Reclaiming Yourself: The Truth About Anxiety, Depression, and Healing

A World in Chaos - But What If the Real Crisis Is Happening Inside Us?

Every day, the world seems to be spinning out of control. Everywhere you look there is another catastrophe or traumatic situation playing out. Humanity is constantly feeling like it’s on the brink of extinction and everything we try to do leads to more fear and more division and hatred. From news media outlets to social media platforms, to close family and friends, there appears to be no escaping the barrage of heartbreaking experiences that continuously overload us. With all of this taking place, it’s no wonder that we are experiencing the worst mental health crisis we’ve ever seen.

What once used to not be talked about is now being shared more and more, people are suffering with anxiety and depression at an alarming rate. It seems almost everyone you know, in some way or another, has experienced, or knows someone who has experienced, these mental health burdens. When you talk to kids and young adults, it’s become almost a rite of passage to go through a period of time where they are overtaken by depression or anxiety to some extent. This has turned into something that is all too normal and not enough people are talking about it.

As these numbers continue to rise, it has become increasingly apparent that the mental health industry does not have much control over helping people move through these difficulties. People, just like you and me, are being told that depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain and is something that individuals will have to navigate through for the rest of their lives. Others are told that anxiety is an irrational fear that needs to be suppressed or removed. These claims lead people to believe that there is something wrong with them and that they are essentially defective or broken. And you know how they most commonly treat all of these? You guessed it, prescription medications easily handed out by your psychiatrist. And, of course, a prescribed continual exploration of talk therapy to complement it with no end in sight.

Now in no way am I here to say that these things are bad. I personally begged to be put on anti-depressant medications when I was younger and had seen multiple therapists for many years. These tools can be greatly beneficial in the pursuit of a sound mind and life when struggling. But the one problem that I uncovered though, is that these modalities only treat the symptoms, most of the time, not the root cause. We are so busy trying to get rid of the uncomfortable feelings that come along with these mental health disorders that we sprint to eradicate the symptoms and rarely go after why these symptoms are present in the first place. To really make lasting change we have to get down to the root cause of it all. The root cause is the gold, it is exactly where we want to dig into to be able to step into a new way of being. But to get to that place we have to look at some uncomfortable truths that exist.

First, is the real hard truth, the one that blew my mind and shifted the way I thought about the things I knew, or thought I knew, about mental health.

Depression is NOT caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. In fact a 2022 umbrella review showed that there is no consistent evidence of there being an association between serotonin and depression, and no support for the hypothesis that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity or concentrations. This shows that there is no such thing as a serotonin imbalance in the brain causing depression, and let me tell you, I used to kick and scream to persuade people that this was the reason I was diagnosed with major depression. But even a quick and magical Google search of “Is depression the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain?” brings up an array of articles stating that this claim is not true at all. But feel free to do your own research, and even read this article by the Pharmaceutical Journal, here. It’s even said that 85-90% of the population who deals with depression believes that in some way, or another, their depression is a result of a chemical imbalance. Talk about a mass illusion playing out firsthand.

Another hard truth that really helps us to understand these “disorders”, is that they aren’t disorders at all. Your body isn’t misfunctioning, it isn’t broken, there’s actually nothing wrong with you at all. Anxiety and depression are natural and are programmed into our instinctual biological existence as protection mechanisms while in survival mode. It is our bodies way of protecting itself from danger.

And like I said before, THERE’S DANGER EVERYWHERE, AHH!!! At least that is what’s pushed upon us by all of the media outlets that exist. And I’m not saying they’re wrong, but we aren’t wired to be able to carry the weight of the whole world on our shoulders. It’s supposed to be us protecting ourselves from danger in our immediate surroundings, not the entire world at once.

