Sunday, January 29, 2012

Anxiety the Thinking Disease

People who suffer from anxiety have a tendency to always be thinking of the future and always wondering what is next. The pain of being abused, or violated, or about feeling pain or being alone, or being sick or disabled, or about someone you love being hurt or killed. We may have fear of failure or fears of success, fears of letting others down or about the fate of the earth. Here is a quote by Mark Twain at the end of his life. “I’m an old man now. I’ve lived a long and difficult life, filled with so many misfortunes. Most of which never happened”.

Fear and embarrassment of the symptoms happening around people just adds to the anxiety. The symptoms include trembling, shakiness, muscle tension, restlessness, easy fatigability, shortness of breathe, rapid heart beat, sweating, dry mouth, dizziness’, nausea, being easily startled, difficulty concentrating or irritability. People with excessive anxiety, stay in a frozen state of fear. This renders them, always hoping for some sort of pleasure while dreading some kind of pain. The conclusion is all anxiety is anticipatory. It’s all based on future events. You may have a hard time putting your finger on the root cause of these feelings.

According to Peter Levine a leading expert in trauma anxiety can actually one of the symptoms associated with trauma. Many people have traumatic symptoms that go unrecognized. For example 15% of all adults suffer from panic attacks, unexplained anxiety or phobias. As many as 75% of the people who see doctors have complaints that are labeled psychosomatic because no physical explanation can be found for them. In my work I believe many of these people have traumatic histories which at least contribute to the problem of anxiety. Anxiety is a thinking disease; however it is essential to seek professional help in order to get to the root cause of a person’s anxiety.




http://www.robertgoulard.com/

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Transforming Societal Trauma and Distress

In reality we live in a world were there is terrorism, war, and even the possibility of annihilation from super weapons. The sad part is we feel we have no control over these serious threats, consequently we give up and  stop fighting back. However, if you look at the demonstration in London yesterday you would know that this is not the case. There were many liberal and New Democratic politicians at this rally like Joe Comartin, Brian Masse and many labour leaders like Ken Lowenza, David Cassidy, the chair person from Catierpillar etc.  These are the hard working politicians who need our support in order to turn this current tide of oppression around. It’s important not to write everyone off and just give up. Perhaps it's time to re-evaluate our belief system?

The real truth is we need to become more politically active in order to stop such an evident attack on the middle class and the collective bargaining process itself. Let’s not allow this oppression to take precedence in society, Remember one thing, our belief systems can be empowering or disabling. They can be built on optimism or pessimism. These beliefs determine what we think; determine what we are capable of, or not capable of. Collectively we are a force. Perhaps we should reconsider our beliefs and become more politically active.




http://www.robertgoulard.com/

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Embracing Dysfunctional Family Values, Part 2

The whole culture of the family is supposed to be spending quality of time, warmth and affection together as a family. Especially at holiday time when everyone wishes for a loving and supportive relationships with there family members.  This can be a real fascade in some families.  In reality the pain of letting go of this fantasy and the acknowledgement of what is actually going on in a dysfunctional family can be quite intense.

In highly dysfunctional families a common characteristic is the need to put on a external show, while family members have to deny what is actually going on within their family. In other words children in these dysfunctional families have to deny what they see, hear and feel. However, if a family member tries to go against the norms of the family there are sanctions or outright punishment that keeps them quiet. The child has to pretend they are in a loving family. Therefore any thought or awareness that a child is not loved; in there family becomes a product of the child’s imagination.

If a child feels there is a problem in the family they are made to think that they are the problem. Consequently, the denial in the family causes the person to internalize that if there is a conflict in the family, they are wrong or bad. To matters even worst, they are not allowed to express negative feelings about there family. Therefore, children learn not to cry or acknowledge pain because they will experience a punishment. In this whole process a child is taught to bottle up their emotions and to internalize shame and guilt.

Later on in life the same children that were previously abused are now embracing these same aspects of their abuse, by teaching the same dysfunctional family values to there children. Consequently, the child ends up internalizing self hatred, and has poor sense of self. These dysfunctional beliefs become the core of the person’s belief system. The results can be disastrous, for example, a woman who was abused by her father and who blamed herself for this found herself in a relationship with an abusive man. The real attraction to this man was actually an attempt to get this man to treat her well, which if successful, would alleviate her feelings of self blame and badness. Childhood is usually the shortest period in our life however, when we have been abused or traumatized it can have a disastrous effect on us, for the rest of our lives, unless we resolve it.




http://www.robertgoulard.com/

Monday, January 16, 2012

Complex Trauma

Complex trauma is more about traumatic interruptions on an emotional, spiritual, physical, sexual level in the context of a relationship ( Ruth Buczyniski PhD ). What this really means is that when a child is growing up and experiences a series of relationships where they are emotionally, spiritually, and physically vulnerable. The  child can experience a violation or trauma which can cause a disruption in their development. If a child is repeatedly put at risk this person can spend the rest of their life in a flight or fight response. According to Ruth Buczyniski, PhD a leading expert in trauma “There are too many people who are diagnosed or labeled borderline personality disorder in fact probably having experienced complex trauma. Recent research is also identifying people that are suffering from chronic diseases seem to have a history of trauma in their past.

The significance of this information is pointing to trauma being at the core issue of many people who are  suffering from anxiety, panic attacks, borderline personality disorders, excessive fear, depression, or many chronic diseases have in fact expereinced trauma. 
Consequently, exploring and making sense of our past can truly be worth the effort in the long run. The problem is our body is very smart and can block out memories and pain, in order for us to survive and function in our everyday lives. This can make it hard or impossible for a preson to identify trauma as a problem, that they need to deal with.   However, with professional help we can overcome this obstacle. This process is essential in order to improve our quality of life.



http://www.robertgoulard.com/

Sunday, January 15, 2012

A Call to Action

Personally, in my life it has been a combination of working with unions, helping recovering alcoholics, my educational expereince along with my life experiences that have helped me to , reshape my thought patterns in order to understand that political, social and economic reality of our society.  The realization, of how giant corporations with their billions of dollars in assets have such an enormous influence in the media and our political system, was shocking to me. This built in institution bias does protect the corporate system. It also robs the public of a chance to understand the real world. Frequently these corporations, violate our basic human rights, by refusing to bargain contracts in good faith.

Currently, Caterpillar Inc. is attempting to bulldoze Canadian workers. It is time to fight back! Electro-Motive, a subsidiary of U.S. industrial giant Caterpillar Inc., wants to strong-arm workers into a pay cut of over 50%, dropping hourly wages from $35 to $16.50. It has also leveled devastating cuts to benefits and pensions at the members of CAW Local 27 even though the company has enjoyed billions in profit and a 20 percent boost to product (Ontario Federation of Labour).

It was surprising how many people don’t ask questions like, why does't the government and business elite take wage cuts? Or questions like why don't corporations pay there fair share of taxes. Another good question to ask is “If a corporation doesn’t invest in our country, why aren’t they paying a tariff on the goods sold in Canada? These corporations like caterpillar reap huge amounts of profit from our country and yet pay little or no taxes.  It’s time to fight back please consider participating in Saturday’s rally in London against Caterpillars hostile attack on the middle class.

Let’s stop the select few who intentionally create exploitive conditions, which they expect us to go along with. Our children’s future is at stake if we allow this irresponsible attack on our human rights to set precedence in our country. It’s time to fight back. I truly hope to see you there, at the rally on Saturday. Feel free to introduce yourself to me, it would be a pleasure to meet and talk with some of you.










http://www.robertgoulard.com/