09/16/2022
What does education have to do with Mental Health?
-That's a really good question. Understanding how we learn in an "advanced" society is key to understanding how we think.
The learning principle of Primacy and Intensity are two major players in test taking style of learning. What is learned first has a long and often permanent result. What is learned under significant stress also has a strong impact on how we learn. These situations often form future perception of how we view certain subjects. In short, these circumstances develop paradigms.
Students study furiously just prior to a test. Students must formulate their "best guess" and sometimes teach themselves wrong information for the first time. Through primacy and intensity the wrong information is cemented into the brain. The process of taking the test creates a scenario where students teach themselves wrong information. (In an increasingly difficult environment, even college level classes are seeing fewer and fewer teachers review tests with their students. -Kudos to the teachers that do...)
How does that affect our Mental Health? Knowing that we have been "self taught" through a large portion of our lives, gives insight into our perspective. How often are we Anxious, Depressed, unable to focus and feeling overwhelmed due to the situation we are in? For situational stress, Anxiety, and Depression we can take a step back and think 'I am reacting this way, because that is what I've taught myself to do.' Perhaps there is another way.
It is a pretty mature and difficult thing to recognize we need to learn a new way of taking information, processing, and responding. But that is often the first step in overcoming situational Anxiety and Depression. Allowing yourself the option to step back, consider learning NEW approaches and NEW responses to situational triggers is fundamental in maintaining good Mental Health.
What are some of the things you have discovered that changed your perspective and therefore your response to Anxiety and Depression triggers?
