(PCM+) Mental Health Minute with Mr. Ponca City

by Relo Adams, MS, MCP, LPC-C | Contributing Writer

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Thanksgiving Rewires The Brain:
The Neuroscience of Gratitude

There are so many things to look forward to in the fall season of each year. That candy holiday that so many love, cooler weather, my second 19th birthday and Thanksgiving! Looking over my life, I have so many ups and downs, and so much to be grateful for. The highs absolutely outweigh the lows. I complain sometimes, and sometimes I complain a lot, and then am instantly convicted because really, there is so much to be thankful for, even when things are tough. A core principle of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the interconnectedness of one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Thoughts influence feelings, and feelings directly impact one’s behaviors and reactions. It is safe to say that our thoughts are actually responsible for creating our feelings. An easy example would be being stopped by a train when in a hurry. The go-to-thought when this has happened to be is “who builds a train track in the middle of town!? What a waste of time.” This type of thinking could lead to feelings of frustration, impatience and irritability or anger. The behavior related to those uncomfortable feelings could result in aggressive driving, rude words and poor attitude the rest of the morning or day. If the negative thought was immediately addressed “who builds a train track in the middle of town!? What a waste of time” and replaced with a helpful thought such as “what a good opportunity to listen to a podcast” the feelings would shift from anger and frustration to comfortable feelings such as calm or motivation which then influences the behavior as a result, which would not be aggressive driving and rude words and poor attitude, but the opposite. Where your attention goes, energy flows! This simple sentence explains that what you focus on directly impacts your feelings, actions and reality.