By Ernest Mastria, Psy.D.
For more information visit:
http://attentiontraininginstitute.com/home.html
Pressure refers to any condition that reduces your energy. There are four:
1. Illness and medical – Illness refers to any physical condition such as: colds, viruses, infections, headaches, fevers, muscle aches and pains, and any other condition with a physical cause. When you are ill, your body mobilizes against the condition and absorbs your energy to fight the condition. Since attention or focus requires energy, reduced energy will allow habit negative thoughts to be more frequent and intense.
If you don’t feel well, recognize that you are ill and attribute your negative thoughts and discomfort such as nervousness to the bad habit and low energy. If you can get rest, then do. If can put off things till you feel better than do. If you can’t and must do some tasks, do them slowly and deliberately. Many people tend to get racy and push out energy to accomplish things. This is the wrong thing to do. You will tend to waste energy. Instead, do things slowly and be sure that you’re focused.
2. Medical conditions - Are common to females and are not illnesses. Menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause are medical conditions that, when they occur, reduce a woman’s energy level and with reduced energy, the habit is triggered. The major symptom or reaction to this condition of low energy is irritability. When experiencing a medical condition, do as above. Get rest if you can. Put off what you can until your energy is recovered. If you must handle situations, do them slowly and deliberately, making sure that you’re focused and attentive.
3. Fatigue – We all know what it feels like to be tired. You can’t think, you’re inattentive, and you tend to make mistakes. At these times, do as stated above. Get rest if you can. Put things off till you’re rested. If you can’t, do what you have to slowly and deliberately. Don’t get speedy and waste your energy.
4. High Value – This pressure occurs when we put too much importance on a thing. At these times we will takes too seriously. Our thinking becomes racy and confused and we feel nervous. We often make our worst mistakes while in this condition.
HOW TO HANDLE PRESSURE:
1. Realize that you’re not at 100%. You don’t feel well, you’re tired, or you may be menstruating. (High Value will be dealt with separately).
2. Blame your Habit Thoughts and any discomfort on your physical condition.
3. Get rest to recover your energy of you can.
4. Put off things and accomplish them when you have more energy.
5. If you must handle situations, chores, and events, accomplish them slowly and deliberately. Do not push out more energy, you’ll waste it. Instead conserve energy, again, do them slowly and deliberately. Be sure to be focused and do one thing at a time. Don’t think about any other chore except to one that you are handling, that will only distract you and cause mistakes. Get the chore behind you and forget it, knowing that you were there to witness that you handled it, then do the next, SLOWLY, DELIBERATELY, AND FOCUSED.
HIGH VALUED ITEMS
Whenever you put too much importance on a thing, you will tend to take it very seriously and you will be pulled inside your head with your negative thoughts to keep you company, having you worrying about making mistakes, failure, and negative consequences.
Your ability to decide whether to have chocolate or vanilla ice cream and your ability to decide to buy a house are equal and the same in that each reflect your taste (likes and dislikes). A decision to buy a house is more significant than your choice in the flavor of ice cream so that your intelligence (contact with the world) is important. You must decide whether you like the neighborhood, school for the kids, taxes, a mortgage, and more. You can only make good decisions with clear and accurate intelligence. Again, being slow and deliberate are key characteristics to have your decisions be good ones rather than bad.
Of course, decisions concerning very high valued situations that may pertain to your family, friends and the future are important. More the reason to be slow, deliberate, and as intelligent as possible so that you may make GOOD DECISIONS.
Showing posts with label PMS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PMS. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
THE PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME (PMS) EXPLAINED THROUGH ATTENTION TRAINING
THE PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME (PMS) EXPLAINED THROUGH ATTENTION TRAINING
By Dr. Ernest Mastria
For more information please check out our website at: http://www.attentiontraininginstitute.com/home.html
The Premenstrual condition has been joked about and used as an insult toward women for many years. It has been employed to reason away differences of opinion, strong points of view, and even an “off day” in some women.
But what is PMS? The Mayo Clinic, (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/premenstrual-syndrome/DS00134) defines PMS as a wide variety of symptoms, including mood swings, tender breasts, food cravings, fatigue, irritability and depression. Concerning its cause, the Mayo Clinic writes; “Exactly what causes premenstrual syndrome is unknown…”(http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/premenstrual- syndrome/DS000134/DSECTION=causes.
However, I write about this condition in The Habit of Living, p. 136. I see the experience referred to as PMS as the interaction of two conditions. The first is the normal periodic menstrual flow. The second is the decrease of energy that I refer to as pressure.
To me, pressure is any condition that results in a decrease of energy. I site three: Illness and medical, fatigue, and high value. I define medical as normal conditions that women experience such as menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.
When a woman menstruates, her body mobilizes for the event. The woman’s energy is directed and absorbed by the menstrual process. This decrease in energy has the effect as any other pressure. With decreased energy, the body, for economy, goes back to what it knows, the habit. With the habit influencing a woman’s thinking, she will tend to think too much, anticipate negatively, dwell in the past, mind read, procrastinate, take differences personally as angry acts or criticism, avoid expression, and will experience any or all of the symptoms that are employed by the habit to reduce contact with the present.
