Technology

Integrating a dissociative world

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One of my heroes is Steve Jobs. After hearing his autobiography, I was convinced that this is one of the few who have changed the world for the better. Steve Jobs started small, but as most people know, it did not take long before his pursuit of perfection became a reality. Throughout his life he was convinced that the Internet would be able to influence the world.

The Web is not going to change the world, certainly not in the next 10 years. It’s going to augment the world. And once you’re in this Web-augmented space, you’re going to see that democratization takes place.

Steve Jobs, on a interview with business insider 

As a psychologist, I have worked a lot with the integration of traumatic memories. The method I have used most, is EMDR. Five years of practice has taught me how important it is to create unity. This often takes a long time and it is necessary to only take one step at a time to succeed. Steve Jobs knew this. He had to start with designing his MacBook before he could work with programming it. Step by step he walked forward, and the longer he came, the faster it went.  Steve Jobs was a good judge of character, which helped when we walked towards the future. By finding people that transported him from one point to another, he got to his goal faster.

The brain consists of nerve cells that are organized in networks. This network is so complex that we are still far away from recreating it. The brain is plastic and can reorganize itself, and if you transfer this to society you can see the same thing: By letting everybody work together to find a solution, we can adapt to challenging circumstances. The internet also makes it easier to transfer knowledge and help our brains to adapt by providing the information it needs.

Sometimes it feels like I can see lines that criss-crossing over the earth. We have telephone cables, internet lines, radio waves and planes. All have one thing in common: They are connecting people.There have been many articles lately that we stand on the edge of a melt-down. The  financial crisis and the Syrian war are examples of problems affecting us all in one way or another. But might this not be positive too? When everybody is affected, we can no longer close our eyes and pretend it does`t exist.

Trauma can shatter people into a thousand pieces. But for every traumatic event, there is a person who wants to help. Somebody who wants to pick up a bit to put it back in its place.

When I say I want to help as many as I can, people tell me to slow down. I agree. I know my enthusiasm must be contained, that I cannot do everything. But their worries will never stop me, because I do believe that we all can change the world. Countless times I`ve heard that I must take care of my own needs first, and I have listened. But when somebody tries to tell me that I should`t try to change the world, I protest. If you told the same thing to Steve Job, he would keep on walking. He would not just find allies, but also enemies. But he would not let it stop him, because he needed to be true to himself.

I know I need to watch my feet when I pick up broken pieces of glass, and let others help me when I fall apart. But in spite of the dangers, I will never let go of the person holding my hand.

When we all pick up our pieces and glue them back together, we will realize one thing: We are all the same. We can recognize ourselves in others, and learn from them. There are no bad, good or crazy people. There are just different points of views. We are not one person, we are one world. We don`t need borders, we need to stand together.

We need to integrate the world.

 

More:

Mass suggestion: A way to save the world? 

The sound of spinning around

Kindness to a stranger

Steve Jobs

EMDR

Brain scans have clearly demonstrated pre-post changes after EMDR therapy, including increases in hippocampal volume, which have implications for memory storage. The bottom line of EMDR outcome research is that clinical change can be both profound and efficient.

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Moodnotes

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I am a bit of a techno freak. I have been since we got our first computer at home and I learnt to write. When the iPhone and Ipad came, it felt like I had gotten what I have longed for without knowing it. For this reason, I have been eager to test different apps and even if I don`t use all of them, I still like to try them. I am especially eager when it comes to apps relevant for work. One of the apps I want to write a bit about is “Moodnotes”, a CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) app that you can use every day. It is easy to use, and if you turn on the notifications, you will have a reminder every day. It doesn`t take much of your time, and I think it will be helpful for many who are interested in learning more about how thoughts influences emotions.

The app opens with the question of how you are feeling. You can rate your mood by using a face with a smile that goes down or up. If you feel bad, you turn the smile down. When you have done so, you can “add details” where you write what is happening at the moment. Here you can describe the situation and what might be contributing to your mood. One day, for example, I was unhappy because I haven`t manage to exercise like I wanted and felt a bit guilty about it. After you write it down, you can select feelings that go along with your situation. You have both positive and negative feelings, and you easily click on the relevant ones where you can grade them from 0-100 %.

After doing this, you might write what thoughts went through your mind that might contribute to the feelings you have. Then comes the best part: You can “Check your thoughts”. You get several alternatives that describes thoughts-traps you might have fallen into, like “all or nothing” thinking, “blaming” or “emotional reasoning”. You also get a description of what that “trap” means. You can choose several options, before you then get the chance to write down “alternative thoughts”. If you for example have thought: “I am just no good” and clicked the box for emotional reasoning, you can write “I have many good qualities that I just don`t see right now”. After writing down alternative thoughts, you can again check your feelings and grade them. Then you will see if thinking differently makes you feel different too.

The app also has something called “moodtrends” that analyzes your moods over a period of time. If you use it regularly, you will get a overview of how your mood-level has been during a month. This might give you a more realistic view of how you are doing.

I think this App might be good for many, because we all can fall into traps where thoughts might influence our mood in a negative way. By learning more about how thoughts influences us, and seeing the results, the quality of life might increase.

By following this link, you get directly to their webpage. You can also download it on the app store

mood

This entry was posted in health, inspiration, lifestyle, mental health, psychology, therapy and tagged .

The sound of broken glass

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The sound of broken glass

That feeling, everyone writes on twitter and instagram. It`s one word describing the essence of the unspeakable, the undescribed feelings and moods that live in their own right, without any nametags pulling them down. I got one of them right now. The clock is 07.01 in the morning, and I have been awake for a hour. I streched and curled a bit before I counted to three and flung myself out in the cold winter air. I was more tired that usual, but knew that would be history one proper breakfast later. I went upstairs, now with some semblence of clothes wrapping me, and opened the door. My little Amadeus didn`t come home yesterday, so I crossed my fingers and hoped he would start mewing in annoyance and happiness both. He wasn`t there

I left the door half-open and the lights on, even the blanket and food I put out yesterday, stayed where it was. Disappointed I turned my attention to other tasks, like putting the kettle on and checking my phone for messages. The kettle was easy enough, and usually the checking-part is too, but apparently not when tiredness still hasn`t said vaporized. I have gone through that moment several times in my mind already, so it should be pretty clear as I describe it: I lift my lovely white Iphone, so new and innocent, and am just about to grab it properly, when something goes wrong. It starts sliding out of my hand and I follow its path down to the floor while thinking «oh no» simultanusly as I try to catch it mid-air. My normal table-tennis reflexes were turned off by mr. tiredness, so I could just watch with horror as it slowly fell and fell, until it fell no more but just lied there, still. I secretly crossed my mental fingers one more time as I reached down to check for damage, hoping that like before, it did not break when it touched the floor. I had a bad feeling though, and was rewarded with my guts being right one more time: Small cracks over half its face, scarred forever.

Thats when I got «that feeling», that you only get when something valuable breaks. The intensity of it, was modulated by my fix-it thoughts, but it still lingered inside of me. Its not the first time something in my closest vicinity breaks, and even if I normally handle it with: «Well, life goes on», those episodes keep piling up, building an prison over my feeling of happiness. I know: «Dont cry over spilt milk» and I don`t, but its allowed to have this feeling, just for a little bit, before you let go and focus on what still’s there.

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