This podcast episode is based on Journey to Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide to Recovery from Mental Health and Addiction Issues 2nd Edition by Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Journey to Recovery  2nd Edition:  The Mind-Body Connection
Presented by: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Executive Director, AllCEUs Counselor Education
Podcast Host: Counselor Toolbox & Happiness isn’t Brain Surgery
To get on the pre-release list for Journey to Recovery 2nd Edition and a 50% discount on the digital version, please email support@allceus.com. Publication is expected at the end of October.
Activity: How Do Your Mind & Body Interact?
~ What physical sensations do you have when you are angry? Anxious? Depressed?
~ When you are hungry or your blood sugar is low, what are your physical sensations? How does it affect your mood?
~ If you have been eating like crap, how do you feel?
~ When you drink alcohol or caffeine, does it impact your mood?
~ When you are sleepy or sick, how does it affect your mood?
~ When you are stressed, how does it affect your sleep? What physical aches and pains do you get when you are stressed?
~ When you are overtired, does life seem more stressful and exhausting?
~ When you are in pain, what is your mood like?
Objectives
~ Learn about the central control center, the brain
~ What role does it play in
~ Emotions
~ Thoughts
~ Physical Reactions/Sensations
~ How things can go wrong
~ How to fix those things
The Brain
~ Your central control center
~ Takes in information
~ Compares it to what it already knows (or thinks it knows) from prior experiences
~ Makes a decision about what to do.
~ Based on that decision it activates action centers which excrete neurotransmitters in order to produce the desired reaction.
Neurotransmitters and Mood Creation
~ Chemical messengers take “orders” to and from the brain through the nervous system
~ The Big 5 fall into 2 main categories
~ Excitatory:
~ Dopamine = Pleasure
~ Norepinepherine & Glutamate: Motivation and stimulation (get-up-and-go)
~ Inhibitory:
~ GABA – Relax
~ Serotonin – Calming, contentment
Neurotransmitters Function
~ Emotional
~ Happiness
~ Sadness
~ Anger & Fear
~ Mental
~ Concentration
~ Learning
~ Decision Making
~ Physical
~ Sleep behavior
~ Eating behavior
~ Libido
~ Gastrointestinal Functioning/motility
~ Pain perception
Think About It
~ When you are…
~ “Afraid”
~ “Angry”
~ “Depressed”
~ What is your body’s response?
~ Are you more optimistic or pessimistic?
~ Do you tend to notice the positive things or the negative ones?
Your Senses
~ Thoughts can trigger feelings and physical reactions
~ Feelings can impact thoughts and physical reactions
~ Physical sensations (your senses) can also trigger feelings and thoughts
~ Sight (Happy, Sad, Angry)
~ Smell (Happy, Sad, Angry)
~ Sounds (Happy, Sad, Angry)
~ Touch/comfort (Happy, Irritable)
Mood Disorders
~ An imbalance in neurotransmitters will cause emotional, mental, or physical “distress”
~ What causes imbalances
~ Reduced Flow & Insufficiency
~ Too much “stress” for too long
~ Addictive behaviors
~ Medications
~ Poor nutrition
~ Insufficient sleep
Neurotransmitters, Addiction & Black Friday
~ Normal day
~ Normal store capacity is 750 people.
~ The store needs a constant 500 to stay open
~ The store has 8 doors to allows for people to easily enter and exit without getting “bunched”
~ Black Friday
~ 1500 people push through the door as soon as it opens
~ Store is destroyed
~ Staff is exhausted
~ Tak