Dr. Shwetambara Sabharwal

What is Cognitive Diffusion?
Diffusion is a technique that is primarily used in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to detach, separate, or get some distance from our thoughts and emotions as well as other internal experiences such as beliefs, attitudes, assumptions, memories.

The aim of diffusion is to:
* Decrease our attachment to our inner experiences
* Reduce the believability of thoughts
* Decrease the influence of thoughts on our behaviors and experiences
* Increase our ability to be present and take effective action
* Facilitate psychological flexibility

To understand how cognitive diffusion works, hold both of your hands about two inches in front of your face. All you can see are your hands, right? Now create some space between your face and your hands by extending your arms. You've widened your view. You can still see your hands, and now you can also see everything else in the room.

In the same way, cognitive diffusion trains you to start noticing your thoughts and identifying the negative ones. When we're stuck in a negative thought cycle, it's difficult to clearly see the bigger picture and identify our thoughts or how they are affecting us. Once you've allowed your mind to pull away from and identify the negative thoughts, you can begin to reframe them in a positive way!

Suffering is an integral part of this precious gift of life. However there are a few things we can keep in mind to minimise it.

Did you know that your brain is always changing? That’s the one constant about the most complex organ we have that controls every part of us. “Brain plasticity” is the process of the brain to learn new information, grow new connections and repair broken ones. Throughout life, as we age, acquire knowledge and have more experiences, our brain continues to develop.

The good news is that there are several things you can do to keep your brain functioning its best as you grow wiser. Check this post out !

Do you practice grounding strategies regularly?

Grounding techniques are usually quick things you can do to bring yourself back to the present moment.

This five-step exercise is one of the most popular grounding exercises. It can be done anywhere and is particularly helpful during anxious moments.

What are your beliefs about productivity?

Do you recognize any of these beliefs when approaching an important project or task?

If you're nodding your head, you can work on challenging the belief through your actions.
This may look like:
- setting time boundaries for projects and scheduling breaks
- stopping when it feels good enough but not perfect
- setting realistic goals and adjusting them when you need

Small changes like this can significantly impact your productivity beliefs because they challenge the logic in these faulty beliefs.

What little action can you take this week to challenge a toxic productivity belief?

Triggers exist for a reason. They remind you of something difficult or traumatic that then causes an emotional or physical reaction in your mind or body.

It's really difficult to calm yourself down when you've had a reaction to something out of your control, to emotionally regulate, to banish the urge to self-destruct, to quieten the spiralling thoughts or stop the anger, anxiety or depression as it starts.

Try and work out what the trigger was and why it caused that response in you.
Was a stranger rude? How did that make you feel? What did it remind you of? How can you move past that feeling now?

Once you get to the root cause of your reaction, you can understand it, and once you understand it, you have power over it - it stops being confusing and frightening, and instead turns into something tangible, that you can tackle.

If you identify your triggers -
you unlock the door to what they really represent.

OCD is the presence of obsessions, compulsions OR obsessions + compulsions.

Obsessions are unwanted and intrusive thoughts, urges, or images that cause marked anxiety or distress. People who have OCD try to get rid of or neutralize obsessions through compulsions.

Compulsions are the repeated thoughts or behaviors that an individual feels compelled to do in order to eliminate obsessive thoughts and/or accompanying feelings, physical sensations, or to prevent a feared future outcome.
Individuals who take obsessive thoughts seriously and act on them actually continue the OCD cycle and cause more distress and dysfunction for themselves.

You can boost your self confidence and mood by being kind to yourself and celebrating your successes, no matter how small or big they are.

Additionally, by paying attention to your needs and practicing good self care you can protect your mental health!

What are your ways to root for yourself ? Let us know in the comments section

Instead of imagining large walls when you think about boundaries, imagine building stronger connections for yourself and others.

Boundaries are a way for you to build self-trust and nurture yourself. Without boundaries, you're allowing others to have priority over how you navigate your life.

There are two types of boundaries: internal and external.

External boundaries allow you to establish healthy limits in relationships with others and help you to regulate how you interact with the world around you.

Internal boundaries are between you and yourself.
Both types (internal and external) influence one another.

What boundaries would you add to this list?

Anxiety can be debilitating and affect your daily life. Even the smallest of tasks can feel unreachable and can fill you with added stress and worry.

In many cases, social situations are extremely triggering. If you've struggled with social anxiety, it's common to develop coping mechanisms to ease it.

Unfortunately, some coping mechanisms/ behaviors can come off as "rude" to those who don't know or understand the reason for the behaviors.

If you or someone you love struggles with anxiety and displays these behaviors, remember that it's unlikely that the person intends to be rude. Instead, the behavior is likely a method that has become a way to adapt to challenging situations. The person may not even realize they are engaging in these behaviors!

When you think of “self-care," what comes to mind?

Do you picture fuzzy blankets, nature walks, bubble baths, and meditation?

While self-care can include these things, this isn't the only side of self-care.

