Not Waving but Drowning

[dragonyphoenix]

Sometimes I have negative feelings that don't seem attached to anything going on around me. My metaphor for it is a deep well that holds these emotions and when it overflows I feel sad/depressed. A few weeks back I did a visualization where I went into the well to see where these emotions came from. I found myself struggling in the water, trying not to drown.

Today I was skimming through Richard Davidson's <I>Anxiety, Depression, and Emotion</I> and came across an experiment they performed to create depression in lab rats. They placed them in a large beaker full of water and timed how long before the rats stopped struggling against drowning.

And, since that is so negative... My therapist, the one treating my phobia, is also having me work on anger issues with progressive relaxation and meditation. I no longer wake up feeling completely miserable!

Comments

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I'm back in miserable mode today. My doctor refilled my prescription, but has made it clear that I need to let her torture me to death (bloodwork - I have a phobia) before she will do so again. The thing is, she didn't have to go into the whole arrogant asshole control freak mode because I'll be doing that over Thanksgiving (while on a shitload of valium). According to my therapist, not all doctors are arrogant assholes. I wish I could find even one of them!

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I really like my therapist at least. This is the first one that seems right for me.