Rumination, perhaps more than any other mental habit, shapes our emotional and physical health. Early experiences help set the brain patterns that fuel recurring thought spirals. Rumination can be redirected once its messages are understood.
The article from the journal argues that the gut-autism axis is a house of cards built on lousy studies with inconsistent data. They assert that the studies are contradictory and that too much emphasis is placed on dubious mouse models. It is notoriously challenging to nail down microbial causes of disease—it is hard enough to simply identify a normal microbiome.
Anxiety tools have a strange habit of making things worse. Fidget spinners draw stares across a conference table, breathing apps demand screen time mid-conversation, and wearable buzzers pulse on your wrist where anyone paying attention can spot them. The very act of reaching for help becomes another source of self-consciousness, which is the opposite of what someone in the grip of a social anxiety episode needs.
Tourette Syndrome is a neurological condition that causes a person to make involuntary movements or sounds. I've had tics since I was a child that have included throat-clearing, making noises, repeating words, blinking, winking, flexing my jaw or fingers, repetitive clicking and gasping for air. These tics were at their worst in my late teens, and then fluctuated between manageable and unmanageable in my early twenties.
For many children, sharing is emotionally loaded. We like to think it is a simple skill that we can teach our children sometime in their preschool years. And it can be. But it can also be a real challenge, especially when a child has little opportunity to practise the skill.
Early in my career, I found conferences to be so overwhelming that I'd sometimes just hide in the bathroom, go into an anxious spiral of fear and guilt, and then try to convince myself to get out and talk to at least one person. Watching how other people seemed to enjoy these events and easily talk to everyone made me think something was wrong with me.
My first is to work with a therapist on techniques to manage stress while driving. Something I struggled with at first was my arms and shoulders tensing up, which made steering feel both difficult and nerve-wracking, and also made it genuinely harder to do. The second is a little weirder. But if I could point to the one thing that successfully got me on the road, it's honestly this one.
My two cents is that I try to look as inward as I'm looking outward. When I'm anxious or scared, I try to cut back on the caffeine and other stuff. Understand that going straightedge and sober is a weapon and shield in the fight for reality. It's an assertion of independence and responsibility for the health of the community.
The 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique helps ground you by encouraging you to identify your surroundings with your senses, helping regulate anxiety and stress.
