Mental Antidotes

These antidotes address undesirable mental states and should be used when that state is noticed.

Heavily inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh and Buddhism in general

(This document is a draft.)

Definitions

These energies can be applied to many situations:

  • Compassion: Send loving-kindness to another person or group. “May they be happy, may they be healthy, may they be safe, may their lives go with ease.” This will often include attempting to understand other people’s perspectives.
  • Mindfulness: Remember you’re alive and in the here and now. Come back home to the present moment. Notice it. Touch reality.
    • Use deep breathing with longer out-breaths than in-breaths. This stimulates the brain to calm down. Focus on breathing at the level of the belly (as opposed to the nose, for example).
    • See 5-4-3-2-1 under “Anxiety”
  • Thought: analytical reasoning. Best left compartmentalized to a particular time.
    • It can be helpful to have a collection habit, as described in David Allen’s Getting Things Done, so there’s a time and a place to process that thought. GTD is often task-oriented, but it can even be helpful to note non-task thoughts in a trusted system (paper or digital) so that the mind can move on.
    • A journaling habit is useful as well to have a specific time to analyze. Journaling should also highlight at least 3 positive aspects of life from the last 24 hours.

Thought Loop

One can reach a general state of contentment if the following steps are followed consistently.

Whenever possible, make a point to generate happiness.

For other emotions:

  • Notice the emotion
  • Identify what emotion or mix of emotions is present
  • Accept it and embrace it. Greet it (“Hello Anxiety”)
  • Thank the emotion for the opportunity to practice these skills
  • Don’t beat yourself up. If needed, forgive yourself for what caused this emotion to arise.
  • For anxiety/depression, let the thought pass by. Identify them as being anxiety/depression, realize that the best thing to do is nothing, and move on.
    • Giving anxious/depressive thoughts any energy makes them worse. Even trying to make them positive thoughts. If truly needed, write down repeated anxious thoughts so they can be addressed later at the appropriate time (e.g., questions to ask a doctor). However, collecting the thoughts can be counterproductive too if it’s feeding anxiety.
    • This can be difficult if you’re an analytical person. It’s okay. You’ll get better at it.
  • For other emotions: identify why. Listen to any coincidental thoughts for clues if it’s not clear.
    • Let go of wanting things to be different. Accept that things are perfect just the way they are! There’s always something happy to be found.

Emotions

There are 5 basic emotions:

  • Happiness (see below for how to generate)
  • Sadness
  • Anger
  • Fear
  • Disgust

Each can be further subdivided.

Happiness

How to generate:

  • Make an effort to notice good things. Think good thoughts and more good thoughts will follow. This is key for avoiding depressive states. Journal the good things that have been noticed.
  • Find ways of looking at things in a positive light. For example, if it’s freezing cold, thank the sensations of coldness for reminding you that you’re alive. There’s always a way to look at things positively, though it does sometimes require effort to accept the reality of the situation. (See “Despair”)
  • Do less. Stop Running from thing to thing.
  • Generally practice the Eightfold Path
    • Right view
    • Right intention
    • Right speech
    • Right action
    • Right livelihood
    • Right effort
    • Right mindfulness
    • Right concentration
  • Remember “changing the peg” (sometimes called anchor thoughts in Western psychology)
  • Help others generate happiness too

Related:

Anger

How to notice:

  • Hard to control speech and actions
  • Faster breathing, pulse
  • Tensing/twitching muscles

How to address:

  • Compassion toward the object of anger. Attempt to understand their perspective.
  • Don’t let wanting things to be different burn you up. Accept the situation and move on and you’ll be happier.

Related:

Fear

How to notice:

  • “Hollowed out” feeling in the stomach

How to address:

  • Mindfulness
  • Remember that you’ve made it through fearful situations before
  • Remember that you can tap into non-fear inside you (non-fear: “steadfastness” and some definitions of courage).
  • Send yourself compassion
  • Send others compassion, especially those causing fear. Attempt to understand their perspective.
  • Analyze and discuss the fear

Related:

Fear: Anxiety

How to notice:

  • Tingling sensation
  • Increased heart rate

How to address:

  • Mindfulness is especially helpful to get to a better mental state. Try doing 5-4-3-2-1: Focus on 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.
  • Let anxious thoughts pass by. It’s important to recognize them and then send them on their way. Avoid analysis of anxious thoughts because giving them thought energy increases anxiety. There is sometimes a fine line between ignoring anxious thoughts and acknowledging them and sending them on their way. Ignoring them completely can result in them becoming stronger.
  • Simply accept the situation and let go. Whatever the worry is, worrying about it is only making you suffer in the here and the now. Why live life in fear when it could be free of suffering? The sooner you can let go, the sooner you can move on and recover from anxiety. This doesn’t mean giving up but to recognize that worry only prevents contentment. Things are perfect just the way they are right now, but there’s always room for improvement.
    • This acceptance and moving on from wanting things to be different from the way they are is core to Buddhist philosophy.
  • Accept your anxiety with open arms. Give it a hug. Then let it go.
  • Find joy, even if you don’t feel like it. Do the things you like and the good feelings will follow.

Related:

See also: “Fear” and “Depression”

Sadness: Depression

How to notice:

  • Love seeking (e.g. lots of hugs)
  • Lethargic (don’t want to do anything)
  • Sensations are a bit “muted” compared to normal
  • Inability to sleep

How to address:

  • Mindfulness
  • Intentional focus on relaxation
  • Think good thoughts. IMPORTANT: This is easily forgotten in a depressed state. Start with at least 3 happy/grateful things from the last 24 hours. Whenever possible, write them down.
  • Practice self-love and compassion. List nice things about yourself and your life.
  • Imagine ways to change the environment that brought about depression
  • Longer term: actually change the environment in some of the imagined ways

Related:

Sadness: Despair

How to notice:

  • Similar to depression but deeper and often outside our control

How to address:

  • Accept the reality of the situation. It’s true, whether it’s desired or not.
  • Realize that you can act to improve the situation.

Related:

Sadness: Sorrow

Related:

Disgust

Related:

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