The woman avoids doing as she would like because of low energy and habit thoughts so that depression, a condition to do as she does not want rather than as she wants is triggered. However, the symptom that is most associated with PMS is irritability. Here, irritability is not seen as attributable to what is called PMS but rather, a normal reaction to the condition of low energy or fatigue.
When energy is reduced, the woman is less able to tolerate frustration and irritability is experienced. It is this low frustration tolerance and the resulting irritability that is seen as the chief symptom of PMS. However, low frustration tolerance and irritability is also experienced as a result of illness, fatigue, and high value. These conditions, like premenstruation, result in decreased energy levels. It is this decreased energy that triggers the irritability that is associated with the premenstrual condition.
As a normal result of low energy, irritability may be dealt with as with any other pressure:
First, recognize that energy is reduced as a result of premenstruation, menstruation, or postmenstuation. Attribute any difficulties in thinking and behavior to the cyclical condition rather than to deficits in yourself.
Second, slow your behavior and thinking down. Racing thoughts can be controlled by reporting to yourself what is occurring in the environment. In this way, you may structure your thoughts with reality and dispose of or prevent habit thoughts.
Third, conserve your energy. Many times, individuals with decreased energy levels will push more energy out in order to handle pressure. It’s if they believe they can “muscle” through situations and responsibilities. Actually, I believe this to be the wrong approach. To me, pushing out more energy is inefficient and only wastes energy. I suggest that when energy is low, conserve it. Rest if you can. Consciously put things off if you can. If you can’t, do them slowly and deliberately. Be sure to witness the event as you behave. This will help to guarantee that you are in the present and focused.
Lastly, don’t anticipate that the next cycle will be difficult to handle. Every situation is new and by using the techniques suggested in this paper, you will be more able to control the next event. There are two ways that you can live through your cycle, comfortably or uncomfortably.
By Dr. Ernest Mastria
For more information please check out our website at: http://www.attentiontraininginstitute.com/home.html
The Premenstrual condition has been joked about and used as an insult toward women for many years. It has been employed to reason away differences of opinion, strong points of view, and even an “off day” in some women.
But what is PMS? The Mayo Clinic, (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/premenstrual-syndrome/DS00134) defines PMS as a wide variety of symptoms, including mood swings, tender breasts, food cravings, fatigue, irritability and depression. Concerning its cause, the Mayo Clinic writes; “Exactly what causes premenstrual syndrome is unknown…”(http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/premenstrual- syndrome/DS000134/DSECTION=causes.
However, I write about this condition in The Habit of Living, p. 136. I see the experience referred to as PMS as the interaction of two conditions. The first is the normal periodic menstrual flow. The second is the decrease of energy that I refer to as pressure.
To me, pressure is any condition that results in a decrease of energy. I site three: Illness and medical, fatigue, and high value. I define medical as normal conditions that women experience such as menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause.
When a woman menstruates, her body mobilizes for the event. The woman’s energy is directed and absorbed by the menstrual process. This decrease in energy has the effect as any other pressure. With decreased energy, the body, for economy, goes back to what it knows, the habit. With the habit influencing a woman’s thinking, she will tend to think too much, anticipate negatively, dwell in the past, mind read, procrastinate, take differences personally as angry acts or criticism, avoid expression, and will experience any or all of the symptoms that are employed by the habit to reduce contact with the present.
The woman avoids doing as she would like because of low energy and habit thoughts so that depression, a condition to do as she does not want rather than as she wants is triggered. However, the symptom that is most associated with PMS is irritability. Here, irritability is not seen as attributable to what is called PMS but rather, a normal reaction to the condition of low energy or fatigue.
When energy is reduced, the woman is less able to tolerate frustration and irritability is experienced. It is this low frustration tolerance and the resulting irritability that is seen as the chief symptom of PMS. However, low frustration tolerance and irritability is also experienced as a result of illness, fatigue, and high value. These conditions, like premenstruation, result in decreased energy levels. It is this decreased energy that triggers the irritability that is associated with the premenstrual condition.
As a normal result of low energy, irritability may be dealt with as with any other pressure:
First, recognize that energy is reduced as a result of premenstruation, menstruation, or postmenstuation. Attribute any difficulties in thinking and behavior to the cyclical condition rather than to deficits in yourself.
Second, slow your behavior and thinking down. Racing thoughts can be controlled by reporting to yourself what is occurring in the environment. In this way, you may structure your thoughts with reality and dispose of or prevent habit thoughts.
Third, conserve your energy. Many times, individuals with decreased energy levels will push more energy out in order to handle pressure. It’s if they believe they can “muscle” through situations and responsibilities. Actually, I believe this to be the wrong approach. To me, pushing out more energy is inefficient and only wastes energy. I suggest that when energy is low, conserve it. Rest if you can. Consciously put things off if you can. If you can’t, do them slowly and deliberately. Be sure to witness the event as you behave. This will help to guarantee that you are in the present and focused.
Lastly, don’t anticipate that the next cycle will be difficult to handle. Every situation is new and by using the techniques suggested in this paper, you will be more able to control the next event. There are two ways that you can live through your cycle, comfortably or uncomfortably.
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