Thoughts....some sets you free some locks you up..............

  

There is a saying that goes like this: "You are what you eat". 

After I watched a documentary on Solitary confinement (seg = segregation) and saw the repercussions some of the inmates experienced when spending extended periods of time in seg, it occurred to me that the saying: "You are what you think" seemed very applicable.

If the result of feeding a body too much fat, sugar, and salt, and not enough fruits and vegetables is

deleterious (bad), ...what happens to a mind when feed too much (an amount that has profound negative psychological ramifications) violence, conflict, confusion, a sense of powerlessness and apathy/indifference?

Most of the inmates who spent years in seg said that it was the thinking that was the hardest to deal with. Many of them resorted to hurting themselves in an attempt to stop the thinking. They smashed their heads against the walls, cut themselves with whatever they could use, stopped eating or drinking, etc. all which lead to them ending up in infirmary, but as soon as they were patched up, they were put back in to their cells in seg.

The concept of solitary confinement, strange tho it may seem, was originally a Quaker concept. It was thought that in solitary confinement the prisoner would be able to have the time and space to engage in intro-perspective reflection, and by doing so be able to "change their ways" and become "better" people.

What was not considered however, was that self-reflection that leads to insight, insight that leads to an understanding of and a desire to change ones thinking and behavior patterns does not automatically follow time spent in isolation. Quite the contrary, humans placed in isolation rather than flourish often do the opposite; they begin to fall apart, ....fragmentize (if there is such a word).

Thinking, is something we all do, sometimes consciously so, sometimes not. Often we don't question why we think the way we do, or if there are other ways of thinking about xyz...changing the way we think about things can be experienced as too challenging and for many of us sticking with the thoughts that we experience as "the way things are" seem far safer and more comfortable.

Those in the "know" suggest that there are distinctive "negative/not helpful" thinking patterns:

Black and white thinking - all or nothing, success or failure, right or wrong, etc.etc

Over-generalization - it happened once so it will always happen that way

Disqualifying the positives - positive experiences/outcomes are dismissed in favour of the negatives

Jumping to conclusions - deciding on an outcome before having all the facts

Biased thinking - previously held thoughts/conclusions determines future thoughts

Mind reading - thinking one knows something without actually making an inquiry

Emotional reasoning - if that's how I feel, it must be real.....

to mention a few.......

Our thoughts are linked to our feelings - "I am no good, I always mess up, good things never happen to me, I am not smart enough, etc.etc."  if our "thought diet" consists of these kinds of thoughts, our feelings will follow suit and we will feel "bad/down, sad/depressed/etc.". (If we drink 12 cups of strong coffee with 5 spoons of sugar everyday, drink buckets of soft drink, eat tons of junk food, our bodies will deteriorate.)

One of the inmates in the documentary described his childhood like this: "I was born into violence, I started to drink and do drugs when I was ten years old, I became a junkie and at 15 years old I went to prison. I have been in prison for 23 years and most of that time I have spent in seg. I can't slow down my thinking, it goes so fast, I can't control it, so I cut. I just want the thinking to stop."

Is it possible to stop thinking?

Most say no......"thought-chatter" comes with being a human, but it can be "muted"...with the help of mindfulness or being fully engaged in doing something that we enjoy (life-affirming) that demands all our attention.

We also have the possibility to choose what kind of "diet" we will provide our minds with and a good starting point for deciding what that diet will consist of may be to first do a little self-reflection.

What do I usually think about? Thinking about those things, how does that make me feel?

(The thought-chatter can be so fast and furious that it can be difficult to pin-point exactly ones thoughts, but usually one can discern whether they are of the positive or negative kind.) 

There is a line (sentence) that I have personally found to be very helpful when it comes to dealing with my own thought-chatter, (inner script) especially when it comes to thoughts of a negative or self-depreciating kind, and that is to confront those negative thought patterns by asking myself: "Do I know this for a fact?"

If the answer is no, then I exchange the thought with what I know for a fact, if the answer is yes, then I ask myself what I can actually do about it.

It is possible to change the way we think about things and what we think about, but it does involve us wanting to do so and then training our minds into replacing old thinking paths and patterns with new and or different ones.

This can be assisted by what we choose to digest visually as well. 

After watching a heavy and challenging show as in the case of the documentary on Solitary confinement, I often "cleanse my pallet" by watching some stand-up comedy or what ever sports may be on in order to redirect my thought-chatter onto something less confronting. (Especially if I watch something confronting late at night.)

It's been said: "Don't go to bed angry", how about
"Don't go to bed straight after watching The Walking Dead?"  :)

"Life has a tendency to provide a person with what they need in order to grow. Our beliefs, what we value in life, provide a road map for the type of life we experience. A period of personal unhappiness reveals that our personal values are misplaced and we are on the wrong path. Unless a person changes their values and ideas, they will continue to experience discontentment."

  (Kilroy J. Oldster)