated with DPAFU. This is just the same as the way thinking about an impending exam or test will lead to physical sensations of anxiety and stress. As we have seen, what happens next is very important. Continuing to focus on the exam will increase the physiological sensations of anxiety and stress, just as continuing to think about and look at your reflection will lead to increased sensations such as feeling cut off or spaced out.

So far we have explored how our thoughts and interpretations can affect our physiological and emotional responses. But we have also seen that this is a two-way process. Just as some people may start out with increased physical sensations of anxiety or depression, the same is true of the sensations related to DPAFU. As we have seen, some people with DPAFU may have an oversensitive emotion-suppressing mechanism in the brain. We don’t know why this is the case and it could result from either genetic or environmental factors. However, we also know that the way we think can influence the way the brain reacts. In fact, our thoughts, actions and experiences are so powerful that they can modify our actual brain structures even when we’re adults. The interaction between the mind and brain is very complex, and we know that the brain is very changeable. For instance, one scientific study shows that twelve people who learned to juggle over three months actually changed the structure and shape of their brain.

In summary, just as the body can affect the mind, so too can the mind have an impact on the body. Both physical and psychological explanations for DPAFU are important and interact with each other. This means that even if you believe strongly that your DPAFU has a physical explanation, working with your thoughts and behavior using the CBT techniques we describe in this book is likely to have a positive impact on your physical symptoms of DPAFU.

 

CHAPTER SUMMARY

DPAFU can affect you on five levels:

1   Cognitive – thoughts, beliefs, meanings, images, attention and memory.

2   Emotional – how you feel, your moods, numbness.

3   Behavioral – what you do more or less of, things you avoid.

4   Physical – bodily changes, sleep patterns, numbness.

5   Environmental – situations, relationships, work, home.

 

To help you to identify the ways in which DPAFU affects you personally on each of these levels, write a list under each of the headings. This will be useful in the subsequent chapters when you start to use the CBT techniques we present to help you manage your DPAFU and the problems associated with it.

PART TWO

Overcoming DPAFU