Recovery from social anxiety and related conditions.
Robert F Mullen PhD
Director/ReChanneling
For every new subscriber, ReChanneling donates $25 for workshop scholarships.
Neuroplasticity and Social Anxiety
Positive neurological stimulation changes the polarity of our neural network, which is a complex system of interconnected neurons in the brain, from toxic to healthy. The deliberate, repetitive neural input of information (DRNI) accelerates and consolidates the process. By acting proactively, we compel change rather than reacting or responding.
Until we embark on the journey of recovery, social anxiety can dominate our emotional well-being and quality of life. However, it’s important to remember that symptom mitigation is possible. Our negative self-appraisal may provoke feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, undesirability, and worthlessness, but these can be overcome with the right approach.
Our fears and apprehensions may feel real, but they are abstractions. They have no power without our involvement. By identifying them and responding rationally, we moderate their dominance.
Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the scientific evidence of our brain’s constant adaptation to information. It is what makes learning and registering new experiences possible. Scientists refer to the process as structural remodeling of the brain.
Our brain’s natural plasticity was identified in the 1960s, stemming from research into brain functioning after a massive stroke. Previously, researchers believed that neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons, ceased shortly after birth.
Today, science recognizes that our neural pathways are dynamic and malleable. Our human brain continuously reorganizes itself in response to the input of information.
All registered (neurally noticed) information alerts our brains to realign, resulting in a correlated change in behavior and perspective. What is significant is our ability to accelerate and consolidate the process by compelling our brain to repattern its neural circuitry.
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It is one of the best investments I have made in myself, and I will
continue to improve and benefit from it for the rest of my life. – Nick P.
Three Forms of Neuroplasticity
Human neuroplasticity happens in three forms. Reactive neuroplasticity is our brain’s involuntary response to things over which we have limited to no control – stimuli we absorb but do not focus on or initiate: a car alarm, lightning, or the smell of baked goods. Our neural network automatically restructures itself based on what happens around us.
Active neuroplasticity occurs through intentional pursuits such as creating, yoga, and journaling. We control active neuroplasticity because we consciously choose the activity. A significant component of active neuroplasticity is our altruistic and compassionate social behavior – teaching, volunteering, and contributing.
Proactive neuroplasticity is the most effective method of positive neural restructuring. We compel our brains to change their negative polarity to positive through the deliberate, repetitive neural input (DRNI) of information. This process of neural restructuring involves the reorganization of our brain’s neural connections.
By consciously compelling our brain to repattern its neural circuitry, we transform our thoughts and behaviors, proactively creating healthy new mindsets, skills, and abilities.
Dr. Mullen is doing impressive work helping the world. He is the
pioneer of proactive neuroplasticity, utilizing DRNI – deliberate,
repetitive, neural information. – WeVoice (Madrid, Málaga)
Repeated Neural Input
Behaviorist B. F. Skinner claimed that the neural input of information was more important than the amount; he was half right. That was before we realized how repeated neural input results in repeated firing.
Neurons don’t act by themselves but through circuits that strengthen or weaken their connections based on electrical activity. Like muscles, the more repetitions, the more robust the energy of the information.
The primary goal of recovery from social anxiety is the alleviation of our irrational fears and apprehensions. One of the three approaches or steps we take to achieve that goal is to produce rapid, concentrated positive stimulation to offset the abundance of negative information in our brain’s metabolism.
We accelerate this objective through proactive neuroplasticity—the deliberate, repetitive neural input (DRNI) of positive information. We further consolidate neural restructuring through active neuroplasticity.
Hemispheric Synchronization
Hemispheric synchronization is the collaboration of our brain’s left and right hemispheres to achieve optimal coherence, i.e., a balanced state of emotional and analytical brain function.
Our emotional quotient (EQ) refers to our ability to perceive, manage, and effectively communicate our emotions. Those of us experiencing social anxiety ostensibly have a low EQ because it requires rational thinking, a faculty anathema to our condition.
Proactive and active neuroplasticity are powerful tools that we harness to achieve hemispheric synchronization. Proactive neuroplasticity, centered in our left-brain hemisphere, is the analytical part responsible for rational thinking. Active neuroplasticity, on the other hand, involves right-hemisphere activity, encompassing intuition, emotions, and creativity. Proactive neuroplasticity taps into the mental and the logical. Active neuroplasticity connects with the expressive and social.
How We Reconcile Abundant Negativity
Negative information has inundated our neural network since childhood. We ask ourselves, how can we overwhelm or replace the life-accumulated and continuing abundance of negativity, no matter how much we deliberately input positive neural information?
Our response to most harmful information is reactive — our brain’s involuntary response to stimuli we absorb but do not focus on or initiate. Therefore, most information is neurally insignificant. It is not noticed and does not register.
Our neural network receives around two million bits of data per second, but processes roughly 126 bits. If our brain does not register the information, it does not stimulate or alert our receptor neurons, and therefore, does not negatively impact our neural network.
By deliberately and repetitively inputting positive information, we guarantee its noticeability. It registers.
