Using Imagery to Conquer Anxiety and Depression

There are two types of imagery. Guided imagery in which you calm your body through pleasant images, thoughts, and feelings, and visualization in which you visualize a phobic situation to conquer it.

Guided imagery is a stress reducer, similar to other techniques such as meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and deep breathing. Visualization, on the other hand, is done to actually bring on the feelings of a phobic situation to learn to master them. Both guided imagery and visualization are two of the best techniques to retrain the mind into thinking differently, bringing it out of the dark reaches of depression and anxiety into the light regions of a normally functioning mind.

Whereas guided imagery can be done in your own home, at any time, without problem or fear, visualization should only be attempted-at first-with the help of a councilor, or in the presence of a support person who can help you if you have a panic attack, and make sure you are doing it correctly the first few times. Once you understand the process and feel comfortable with what you're doing, visualization can be done as easily as guided imagery, by yourself.

What is imagery?

Our minds, as many scientists and doctors enthusiastic about imagery believe, are not much different from reality. The human brain can be tricked into believing images seen in dreams and fantasies really occur, even if they haven't, because our dreams and fantasies invoke the same bodily responses as real events.

Focused imagery, similar to meditation, and unlike dreams and fantasies, goes right after the mechanism in our brains that can't differentiate between what is real and what isn't. When we use imagery, we smear the border between reality and unreality to create our own, temporary world to better manage the real one we'll soon go back to.

How does imagery help us?

When we learn to control our imaginations, we can retrain the way we think. If we're anxious or stressed out, we can create an alternate world where we are calm and relaxed. If we have a phobia, we can retrain our minds to feel comfortable in the presence of the anxiety causing object or situation.