The power of thought
Professor Garry Egger on how the way we think influences our health
Far be it for a humble Australian academic to critique a great French philosopher. But I’m sure if Descartes were alive today he would agree that his famous dictum, “I think, therefore I am,” could be made more snappy by adding, “…depressed, anxious, self-conscious, happy, sad, disturbed… whatever!” Similarly, whoever said, “You are what you eat,” might be tempted to reposition this to, “You are what you think.”
Thought is the basis of emotion, and as such, it is the driving force of much behaviour associated with mental and physical health. It can influence fear, depression, stress and distress. Indeed, most modern psychological therapies, from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to Rational Emotive Therapy (RET), are based around different ways of changing an individual’s thought processes.
Some of our greatest philosophers have reflected on the significance of this over the ages. More than two thousand years ago Epictetus said, “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of them.” A view shared by Shakespeare who had Hamlet muse that, “Things are neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so.”
Perhaps the most powerful influence of thought on mental health is exemplified through its effect on depression. At least in its milder forms, depression can start as a series of adverse experiences (reactive depression). Coupled with a non-resilient personality and genetic influences, a downward spiral can then develop through depressive thought cycles into biological changes in the brain from which escape becomes more difficult. Where this is the case early intervention is paramount. Simple lifestyle changes like increased physical activity and dietary improvements can help slow, and even reverse, some of the central neural atrophy associated with being ‘bitten by the black dog’. More relevant however is a change in the thought process. Like behaviours, thoughts can be changed. But for someone who has had a lifetime of thinking in a certain way, this is not as simple as just telling him or her to think positively.
The first stage in the process is to recognise that thoughts are not reality. They are a learned way of interpreting the world. Next is learning to differentiate between functional thoughts, or those required for daily living, and non-functional or emotion-based thoughts that are generally egotistical and can be either irrationally positive or negative. This latter type can become ‘cemented’ into the mind through constant recurrence. If this was positive, all might be well. But usually it’s the negative and ‘me-based’ thoughts that recur more often, and therefore stick hardest. Good treatment, whether through psychotherapy, meditation or reality approaches, helps the individual differentiate functional from non-functional thoughts and bring learning into the cognitive process. In some instances this means reducing the opportunity for negative thought. For example, a common prescription for the early stages of depression is to exercise in the morning after waking early, rather than lie awake ruminating.
Life gets in the way of a sound body through germs (microbes) and destructive lifestyles. It gets in the way of a sound mind through learned and ‘me-centred’ non-functional thinking. Negative thoughts are thus the ‘bad germs’ of the mind, for which psychological immunisation through learned thinking can be likened to a regular flu shot. The body’s immune system is fully functional at birth and acts like a thermostat to restore physical health in the presence of invading germs. In a similar way, the inherent tendency of a sound mind towards good psychological health is like a psychological immune system that struggles to restore a natural ‘core’ of good mental health in light of one’s life experiences. If negative non-functional thoughts can be reduced, the natural ‘core’ of good psychological health becomes the default mode, just as good physical health is the default mode when the body’s immune system fights off disease.
Perhaps the last word comes from author/psychologist Dr Richard Carlson who makes the point in his best selling book Stop Thinking and Start Living that, “Being upset by your own thoughts is similar to writing yourself a nasty letter – and then being offended by that letter.” The trick is in learning how to stop writing such letters to oneself.