When we look at this truth we see two things. Anxiety is our bodies way of stimulating us into hyper-vigilance to ensure that we are keenly aware of any, and all, dangers that could be present. So, our heart rate rises, our thoughts race to try to create any possible situation to make sure we are prepared for the worst-case scenario, simply so that we can protect ourselves. This is why when we experience anxiety our thoughts run uncontrollably and our heart rate tends to skyrocket, ultimately leading us to get absorbed in the spiral of panic. That panic is created to prevent us from stepping into any danger to make sure we survive at all costs. It is the survival reaction of fight-or-flight and it sure is not about comfort, it’s about staying alive no matter what.

Depression is the same way. We feel hopeless, like the world is ending, there is nothing we can do and it’s better if we just give up. All of our energy is drained, and everything is just too much to bear. Now you may ask, how is that a protection mechanism? But the reality is, that in any situation where you are unable to escape to save yourself, when you feel powerless, or even extremely overwhelmed, our bodies shut down. This isn’t a flaw; it’s a strategic move to withdraw and preserve our energy. It is a response to our nervous system shutting down because of overstimulation. While anxiety is about fight-or-flight, depression is the freeze or shutdown response and also includes the lesser known fawn response, too.

By seeing into this reality, we start to uncover what is really going on. We start to see that, in many ways, we have been tackling mental health all wrong.

By looking a bit deeper into what is really taking place within our bodies, and the ways we are reacting to the state of the world, we can begin to transform how we take care of ourselves. Instead of only focusing on the brain and thinking that it isn’t functioning correctly, we now need to begin tuning into our nervous system. By doing this we start to unlock the opportunity to integrate all of the stressors and traumas that we are holding onto, both big and small. As we continue to do this, we naturally find that everything has been okay the whole time. We have just been led to believe otherwise. In fact, we only believed what we did because we had a lack of understanding of what has been happening this whole time. We had been so busy looking at the disruption of the mind that we didn’t bother to look at the dysregulation of the nervous system. Now that isn’t to say that we should ignore what is going on in our minds. To really get the transformation needed it’s incredibly important to bring our attention to both our nervous system and our mind as they play hand-in-hand. When we do that, it seems like the game begins to change. And for once, it changes for the better.

By uncovering these truths, we reveal so much. This all isn't to minimize or say that these experiences are not extremely difficult to navigate when you are in the middle of the storms they create, but it's to show that there is another way to look at them and a way through those hardships that exist. This all allows us to see that it’s time to transform the way we navigate mental health. We must work towards understanding that these common human beings are not defective but are rather on the precipice of stepping into their power through proper nervous system regulation and mastery of their minds. What used to be a burden that needed to be coped with for a lifetime can now be processed faster than we ever thought possible. I am seeing it more and more with my coaching clients every day. Individuals who have been in therapy for years, sometimes over a decade, have been on various anti-depressants and still felt stuck, are having more impactful results in a matter of weeks as we move through the practices that are offered.

It is all about truly understanding how the human being works and through that understanding we step into a place of empowerment, taking back control of our lives. Something each and every one of us should be working to move towards. It’s time we learn how to step out of survival mode, a place where we merely exist, and into a state of conscious, intentional creationof our lives so that we can thrive.

If you, or someone you know, is struggling with their mental health, know that there is hope. I struggled with major depression and generalized anxiety disorder for a large part of my life. After diving into the depths of myself for over a decade, I have devoted myself to teaching others what I have learned. With that said, I am here to support you in any way I can. I offer free 30-minute discovery calls to connect and offer insight into your current situation and how I can help you move through it. It’s never too late, and there is always the opportunity to take that first step towards changing your life. If you are ready to put in the effort needed to transform yourself, know that I’m here. Though it may feel like a leap of faith, it is one that you won’t regret. To heal the world, we must first take responsibility for our own lives and commit to our own personal healing. If we all heal, everything else follows.

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The Deep Dive.

To observe all that exists is to witness the greatness of Spirit. There is no separation between one thing and another, only the illusion of it when the eyes are clouded. Within the written articles of this blog rests a single perspective of what could be. As we will never know the absolute truths that exist, these writings express what has been understood on my path towards God. And no I don't mean a man in the clouds. Unless that's your thing.