When explaining psychological problems, the first things that come to mind are always researching brain chemistry and neurological examinations. Of course, our thoughts affect our emotions and ultimately our brain chemistry. Sometimes, however, this sequence can be different. Therefore, when psychological problems are mentioned, the unit that comes to mind is the psychiatry department.
In my early years in the profession, I observed that psychiatric examinations were preferred over therapeutic consultations. This was because there was a very strong belief among the public that someone experiencing psychological difficulties had a problem in their brain.
Psychological problems such as anxiety disorders or mood disorders can be explained and approached by medicine, of course, focusing on brain chemistry. That is why the branch of science that is psychiatry exists and has made tremendous contributions to mental health today.
While appreciating that, modern psychology shows that there are other ways to approach psychological problems.
Before we find words for our emotions, our body often speaks them first.
Have you ever experienced sudden headaches, constipation, or bloating after a bad day at work? Or a sudden, inexplicable stomach ache after an argument with your spouse? Do you have a chronic illness? A disease you've been seeing doctor after doctor without finding a cure?
Actually, these aren't without reason; it's simply that emotions you didn't understand at the time are stored in your body's muscle memory. Your body understands the situation and signals you before you even realize what's happening.
Psychiatrist Agah Aydın, in an interview about illnesses, says, "Every illness gives us a message; when that message is read correctly, the illness disappears."
While we often try to explain psychological states with logical words, realistic thoughts or brain chemistry, we often overlook something crucial: it's impossible to put all our experiences into words, and there's even a period of time when we can't put them into words or make sense of them.
Many people don't remember their lives before the age of 3, but psychology says that what we experience from the womb onwards forms the foundation of the life we will build in later years. How is this possible?
There's a particularly important age range we call early developmental stages. A large portion of our experiences between 0 and 3 years old may not be stored as memories in the way we understand them today because the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory, is not yet fully developed during this period.
However, the underdeveloped hippocampus doesn't mean that what we experience during this period of our lives is lost. Our muscle memory, or bodily memory, which allows us to recall the emotion of an event, comes into play here.
Mental health isn't just a state produced by the brain. It's a product of the continuous interaction between mind, body, and the meaning we give to our lives. The most effective way to enhance this interaction is through daily whole-body scanning. Whole-body scanning can be explained as performing emotional and sensory check-ins throughout the day.
Here are the questions to ask yourself regularly: What do I feel in this very moment? Where do I feel the emotion in my body right now? What are the sensations that I feel throughout my body? Do I feel shrinking or expanding? What do I need right now?
"As I often tell my students, the two most important phrases in therapy, as in yoga, are 'Notice that,' and 'What happens next?' Once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than with fear, everything shifts," says world-renowned psychiatrist Bessel A. van der Kolk in his book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.
Another way to reunite mind, body, and brain is to slow the body down on purpose. Sometimes, when we have difficult emotions, we have the tendency to be hyperactive. Being constantly on the go may be another way of your body saying it needs regulation.
If you have to walk, try walking very slowly. If you have to cook, do it in slow motion. The slower your body gets, the more sensation you would feel. That brings me to the mindfulness exercises that increase the connection.
Mindfulness exercises such as "5-sensation exercises," breathing exercises and mindful walks can strengthen the mind, body and brain connection, and help you track and regulate the trails of traumatic life events in the body.
Remember, our experiences don't just pass through our minds; they also find a place in the silent memory of our bodies.