Self-care should not be something we resort to because we are so absolutely exhausted that we need some reprieve from our own relentless internal pressure. True self-care is not bubble baths and chocolate cake, it is making the choice to build a life you don’t need to regularly escape from. And that often takes doing the things you sometimes least want to do.

It often means looking your failures and disappointments square in the eye and re-strategizing. It is not satiating your immediate desires. It is letting go. It is choosing new. It is letting yourself be normal. Regular. Unexceptional.

Emotions are powerful sensations and can often feel beyond your control. However, actions - or what you do, play a major role in maintaining, intensifying, or even reducing an emotional reaction.

Feelings are not facts (but they want you to believe that they are). You can't stop yourself from having a reaction or feeling an emotion to something; however, you can choose how you respond to it.
So when you notice yourself jumping into action based on a feeling, take a moment and examine how you're responding.
.. Are you believing the feeling at face value and seeing it as fact?.. Are you judging the feeling and yourself for having the feeling?.. Are you examining the feeling in context of other information before taking action?

Do you feel overwhelmed by things you need to do during the day?

Perhaps you forget things you need to do, and then anxiety kicks in?

A to-do list can help ease your overwhelm and anxiety To-do lists enable you to break down your goals and tasks into achievable activities. At the same time, writing them down allows you to manage your time better and encourages you to work more efficiently throughout your day.

Mindset impacts your beliefs about situations.
A scarcity mindset is grounded in limitations, fear, and pessimism - the belief that limited opportunities or resources are available.

An abundance mindset is grounded in opportunities, hopefulness, and optimism.
When approaching yourself or situations with a scarcity mindset, you're likely to feel pretty restricted in your thinking and problem-solving ability. Alternatively, with an abundance mindset, you're likely to consider more creative options and focus using a more expanded perspective.

When shifting from scarcity to abundance, begin by examining your thoughts and challenging them little by little. Review these examples and look for one you can focus on this week- and then notice moments in which scarcity shows up and get curious. Allow yourself to consider the alternative, abundant mindset. And notice how you feel - what changes for you?

Do you use more scarcity thinking or abundance thinking?

Just a little reminder that being the bigger person doesn't mean unconditionally tolerating disrespectful behavior. It's about respectfully communicating your feelings, readjusting your expectations, and setting clear boundaries.

You do not need to forgive, forget, fake smile or bury the hatchet to make other people comfortable

When it comes to your trauma, your experience, and what YOU went through, you can hang onto it for as long as you want. You ARE ALLOWED to sit with your rage, anger, bitterness, resentment and sadness for as long as it takes for YOU to move on and begin to heal.
If you want to be the bigger person, go for it!
But if you're not there yet, or if you don't think you'll ever get there..
That is okay too.

All parents enter into the bliss of parenthood with euphemistic notions of rosy parent-child relationships and family bonding. While some of us are aware of what constitutes a healthy relationship, be it with a child or an adult, many of us are clueless of the subconscious patterns of control, abuse, and dysfunction that exist in families around us, sometimes, even our own.

As much as it is important to make sure our child is eating healthy, achieving developmental milestones, it is also imperative as parents to be aware of negative patterns we may subconsciously foster in our relationships with our children. This awareness will also lend us valuable empathy towards others around us who may be battling such situations with their children in their lives.

If you or someone you know has been through emotional abuse or mistreatment, they may display a lot of the characteristics listed above.
Mental abuse is insidious. It creeps in, settling inside your mind and can stay there for decades. You might find it coming out in the fawning response where you're constantly tip-toeing around everyone, trying to placate, appease, constantly apologising and desperate for assurance, or it may manifest in trust issues, hypersensitivity or anger.
The abuse that you endured should NEVER have happened.. Please know that once you start surrounding yourself with empathetic, kind people and opening up about what you've been through in a safe environment, it will have less of a hold on you -
that negative internal commentary that was taught to you by your abuser will get quieter and quieter until hopefully, one day,
it will cease to exist altogether.

Mental illnesses, also called mental health disorders, refer to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors amongst several others.

Examples of signs and symptoms include:

- Feeling excessively sad or down
- Confused thinking or reduced ability to concentrate
- Excessive fears or worries, or extreme feelings of guilt
- Extreme mood changes of highs and lows
- Withdrawal from friends and activities
- Significant tiredness, low energy or problems sleeping
- Detachment from reality (delusions), paranoia or hallucinations
- Inability to cope with daily problems or stress
- Trouble understanding and relating to situations and to people
- Problems with alcohol or drug use
- Major changes in eating habits
- S*x drive extremes
- Excessive anger, hostility or violence
- Suicidal thinking

When it comes to health and well-being, the first thing that occurs to us is physical health. We talk about exercise, hitting the gym etc.

Thoughts and concerns about Mental health often come to us after it is already impacted.

Mental health includes our psychological, social, and emotional well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and how we act in our daily lives.
Make it a frequent conversation! Make it normal to talk about feelings. Make it a part of our immediate thoughts when we talk about health!

