Cognitive Reframing: The personality-changing technique

 

·      What is the anatomy of the brain?

·      How does it work?

·      What is anger? What part of the brain triggers it?

·      What is Cognitive reframing?

·      Can this technique help manage anyone’s anger?

·      Are there Alternatives?

 

The mammalian nervous system is comprised of two parts i.e. CNS (Central nervous system) consists of the Brain and Spinal cord and PNS (peripheral nervous system) connects cranial nerves from the spinal cord to the sense organs.

 

The Human Brain

The human brain consists of hundreds of thousands of millions of smaller units called neurons. Altogether the brain can be subdivided into three main regions:

Forebrain: It contains Cerebrum, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland.

Functions: The forebrain is responsible for intelligence, learning, and voluntary actions, maintaining body temperature and blood osmotic pressure, appetite emotions, and secretion of important hormones.

 Midbrain: This part of the brain contains optical lobes.

Functions: Midbrain is responsible for the visual activity and the movement of the eyeballs. 

Hind Brain: it contains the cerebellum and medulla oblongata.

Functions: This part of the brain is responsible for muscle coordination and other involuntary actions such as respiration, heartbeat or peristalsis movement, etc. 

As we know the brain is a complex organ that is responsible for every single thought that culminates into action. The negative impulses are the result of stress, pressure, and fear of failure. All these feelings stimulate by the amygdala followed by the hypothalamus which further sends messages to the adrenal gland to secrete adrenaline which presents deep in the limbic system of the prefrontal lobe of the forebrain. Amygdala induces the ability to “fight or flight” in a challenging situation. This is also the reason why people with damaged amygdala lack the ability to take the right decisions.

Another interesting point to note is these are the same people who become jealous and busy bitching and conspiring against their opponents. By doing this they satisfy their ego but this feeling takes them too far to avenge their imaginative rivals.

The question stands. How can we escape from such negative thoughts? There is a technique called cognitive reframing.

 Cognitive Reframing:

 This is a psychological technique that enables you to divert the expected negative feeling of shame fear and anger. It makes us more reflective on our way of thinking and seeing the world through other’s perspectives too. This strategy consists of a series of steps You have to train your mind to follow the track where you can detect and dictate the changeable circumstances in your favor rather than being enslaved by the unexpected situation or event that is enough to spoil your mood.

Step 1:  Catch the rat 

How would you behave if the situation goes against you?

If you have a bad experience?

First, take a deep breath. Do RCA (root cause analysis) of what triggers your anger. Was that event or situation qualified to trigger your anger?  Evaluate the event on merit, were you responsible for such a thing, or was it due to your negative behavior?  if yes then think about how can you avoid this next time. Think about the alternatives. Stop the past memories to spoil your present. 

Step 2: Check  and identify

Cognitive reframing is an interlinked technique it works like electric wiring. This technique allows us to review our experiences in more positive and productive ways. For example, A woman who works in an office started feeling insecure about the recruitment of a newbie who is getting more salary than her. She gradually develops suppressed anger against her whenever she looks at her.

She starts thinking “This isn't fair. I have to do something about it. Instead of focusing on her performance she unnecessary prying on her, which is both wastes of time and energy. What she needs to do is develop more skills and modify the pace of her work and think about what if she had been in her place. How would she be feeling if she has to survive in a hostile environment?

 Step 3: Challenge the negative impulses.

Now change the frame of reference and look at the situation using others’ perspectives.

 Can she be blamed for a high salary? 'No'.

Did she say to the high-ups not to raise her salary? ' No'.

Now admit that your anger was misplaced. Talk to yourself, have a serious discussion, and convince yourself that you can't impede others’ success.  However, one can achieve it by the dint of working hard, with constant labor and a focused approach.

Step 4 . Change wrong ideas with the right ones.

Once your mind is back on track have a right and constructive approach. Now think about the areas where you are more productive and have the potential to perform in a better way. If you are a student or an employee or a CEO of any organization this is very important to act in a sober and controlled way no matter how difficult the situation is. What happened is happened stop brooding over the past instances. Learn to live in present, and contribute to society If you change your mind and start spending energy on the right then the old memories and bad experiences won't hurt or tease you anymore.

Final Words:

 One should not knock at the doors that Allah does not want to open for you. Those doors may be so hollow that all your illusions and physical being is shattered as soon as they open. Always remember one thing! The doors that Allah closes on you have some benefits for you. It may be that what you think is good is the cause of evil for you and therefore Allah is taking you away from it. If you ask the Lord for good in prayer, how can the Lord hand you over to evil? Understand the interests of the Lord and learn to have complete faith in Him. His decisions are a thousand times better than our decisions. So, when no decision can be made, leave your decision to the Lord. The Lord will provide help from such places that you will be surprised

But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you, and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not. (2:216)

Look at the bigger picture rather than the shuttered ideas that make you feel ostracized. 

Be positive and cooperative. Be generous, and help others without any expectations. Spread happiness give charity even a smile or honest advice. Adopting all these positive traits brings positive changes to your personality.

Feelings of being flustered over trifling things will automatically subside. 

"This elicits emotions or negative impulses such as shame, fear, anger, and anxiety would be nothing but negligible stuff…

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