Imagine you are watching a tense scene in a horror movie. Your nervous system is already on high alert. If a friend then gently taps your shoulder from behind, you may jump, tense up, and feel your heart race. Although the touch itself is harmless, your reaction would be amplified because your brain was already predicting danger.
Whereas the same touch in a calm setting at a picnic would likely produce little to no response. The difference is not the stimulus; it is the predicted threat based on the context the stimulus is received.
Too often healthcare professionals focus purely on changing the sensation when in fact the change that is needed is in the context the sensation is experienced. Change the context (the horror film), change the response.
Regrettably too many have experienced lives where the script has been beyond their control. A sort of a “horror movie” script that they’ve lived through. Can you blame them for having a super-protective nervous system? Though we cannot change our pasts, we can decide on a new script for the movie we choose to experience from now on.
A new movie script to replace a horror film. Strating an exercise program may sometimes be part of the new script. Here is a song titled
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