This mental health week, I’m sharing my personal perception of life and my way of living it.
I am drawn to taking pictures of highways/paths/roads/ trails/ dust tracks in different forms and sizes. It means much more than a quaint trail tucked inside a beautiful landscape or forest to me. It signifies an opportunity to choose, to take the path or not, to go that direction or not, to walk or run or just sit still and watch, to do it appreciating what is around me or missing the marvel completely.
Knowing that I have the choice to journey on a path sometimes towards joys and sometimes away from them, empowers me to let go of what’s behind me, to hope and believe in what lies ahead but mostly it makes me focus on what IS and where I AM! The very presence of a path in front of me makes me feel alive, able and grateful.
Mental health is a life long journey. It is a path one must choose to walk/ amble/ crawl/ fall and start over upon. Be willing and CHOOSE to work this path.
Here is wishing for sound and strong mental and physical health for you all..

Depersonalization-derealization disorder occurs when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren't real, or both. Feelings of depersonalization and derealization can be very disturbing and may feel like you're living in a dream.
Many people have a passing experience of depersonalization or derealization at some point. But when these feelings keep occurring or never completely go away and interfere with your ability to function, it's considered depersonalization-derealization disorder. This disorder is more common in people who've had traumatic experiences.

If you're someone who is constantly giving to others, pleasing people, filling everyone else's cup while running on empty yourself, you're bound to feel exhausted, and to start suffering from compassion fatigue.
It's so important to set boundaries with yourself and others, to listen to your inner self and notice when you're beginning to run low on empathy and patience. You can't keep giving to others, being an emotional sponge who is expected to keep providing, but never being provided for.
You are not a bad person for having feelings of resentment, all it means is that you're tired and you need a break...
So put yourself first for a change, and take one.

Often the word depression is used as an umbrella diagnosis. There are few others in the mood cluster that exist and are more common than we think.
A mood disorder is a significant mental health concern that must be diagnosed and treated.
Children, teens, and adults can have mood disorders. However, children and teens don’t always have the same symptoms as adults.
Therapy, antidepressants, support and self-care can help treat mood disorders.

Overthinking is the habit of thinking too much and/or too long about something. Overthinking is also known as ‘analysis paralysis’ because by thinking too much you’re getting stuck in your thoughts and stopping yourself from taking action.
Healthy thinking opens minds and celebrates growth and empowerment. But overthinking tips the balance into stuckness, powerlessness, and a mind that’s closed to positive opportunities.
Yet overthinking is happening all around. Research shows that overthinking is prevalent among young (25-35-year-olds) and middle-aged adults (45-55-year- olds). Overthinking tends to be worse among women. And too much thinking can lead to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, emotional distress, and self-destructive behaviours.
If you want to bring your overthinking under control, there are some effective strategies to help you.

What are green flags?
Green flags are exactly what they sound like: these are our strengths!
When we know what attributes we prioritise within ourselves, we can also use this to inform our relationships with the people around us. However, identifying our own green flags isn’t meant to be performative. While these qualities may make us a more attentive partner or better friend, the key is to be aware of our own value.
We each have our own strengths and can learn so much from sharing! Have you noticed any of these green flags in yourself? Are there any you’d like to work on? Let us know in the comments down below!

If you notice that you’re giving away your power, you’re not alone. Everyone does it sometimes. The good news is, it’s never too late to start taking back your power.
Commit to becoming the driver - rather than the passenger - in your life. Make a conscious effort to stay in control of how you think, feel, and behave and you will help build the mental muscle you need to reach your greatest potential.

What is a Saviour Complex?
The Savior Complex or The White Knight Syndrome is the need to always help people fix their problems. A person with SC insists on helping people even when his / her help is not needed or when people want to fix their problems themselves.

The effects of Saviour Complex
- Burn-out
- Disrupted relationship with friends and family
- Codependency
- Feeling like a failure
- Self - criticism
- Depression
- Illusion of grandeur
- Failing to actually help the person

What do you do when your fears, trauma, and hurt run far deeper than the current events you’re experiencing? How can you initiate healing when it’s your inner child that’s screaming out for love, acceptance, and comfort?
Learning how to face the past without letting it control your present and future can be a challenging step to take, but it is possible. Today, we’re sharing a few ways you can combat the issue that cost you your innocence and start rebuilding the life you deserve.

Much talked about, ADHD has been perceived, explained and researched in various different angles. It has progressively gone through redefinitions over the years.
The one thing that remains consistent is the frequency of occurrence, the misperceptions around it and a lack of awareness about it. Whether we look at it as one’s disability to focus on one thing or an ability to focus on many things at one time, it requires us to understand that it is a different way of functioning.. VERY different from what we call usual. Understanding makes ALL the difference.
Meet a mental health professional, seek support, read and research, empower yourself with perspective about ADHD to cope or help another cope with it.

Both narcissism and self-esteem are ways of seeking, in some way, to legitimize one’s own existence. So, where is the difference? Why are they so easily confused? Swipe to find out the difference!