Dealing with sociopaths and the havoc they create crushes your sense of wellbeing, mood, self-esteem, confidence and happiness. In short, sociopaths make you miserable.
Sometimes all you want is to feel better.
Eric Barker wrote an article on BusinessInsider.com about how to feel happier. He summarized the work of multiple neuroscientists to come up with four steps you can take that will improve your outlook. They are:
- Ask “What am I grateful for?”
- Label negative emotions
- Make a decision
- Touch someone
These aren’t just “feel good” platitudes the suggestions are based on what affects your brain.
Take these steps and you just might start to feel better. And that will enable you to deal with the havoc.
A neuroscience researcher reveals 4 rituals that will make you happier, on BusinessInsider.com.
Link supplied by a Lovefraud reader.
Thank you as much is needed for the after effects of the drama king.
Movin on!
SITC
Eric Barker blames it on the target. There is only one way to feel better if you have a psychopath in your life. Get him out of your life. I was on cloud 9 as soon as I got him out of my life.
Use humor. Be like Larry David. Spill the beans. Be authentically YOU until the pain starts to hit…then ‘fire off’.
My sarcasm and quick wit has saved me from many a black mood about to overcome me…and anyone around me gets to ‘crack up’.
And it goes over well.
Get a pet. Caring for animals helps you through anxiety, depression and stress with increases of oxytocin.
Feed your brain nutrient dense foods.
I just finished his book, The Upward Spiral, a couple of weeks ago. It is excellent and super-simple to read! I highly, highly recommend it! And I read a LOT of books on sociopaths and on the effects on victims and how to recover, both in physical and psychological health. I immediately ordered it for various family and friends.
Although his book sounds directed towards those with depression, you could substitute anxiety, stress, or PTSD and the answers would be much the same. I know because I recovered from chronic high stress for most of my life, adrenal exhaustion, various types of abuse, CFS, fibromyalgia, and PTSD and complex PTSD. Longstanding high stress and the breakdown of various stress systems are the factor in common. These are all related via stress and its effects on hormones and neurotransmitters.
What is different about his recommendations is that they don’t take tons of $$$ and doctors or expensive medicines to do. They involve simple life tweaks to your habits. Anyone can try these, no matter what your circumstances are, even if you have lost everything. Over time, these lead to a sunnier outlook, more positivity and energy, and the upward spiral. That’s the theory anyway.
I did not discover this book until I had substantially recovered from all of the above, so I have not tried it yet. I hope it will take me into the endzone. I do plan to try it with a friend also suffering from trauma, stress, and abuse; and I hope it will help.
If you happen to see this, Alex Korb, thank you so much for writing your book! It is going to help so many!