Techniques to Help Manage Emotions and Troubling Thoughts
I wanted to share the recommendations Dr Engelbrecht made for autistic people to help manage our negative emotions and troubling thoughts. I realize this may not apply to all neurodivergent people but for those it does, I hope it's helpful to you. If you have a method of changing your thoughts to create peace of mind, I hope you’ll share it with us.
"Knowing I was autistic allowed me to understand that I have a brain that is designed to ceaselessly search for what is wrong in everything all day and night, including myself. It also allowed me to understand that the gating mechanism in my brain that gates negative thoughts, does not gate. I used evidence-based neuroplasticity techniques to prevent this. This allowed me to choose to stop searching for what was wrong with myself and as a result I created peace inside myself by changing my thoughts." Embrace Autism Dr Engelbrecht’s quote resonated with me as that’s the way my brain works. The first thing in the morning as I'm just becoming conscious, my brain lines up everything I'm anxious about, fearful of, feel guilty about, etc., and by the time I'm fully awake, my focus is completely negative. 😟
Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz's Four Steps for OCD Dr Engelbrecht mentioned many autistic people have co-occurring OCD and even those who don’t, share similarities like our routines, perfectionism, etc.
Dynamic Neural Retraining System(DNRS) Dr Engelbrecht said, "DNRS helps the brain alter its responses to stress and anxiety." It involves identifying the things that trigger increased levels of cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine and then using visualizations and other techniques to rewire your neural pathways and increase dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins instead.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) EMDR therapy is a mental health treatment technique mainly for processing trauma. This method involves moving your eyes a specific way while you process traumatic memories. Kinda like using the way early humans looked out for danger to convince your brain you’re not actually in danger at that moment.
Emotional freedom technique (EFT) EFT is a method some people use to help manage emotions and troubling thoughts, and lower stress and anxiety. Tapping therapy impacts key brain regions involved in the stress response, including the amygdala and hypothalamus. By reducing cortisol levels and rewiring neural pathways tied to negative emotions, EFT fosters relaxation and emotional freedom.
Breathing techniques There are a number of breathing techniques that I described in a separate post.
All these methods, including the breathing techniques, seem to relate to the same thing: using your mind to convince your brain that you’re safe. I think it's just a matter of personal preference which one might work for you.
Good luck!