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Have you ever been told that you look at things in absolute, black-and-white categories; or are you in the gray area of thinking? All or nothing thinking is the result of a stressed mind on autopilot. Instead of thinking about given situations and making choices in how we respond, the unattended mind will see things as everything or nothing, black – or white.
I’m curious to know what type of “thinker” most of you are?
I also wander if our “thinking type”, can have anything to do with hormonal imbalances within our body? Can this play a factor to which type of “thinker” we are?
@shan_e_wilson 363 wrote:
Have you ever been told that you look at things in absolute, black-and-white categories; or are you in the gray area of thinking? All or nothing thinking is the result of a stressed mind on autopilot. Instead of thinking about given situations and making choices in how we respond, the unattended mind will see things as everything or nothing, black – or white.
I’m curious to know what type of “thinker” most of you are?
I also wander if our “thinking type”, can have anything to do with hormonal imbalances within our body? Can this play a factor to which type of “thinker” we are?
I happen to think that black-and-white thinking is a learned behavior.
In the most functional setting, black-and-white thinking is an absolute necessity if one is to practice law.
In one of the most dysfunctional situations, such as in borderline personality disorder, black-and-white thinking is a behavior developed out of necessity in response to one’s developmental environment.
Hormones are some of the signals used in the mind. They directly influence thought in terms of tone – or tendencies.Higher norepinephrine signaling tends to increase the occurrence of black-and-white thinking if the thought is that this is part of obsessive-compulsive behavior, or rigidity in behavior, as opposed to acting out behavior.
For example, if testosterone is in sufficient quantity in men, then the general tone is the presence of sex drive or libido. What we decided to do with this tone is up to us. Depending on one’s level of impulse control and the sum of the other signals and information processing in the brain, some men may do inappropriate sexual behavior, and other don’t.
For example, if norepinephrine is high as a result of low thyroid hormone, the brain (e.g. amygdala) may look at this signal and the sensory input, and despite the lack of danger in the environment, associate an object in the environment with the high norepinephrine level – causing the emotion of fear. Worse, this can become a paranoid delusion if there are abnormal logical processing circuitry. Generalized anxiety occurs when norepinephrine is high. The mind always wants an explanation of why stress signaling is high. Unfortunately, an autonomic cause is not usually sensed as a cause. Thus an environmental or stored memory object is associated as a cause of the anxiety even if it isn’t the cause of anxiety.
Why can’t your office be in my town on the east coast. LOL.
I think this is me – high norepinephrine levels leave me usually pretty anxious. Especially noticed in small groups – one on one I am fine. And this sucks when it comes to work.
I also tend to see things B&W. The brains association of current events to the cause of the anxiety instead of coincidental occurence is interesting… I am still leaning towards some psychotherapy, but do wish you were local.
@DrMariano 385 wrote:
I happen to think that black-and-white thinking is a learned behavior.
In the most functional setting, black-and-white thinking is an absolute necessity if one is to practice law.
In one of the most dysfunctional situations, such as in borderline personality disorder, black-and-white thinking is a behavior developed out of necessity in response to one’s developmental environment.
Hormones are some of the signals used in the mind. They directly influence thought in terms of tone – or tendencies.Higher norepinephrine signaling tends to increase the occurrence of black-and-white thinking if the thought is that this is part of obsessive-compulsive behavior, or rigidity in behavior, as opposed to acting out behavior.
For example, if testosterone is in sufficient quantity in men, then the general tone is the presence of sex drive or libido. What we decided to do with this tone is up to us. Depending on one’s level of impulse control and the sum of the other signals and information processing in the brain, some men may do inappropriate sexual behavior, and other don’t.
For example, if norepinephrine is high as a result of low thyroid hormone, the brain (e.g. amygdala) may look at this signal and the sensory input, and despite the lack of danger in the environment, associate an object in the environment with the high norepinephrine level – causing the emotion of fear. Worse, this can become a paranoid delusion if there are abnormal logical processing circuitry. Generalized anxiety occurs when norepinephrine is high. The mind always wants an explanation of why stress signaling is high. Unfortunately, an autonomic cause is not usually sensed as a cause. Thus an environmental or stored memory object is associated as a cause of the anxiety even if it isn’t the cause of anxiety.
@wondering 387 wrote:
Why can’t your office be in my town on the east coast. LOL.
I think this is me – high norepinephrine levels leave me usually pretty anxious. Especially noticed in small groups – one on one I am fine. And this sucks when it comes to work.
I also tend to see things B&W. The brains association of current events to the cause of the anxiety instead of coincidental occurence is interesting… I am still leaning towards some psychotherapy, but do wish you were local.
The east coast should have a lot of qualified and good psychotherapists. Psychotherapy, by necessity, has to be done with frequent visits. Usually it is at least once a week. Near the end of therapy, visits are less frequent.
When it comes to physical treatments, I have patients from other states and countries.
@wondering 387 wrote:
Why can’t your office be in my town on the east coast. LOL.
I think this is me – high norepinephrine levels leave me usually pretty anxious. Especially noticed in small groups – one on one I am fine. And this sucks when it comes to work.
I also tend to see things B&W. The brains association of current events to the cause of the anxiety instead of coincidental occurence is interesting… I am still leaning towards some psychotherapy, but do wish you were local.
When looking in B&W one needs to look at the environment that patient was exposed and how they where conditioned to respond.
Where you brought up relgious family because this could have a huge impact on you look at situtations and will affect your mode of action. In many cultures there is only right or wrong with no gray areas.
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