Can we provide an equivalence of positive information to offset the lifetime abundance of negative information? That’s unanswerable. However, equivalence is not the criterion. Our neural network restructures itself around proactive and active neuroplasticity, so we are no longer dealing with the same brain.
Our Neural Network
Neurons are the core components of our brain and central nervous system. They convey information through electrical activity. Information sparks a receptor neuron, a specialized cell that receives and processes this information, which then stimulates postsynaptic neurons.
Postsynaptic neurons, in turn, forward the information to millions of participating neurons, causing a cellular chain reaction in multiple interconnected brain areas.
Hebbian Learning
Hebbian Learning suggests that the repeated and persistent stimulation of a presynaptic neural cell increases the efficiency of the postsynaptic cells that generate the neural chain reaction. This means that the deliberate, repetitive neural input (DRNI) of information expedites learning.
Deliberate Neural Input
A deliberate act is an intentional one. To be proactive is to take action that causes something to happen, rather than responding to it after it has already occurred. We initiate and manage the information, which maintains its noticeability and ensures that the information neurally registers.
Providing substantial and incorrupt information is essential for positive neural restructuring.
Repetitive Neural Input
Repetition is a key factor in learning. It enhances cognition, enabling more profound and more embedded learning. When we encounter new information, our brain forms weak connections between neurons processing that information. Repetition strengthens these connections and transfers learned information from short-term to long-term memory. Information is learned, relearned, and mastered.
Neural Benefits of Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity activates long-term potentiation, strengthening the connecting pathways and generating more energy. Additionally, the process creates higher levels of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) – a protein associated with improved cognitive functioning, mental health, and memory.
The neural chain reaction generated by deliberate repetition reciprocates, in abundance, the energy of the information. Millions of neurons amplify the electrical activity on a massive scale. Positive information and positive energy are returned in abundance. Conversely, negative information is likewise reciprocated. This underscores the value of positive reinforcement.
Chemical Hormones
When the activity of the axon pathways intensifies, the neurotransmission of chemical hormones accelerates, providing us with GABA for relaxation, dopamine for pleasure and motivation, endorphins to boost our self-esteem, and serotonin for a sense of well-being. Acetylcholine supports neuroplasticity, glutamate enhances our memory, and noradrenaline improves concentration.
However, our brain does not distinguish healthy from toxic information. Our neural network transmits chemical hormones in response to negative and positive stimuli. That further emphasizes the importance of positive informational input.
Fight or Flight
Scientists have identified over fifty chemical hormones in the human body. They are the messengers controlling our physiological functions, including metabolism, homeostasis, and reproduction. Their distribution is precise. Even slight changes in levels can cause significant disruption to our physiological and emotional health.
Cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine, and other fear and anxiety-provoking hormones trigger the fight or flight response – our automatic reactions to stress. Balanced amounts of these hormones are necessary for our basic survival and, in most cases, beneficial to our overall health and well-being.
However, when we feel threatened, releasing these chemical hormones can have an adverse effect. Positive neuroplasticity mitigates the influx of these adversarial hormones.
Neuroplasticity and Social Anxiety
The process of neuroplasticity is theoretically straightforward but challenging in practice. Active neuroplasticity is intuitive and creative, which is less exacting. Proactive neural restructuring requires a calculated regimen of deliberate, repetitive input that is tedious and fails to deliver immediate tangible results, causing us to readily concede defeat and abandon hope in this era of instant gratification.
We do not don tennis shorts and advance to Wimbledon without decades of practice with rackets and balls. Philharmonics cater to pianists who have spent years at the keyboard.
Once we initiate the recovery process, progress becomes exponential. The onus is on us to decide whether we choose to move forward.
WHY IS YOUR SUPPORT SO NECESSARY AND ESSENTIAL? ReChanneling develops and implements programs to (1) mitigate symptoms of social anxiety and related conditions and (2) pursue personal goals and objectives – harnessing our intrinsic aptitude for extraordinary living. Our paradigmatic approach targets the personality through empathy, collaboration, and program integration utilizing neuroscience and psychology, including proactive neuroplasticity, cognitive-behavioral modification, positive psychology, and techniques designed to regenerate self-esteem. All donations support scholarships for groups and workshops.
INDIVIDUAL RECOVERY. The symptoms of social anxiety make it challenging for some to participate in a collective workshop. Dr. Mullen works one-on-one with a select group of individuals uneasy in a group setting. ReChanneling offers scholarships to accommodate the costs. What is missed in group activities is provided in our monthly, no-cost Graduate Recovery Group. In this supportive community, graduates interact with others who have completed the program. Contact ‘rmullenphd@gmail.com’.
Committing to recovery is one of the hardest things you will ever do.
It takes enormous courage and the realization that you are of value,
consequential, and deserving of happiness.
I agree, when we consistently feed our brains with positive thoughts, actions, and experiences, we can shift our mental and emotional patterns from harmful to healing.
Absolutely. And science confirms it. I enjoy your comments, so keep them coming.