(English below)
El síndrome
del "Y si..." es el nombre que le di a uno de las programaciones más
comunes que tenemos los humanos. Está muy presente en los ataques de pánico,
pues he observado que es el perfecto detonante para la cadena de ansiedad que
lleva a la crisis. Ahora, Qué es exactamente eso? pues es cuando nuestra mente
empieza a divagar y de repente nos topamos con la grandiosa idea de: Y si me
diera un infarto ahorita? o Y si ese camión que viene de frente se pasa al lado
contrario de la carretera? o Y si algo me pasara aquí con toda esta gente? Y si
no puedo salir de aqui? Y si algo le pasara a mi mamá?.....y podríamos seguir
pensando infinitas combinaciones de "Y si" pero todas llevan a un
triste desenlace, una situación terrible o catastrófica.
Ahora bien,
porque tenemos esta programación tan negativa? Pienso que muchas son las
variables, por ejemplo ideas trasmitidas directamente en el seno familiar:
padres que estén siempre recordándonos todo lo malo que puede pasar, las noticias “tan alentadoras” sobre
accidentes, homicidios, desastres, y últimamente he pensando más en el daño que
nos hacen las películas: todas esas escenas acumuladas en nuestras mentes sobre
explosiones, choques, sangre, cuerpos volando por los aires y demás. Siento que
para nuestras sensibles mentes (los que padecimos-padecemos crisis de pánico)
es mucha información que puede ser utilizada en nuestra contra si queremos.
Pero que hacer? Lo primero y más importante es re-programarnos, tratar de
no pensar en esos términos catastróficos, olvidamos que también existe un buen
porcentaje de que las cosas salgan perfectamente bien: que ese paseo sea
inolvidable, que el viaje en carretera sea entretenido, que no muramos de una
enfermedad terrible o de que un tornado no se lleve el techo de nuestras
casas…creo que las estadísticas están de nuestro lado cuando confiamos más y
estamos más relajados y felices. También para algunos de nosotros es bueno
alejarnos de ese tipo de imágenes e información, porque si sabemos lo
inteligente que es el cerebro, mejor “ojos que no ven… corazón que está
tranquilo” me refiero a dejar de ver noticias amarillistas, películas violentas
y cambiar las conversaciones sobre enfermedades y muerte; evitarlo hasta donde
se pueda, si debemos mentir sobre ir al baño para evadir una conversación
incómoda, hagámoslo….yo lo he hecho y me ha traído noches más pacificas, tal
vez en este sentido la ignorancia sí puede ser una bendición.
Yo siempre le recuerdo a los pacientes la siguiente frase: “cuando
lleguemos a ese río veremos como cruzarlo” porque los “Y si” funcionan de esa
manera, nos imaginamos tantas cosas malas que podrían pasar con el famoso rio:
“Y si” no hay puente, “Y si” es un rio
muy profundo, “Y si” hay cocodrilos, “Y si” la corriente es muy fuerte, “Y si”
“Y si” “Y si” “Y si”….luego cuando llegamos al más que famoso río es realmente
pequeño, o hay un puente, o ya se secó
(como me dijo una vez un paciente) entonces pasamos todo ese tiempo
preocupándonos por nada, por un “Y si” que nunca sucedió.
Por último, ya que la reprogramación toma un tiempo en darse, es
importante que detengamos los pensamientos de la vieja programación en cuanto
llegan, Recuerdan la escalerita del libro?
Es importante que en el momento en
que llega un “Y si” lo paremos y comencemos a pensar o a hacer otras
actividades para distraernos porque ya sabemos lo difícil que bajarnos cuando
ya estamos arriba en la crisis. Así que empecemos a detectar los “Y si” de
nuestras vidas y cambiémoslos por formas de pensar más positivas y edificantes,
paremos este virus de pensamiento catastrófico que se ha esparcido por la
humanidad, de nosotros depende que este síndrome viva de generación en
generación o se extinga en el cajón de “no trae ningún bien”.
Les dejó esta frase parafraseando a
Mark Twain:
“En mi vida he tenido muchos problemas….
la mayoría de ellos nunca sucedieron”
The "what if" syndrome is the name I gave to one of the most common programming we humans have. It is very present in panic attacks, since I have observed that it is the perfect trigger for the chain of anxiety that leads to the crisis.
Now what exactly is that? Well, that's when our mind begins to wander and suddenly we run into the great idea of: What if I had a heart attack right now? o What if that truck coming from the front passes the opposite side of the road? Or what if something happened to me here with all these people? What if I can't get out of here? What if something happened to my mom? ..... and we could continue thinking infinite combinations of "What if" but they all lead to a sad outcome, a terrible or catastrophic situation.
So I ask, why do we have this negative programming? I think there are many variables, for example ideas transmitted directly within the family: parents who are always reminding us of all the bad things that can happen, the "so encouraging" news about accidents, homicides, disasters, and lately I've been thinking more about the damage that the movies inflict upon us: all those scenes accumulated in our minds about explosions, crashes, blood, bodies flying through the air and others. I feel that for our sensitive minds (those of us who suffer/suffered from panic attacks) there is a lot of information that can be used against us if we want.
