THE CAVEMAN EFFECT AND HOW IT CAN HAVE POWER OVER YOUR MIND.
To start with, this blog has been a rather emotional one to write.
When I was battling with anxiety I found that the ‘Caveman effect’ was the one thing that could depict and explain my feelings in the most relatable manner. It helped me in becoming aware of my mind’s set-patterns and how they were very non-serving on my path to growing my self-confidence. — and I want to share this with you.
The concept of the ‘Caveman effect’ exemplifies how un-evolved the human mind is and how easily it can malfunction unless being constantly upgraded. These upgrades require you to consciously be aware that your brain is no longer functioning at full capacity, and take steps to recognise that you have the capacity to reboot and restructure the way your own mind works.
I first realised I was suffering with anxiety around 5 years ago which was when I first embarked on my journey to embrace the ‘Caveman effect’. During this time I was mid-way through studying my degree at university and working for an exciting events company in the UK. I was receiving an amazing salary whilst working in a job that greatly interested me and studying a degree I loved — seems like the ideal student scenario, doesn’t it?
It was all I could have ever wanted at this time in my life. Initially the job was unbelievable easy! My role consisted mostly of speaking to multiple people to publicise events and boost attendance at said events. Marketing work took around 2 hours a day in the office and then I was off to whichever event was taking place. Sounds like the perfect job. After around 6 months into the job. I began to develop an emotion that I was not familiar with. Whenever I was required to enter any social setting I began feel overwhelmed and nervous. I generally felt unwell physically and mentally; though it took me longer to recognise the part that my mental state played in the matter. The main role of my job was socialising and it had gotten to the point where I felt physically ill 90% of the time.
This feeling of discomfort continued for a further 8–9 months. During this time, I had become a heavy drinker which helped me to mask my anxiety at social events. I had failed to deal with my problem at it’s source- my anxiety and consequently the problem grew and escalated quickly. I spent almost every day feeling physically sick regardless of my sobriety. I had the constant urge to escape my environment which eventually led to me attending events at their very beginning, going home for the most part and returning at the end of the evening to close events down, I was exhausted, the job that I had once loved, I now despised. It was affecting ever aspect of my life and I was letting it. My self-confidence had plummeted and I felt empty, it was at this time when I realised the significance of my mental health and set out to find a cause to my emotions.
I visited a doctor who diagnosed me with anxiety. Once I had been diagnosed I felt it was time that I did some research to work out how I could help myself. I already knew that my anxiety reared its had mostly in social situations such as bars, restaurants and business meetings. Considering I knew that I wished to be involved in social environments in the future, I was disheartened by my emotions and my inability to overcome them as of yet. My doctor had suggested to me that I make an effort to notice what my symptoms were and after a few weeks I was able to compile a list that summarised my feelings of anxiety: Sickness, dizziness, sweating and feeling panicked. Arming myself with this knowledge, I started to search online, in books and from the people around me and was intrigued by what I discovered.
After extensive reading, I discovered the concept that suggested all of the feelings I was experiencing had been passed down from our ancestors. ‘Fight or Flight’ was a idea that many of us would have been introduced to during our schooling years and if you were like me, you would have left the idea there too. It took me a while to wrap my head around, but I found the concept that was being presented to me was more understandable when accompanied with some sort of anecdote. For example, during prehistoric times, social meetings would occur mainly between family and ‘neighbours’ as such. If an individual entered a territory that they were not resident in, this would almost always be construed to be a threat. The prehistoric mind of these cavemen functioned in a very ‘black and white’ manner when it came to danger. Similarly, when a brain is suffering from anxiety, it switches back into this preset mode. Individuals that suffer with anxiety of this kind will often experience ‘flight mode’ in social scenarios, which is often accompanied with the secretion of adrenaline which only heightens the symptoms we associate with anxiety such as high heart rate, sweating and shaking. Your mind may start to unconsciously seek out negative stimuli in your environment; this could be anything from believing you are being spoken about, to thinking you’re in a life threatening position. Dislike sufferers of anxiety, a healthy brain is able to compile evidence quickly to inform the brain that your environment and you are both safe.
The cavemen effect made me understand that unless I consciously made the effort to inform my brain of the safety of my surroundings and recognise when my mind was functioning using ‘black and white’ patterns, I would forever fall victim to anxiety. A brain working in black and white could be compared to the software on a Nokia brick being used on an iPhone 7, it would simply have no real function. The internet suggested many methods that I could utilise in an attempt to have better control over my mind, the few that I was most intrigued by were meditation, mindset ‘hacks’ and diet.
I quickly found that meditation helped me greatly in gaining clarity on my thoughts. I was able to understand my own thoughts better and most importantly label them as either serving or non-serving and I immediately began to feel happier as I gained more confidence. During my meditation I choose to focus on reflection, visualisation and awareness. Below, I’ve set out how I use these 3 things to help focus my mind and live life to its fullest.
Visualisation-
This is an image set mentally. I utilise this method to envisage how l want my day to be, how l will be successful and the ways I plan to live positively. By creating a visual image of the way you hope your life to be, you unconsciously begin to focus your mind on pursuing areas that will help you achieve this future. Visualisation can be used for both short term and long term goals but you must not underestimate the power of repetition when it comes to the effectiveness of this method.
Awareness-
I use awareness as a way of organising my thoughts and feelings into set categories. Each evening, I take around 5–10 minutes to myself to think about the feelings I have experienced that day, whether they be negative or positive, and try to put a cause or meaning behind each. Some people find it useful to write these findings down so they are able to notice patterns in their own behaviour and how to avoid them.
Reflection-
I reflect so as to learn something from my own thoughts and actions. The negative thoughts that l may have experienced the day before can help me learn the patterns of my own mind and how I can use previous awareness to prevent negative mindsets in the future.
By using these 3 things I was able to see great improvements in the positivity of my mind and you can too.
In conclusion, l hope everyone reading this- anxiety sufferer or not, is more educated on the many ways you can upgrade your mind. Life will start to become what you have always envisaged when you take time out of your day to focus on yourself and being aware of the mechanism behind your own mind. The world is evolving around us each and every day, it is up to you to make sure your mind evolves alongside it.
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