Really, its that simple huh?

same here.

Same here.

I believe very strongly in neuro plactisity. I think because I have read enough about it by reputable researchers and the experiments on primates with it. The success of stroke victims. I watched it work in my mom after a mild stroke. She regained all lost function. I have been trying for many years to apply it to my depression with meditation, CBT, the 12 steps of AA, visualization, etc., and it doesn't seem to work at all. Maybe depression is just to ingrained in me. I have never really had much faith that the current AD's would make permanent changes. Although there is some research that says they promote neuro trophic factors and dentrite growth.

I don't like the title of the article either. I very much doubt "mentally strong people" even know those things about stress. People just react and some handle it better than others. There are lots of studies that say some people are more predisposed to handle it better than others. So called "type A's".

I think I know both types. I think there is a huge difference between stress and pressure. When I am doing really good I am naturally predisposed to handle pressure very well. I have been a plumbing foreman on big construction jobs most of my life. There are the pressures of time schedules, making money for your owner, managing others. Mostly it was about getting things done fast and I had small crews. There was always initial stress but I had a good crew and we would take it as a challenge and a game and it was fun because we performed and could feel good about ourselves. If we were not going to make it we worked lots of overtime to do it. I would not call that stress at all. There were not stress hormones raging through my body. It was fun, you got into it. Of course mistakes were made. Sometimes very costly ones. We learned to say whats done is done and lets find a solution. All the trades worked together to resolve issues. Everyone makes mistakes. Same with so called multi tasking. When I am doing really good I am good at it. Its not really multi tasking it is juggling 10 things in your mind, organizing them, prioritizing them, and tackling one at a time completely and moving on to the next. It comes natural and is nothing I earned or says I am stronger than others. I suppose I can take credit for learning from mistakes and becoming a better foreman and plumber. It really was because I had some natural talents and intelligence that put me in a position to learn. I had opportunities. Doesn't make me stronger or better than anyone.

Then there are the times when I feel the pressure but don't have the confidence that I can perform. This occurs when I am moderately to severely depressed. Sometimes when the depression is not horrible I can bull my way through it but I feel the stress. There are definitely stress hormones raging through my body. Times when I am severely depressed is when it is the worst. Some of those pressures are real and some I put on myself. They create a lot of stress and anxiety. I have no confidence so I stress out on how I am going to get certain things done. Even taking a shower. That is when I how I am thinking about it can make a difference. That is when my therapist can help. If I can live just for today and not think about the future it reduces the stress. If I can divide tasks into very small bite size chunks that maybe I can handle it reduces stress. If I realize I do have choices even though they may not be ideal and really they are sucky choices at least I have some choices and that reduces stress. The worst one for me is thinking about an uncertain future and how is it even possible things will work out for me with the horrible depression i am dealing with. That causes be a bunch of anxiety and even paranoia and makes things worse. So how I think about things and perceive them and changing that does make a huge difference in reducing stress. Doesn't make the depression go away but makes coping much easier.

There are many studies that show that having stress hormones raging through your body for extended lengths of time wreaks havoc on you in all kinds of ways. I don't think people who operate good under pressure have that, they just naturally work good under pressure.

I am so glad to hear your good news. And I am so sorry you have not seen enough change for yourself. I still struggle with certain things..but knowledge helped me adapt(?) in more healthy ways. My brain still wants to jump to anxiety or depression - but much less then it use to... and now I do have an understanding of what is going on. I can manage that.
I wish you more better experiences.

I see - so your therapist did not need to talk to you about the causes of being overweight since they are irrelevant to you.

The premise of your "if these tactics worked, no one would be overweight" is that body size is solely dependent on the amount of food intake. The premise is incorrect - body size depends a lot on genetic factors, age, type of food consumed, illnesses and medications, hormones, exercise and movement, duration of sedentary activities, possibly bacteria in the gut and many more known or suspected factors, plus unknown factors. In other words, even if everybody could talk himself or herself out of eating cheesecake by talking to said cheesecake, people would still be overweight. Even if the advice in this article were easily implementable, a lot of people would still be overweight. And in a way, it is not so bad - overweight people outlive obese and normal weight people.

Your reaction to this article as well as the OP's reaction to the article about "mentally strong" people is valid and correct - you both reacted negatively to the trivialization of issues, and rightly so because trivialization not only is useless but is also condescending, often to the point of being offensive.

My post must have been removed - that is why - as I have no access either.

You know...I started writing a major rebutle to your agressive post. I started thinking, " We need less members like you who respond with a nasty, I am better than you response, insulting, instigating, trying to feel superior." (I have to remember you are mentally ill). By rebutting I would be just like you and then I remeber something I keep on my profile wall and decided to honor it.

It is not necessary for you to report everyone's mistakes to them, much less to give them corrections.
It can be difficult, when you think you know a better way
to say something, to keep that to yourself. But try.
Unless someone's life or safety depends on it, do try.
You would not welcome someone else pointing out
your own misstep, or less-than-totally-efficient approach
to something. Why point it out to them? Do you see it as
your duty in life to make sure that all goes the way you
think it 'should'?
That would be an inaccurate assessment of your soul's
grander purpose.
Neale Donald Walsch

Thank you all for the editorial feedback you've provided in this thread. If you want to ensure our editorial staff see such feedback in the future, I highly encourage you to write to our feedback address to ensure they see it (they don't read the forums as a rule): talkback at psychcentral.com

DocJohn

I love his books. I have read them all.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

*edit....uhh think i misunderstood so sorry about that.

That is good to know, but yeah I will give feedback there...for future reference.

Edit- Hellion misunderstood.

yeah I am thinking so to, guess I jumped on that a little to quick.

Just a gentle reminder that all posting should be on topic and supportive.

Thanks!
sabby