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.

Many professional athletes-Lebron James and Peyton Manning-use visualization in much the same way, imagining themselves making plays in high pressure situations. Through constant repetition, they master the event they are visualizing without having to physically practice.

People use repetition to learn new words or facts. When we were in school we repeated a word or fact over and over again (my teachers always said seventeen times was the right amount) to learn it. Repetition can also be used to learn how to carry out a task, such as driving or using a debit card (or, for an athlete, to make a game ending three-pointer or throw a last second touchdown). This can be very important if you have agoraphobia and are deathly afraid of shopping at a store or driving the interstate.

But imagery can also be as subtle as imagining yourself as peaceful and serene, to retrain your mind and body to be peaceful and serene all the time. This helps us battle the stress that seeps into our daily lives, and get a grip on depression.

By creating an alternative world within your own mind, and then controlling and using it to learn how to handle the real world, you can use imagery and visualization to step into reality and control it.

How to use guided imagery:

The first step is to find a quiet, comfortable place to sit and get into the right frame of mind by getting rid of all distractions. Unplug your phone, and lock your door. Turn the television off, the radio, and even the lights if that's what it takes. Sit in a meditative position on the floor with your legs crossed and your back straight, hands in your lap or on your knees. Alternatively, you can lay with your knees propped up by a pillow and your head flat on the bed.

Then pick a technique you like best. There are many and it will involve a little research to find others I don't discuss here, but they aren't hard to find and implement in your daily routine.

Guided imagery is a basic form of imagery where you imagine a peaceful situation. If you're angry, imagine yourself as being calm, relaxed, kind or compassionate. You can do this by focusing on a word or picture yourself being the word. If you want to imagine yourself being compassionate, you can think of the word "compassion" or visualize yourself helping someone else, even someone you dislike.

Do this for ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes every day, and you will slowly replace the reality that is your life with what you have created in your imagination.

Another very calming and relaxing type of imagery is imagining a peaceful setting-a deep green forest, a beautiful mountain peak, or a white beach alongside a dark blue ocean. Sit in the same meditative position and close your eyes, picturing your favorite scene and keeping the image in your mind as long as you can. Don't just picture it, but smell it, hear it, taste it, touch it. Picture your body and how you would walk through such a setting.

If you don't like either of those two methods, try a more famous method. Close your eyes and pretend to pick up every negative thought and shred them one by one, into little pieces and letting each float into the wind and far away, disappearing forever. You can do this for negative thoughts, events in your life, people, or anything else that stresses you out, makes you sad, or angry. Make sure you do not do this with the same emotion you're trying to get rid of. If, for instance, you are angry, don't shred your thoughts or memories with anger. Smile and be happy about it, forgiving anything or anyone that has hurt you, and allow the event or thought or person to rest. We can't let go of our past if we are still attached to it with the feelings that instigated the problem in the first place.

To use imagery to help you with depression, focus on what you feel proud of. Goals are important to heal depression, and so is order in your life. If you feel as though you have no control from day to day, imagine that you do have control. At the very least, understand that you have control over your own mind.

How to use visualization for anxiety:

I use one example, but you can use visualization to conquer any phobia. Remember that, at first, if you are facing a situation that makes you very nervous, don't try to visualize it without the help of a professional or safety person (someone by your side to help you if you have a panic attack) unless you feel confident you can handle a panic attack.

Someone with agoraphobia not able to drive, for the fear of panicking behind the wheel, can use visualization effectively and safely. Effectively because visualization works if done consistently, and safely because the person is not really behind the wheel of the car, but at home, and cannot hurt himself or anyone else.

At first he will sit down and begin as someone using guided imagery would. He may begin by using imagery to relax-being relaxed before beginning benefits the overall outcome-imagining being in a beautiful, serene location. But there the similarities end. He will begin the actual visualization process by imagining himself walking from home with his car keys, to his car, unlocking the door, climbing in, shutting the door, starting the engine, putting the car in reverse...

He will go through each step of the driving process carefully, using his full imagination to experience exactly what it is like to drive a car. When anxiety comes, he'll allow it to come, using anxiety coping techniques within his visualization to calm himself. He'll use positive coping statements to prove he is in control, that he has nothing to fear, and that he will get through this situation. When he's finished, he'll visualize driving back home and going through the motions of getting there and going inside.

By using visualization in this way, an anxiety-prone individual is essentially practicing the real thing. You can use this method for anything-if you fear going to school in the morning, going to work, or going to the store. The key is to visualize yourself going through the event without a hitch. If anxiety does come, deal with it the way you would in the real world...don't panic, don't try to fight it, but let it come and let it go by using coping statements and other anxiety techniques.

At some point in time in your visualization, after you've spent a few weeks with it, you may no longer feel anxious. In a month or two, you may begin doing everything you've done while visualizing, but with one difference: you'll do it for real, actually getting into a car and taking a drive, going to school, or to the store. You won't be anxious, and even if you are, the panic won't control you, you'll control it!

Overall, imagery and visualization are two important techniques for battling anxiety and depression, stress and anger, but they aren't the only ones and without the others, they aren't as effective. To get the most benefit from any technique you must practice every day, with effort, and not half-heartedly going through the motions to finish and say you did something.