We can change the images we see in our mind
Imagination is a wonderful thing. Except when it isn’t.
“I keep seeing throngs of people marching down the streets waving foreign flags and chanting threats. I see it at night when I’m lying in bed. I see it during the daytime whenever I hear a noise outside. And every time I see it I feel terrified and sick to my stomach.”
Yes, imagining frightening scenarios produces a flow of emergency chemistry into the bloodstream. Hypervigilance, nausea, panic, and other stress reactions ensue. The special chemistry, meant to prepare us for flight or attack, will interfere with our ability to eat, sleep, problem-solve, or otherwise live a normal, healthy life.
In fact, the only time this sort of chemistry is helpful is when we actually need to run or defend ourselves. When we’re just imagining that we might need to save our lives, the chemistry puts our body into overdrive for nothing, causing undue wear and tear as well as misery.
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