But what to do? The first and most important thing is to re-program ourselves, try not to think in those catastrophic terms, we forget that there is also a good percentage that things go perfectly well: that this trip is unforgettable, that the road trip is entertaining, that we don't end up deas from a terrible disease or that a tornado doesn't take the roof of our houses ... I think that the statistics are on our side when we trust more and are more relaxed and happy. Also for some of us it is good to get away from this type of images and information, because if we know how intelligent the brain is, better "out of sight, out of heat" by stop watching tabloid news, violent movies and change conversations about illness and death; avoid it as much as possible, if we must lie about going to the bathroom to avoid an awkward conversation, let's do it… I have done it and it has brought me more peaceful nights, perhaps in this sense ignorance can be a blessing.
I have always reminded my patients of the following phrase: “when we get to that river we will see how to cross it” because the “what if” works that way, we imagine so many bad things that could happen with the famous river: “what if” there is no bridge, "what if" it is a very deep river, "what if" there are crocodiles, "what if" the current is very strong, "what if" "what if" "what if" "what if" ... then when we get to the more than famous river it is really small, or there is a bridge, or it has already dried up (as a patient once told me) then we spent all that time worrying about nothing, about a “What if” that never happened.
Finally, since reprogramming takes a while to occur, it is important that we stop the thoughts of the old programming as soon as they arrive. Remember the ladder from my book Trust and Live Without Panic?
It is important that the moment a “what if” comes, we stop it and start thinking or doing other activities to distract ourselves because we already know how difficult it is to get off when we are already in the crisis. So let's start detecting the "what ifs" of our lives and change them for more positive and uplifting ways of thinking, let's stop this virus of catastrophic thought that has spread throughout humanity, it depends on us that this syndrome lives from generation to generation or it is extinguished in the "does not bring any good" drawer.
I leave you this sentence to paraphrase Mark Twain:
"In my life I've had many problems ...
most of them never happened ”
The "what if" syndrome is the name I gave to one of the most common programming we humans have. It is very present in panic attacks, since I have observed that it is the perfect trigger for the chain of anxiety that leads to the crisis.
Now what exactly is that? Well, that's when our mind begins to wander and suddenly we run into the great idea of: What if I had a heart attack right now? o What if that truck coming from the front passes the opposite side of the road? Or what if something happened to me here with all these people? What if I can't get out of here? What if something happened to my mom? ..... and we could continue thinking infinite combinations of "What if" but they all lead to a sad outcome, a terrible or catastrophic situation.
So I ask, why do we have this negative programming? I think there are many variables, for example ideas transmitted directly within the family: parents who are always reminding us of all the bad things that can happen, the "so encouraging" news about accidents, homicides, disasters, and lately I've been thinking more about the damage that the movies inflict upon us: all those scenes accumulated in our minds about explosions, crashes, blood, bodies flying through the air and others. I feel that for our sensitive minds (those of us who suffer/suffered from panic attacks) there is a lot of information that can be used against us if we want.
But what to do? The first and most important thing is to re-program ourselves, try not to think in those catastrophic terms, we forget that there is also a good percentage that things go perfectly well: that this trip is unforgettable, that the road trip is entertaining, that we don't end up deas from a terrible disease or that a tornado doesn't take the roof of our houses ... I think that the statistics are on our side when we trust more and are more relaxed and happy. Also for some of us it is good to get away from this type of images and information, because if we know how intelligent the brain is, better "out of sight, out of heat" by stop watching tabloid news, violent movies and change conversations about illness and death; avoid it as much as possible, if we must lie about going to the bathroom to avoid an awkward conversation, let's do it… I have done it and it has brought me more peaceful nights, perhaps in this sense ignorance can be a blessing.
I have always reminded my patients of the following phrase: “when we get to that river we will see how to cross it” because the “what if” works that way, we imagine so many bad things that could happen with the famous river: “what if” there is no bridge, "what if" it is a very deep river, "what if" there are crocodiles, "what if" the current is very strong, "what if" "what if" "what if" "what if" ... then when we get to the more than famous river it is really small, or there is a bridge, or it has already dried up (as a patient once told me) then we spent all that time worrying about nothing, about a “What if” that never happened.
Finally, since reprogramming takes a while to occur, it is important that we stop the thoughts of the old programming as soon as they arrive. Remember the ladder from my book Trust and Live Without Panic?
It is important that the moment a “what if” comes, we stop it and start thinking or doing other activities to distract ourselves because we already know how difficult it is to get off when we are already in the crisis. So let's start detecting the "what ifs" of our lives and change them for more positive and uplifting ways of thinking, let's stop this virus of catastrophic thought that has spread throughout humanity, it depends on us that this syndrome lives from generation to generation or it is extinguished in the "does not bring any good" drawer.
I leave you this sentence to paraphrase Mark Twain:
"In my life I've had many problems ...
most of them never happened ”
