From the course: Train Your Brain to Unwind Stress and Anxiety Habits
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Willpower is more myth than muscle
From the course: Train Your Brain to Unwind Stress and Anxiety Habits
Willpower is more myth than muscle
- There's a short skit from the 1970s that you can find on the internet from "The Bob Newhart Show." It's called "Stop It." In this skit, Newhart plays a therapist, who's helping a client with her fear of enclosed spaces. He basically tells her over and over to stop it. If we can tell that we're anxious and even know that worrying feeds back and makes us more anxious, why can't we just tell ourselves to stop it? Can't we just tell our prefrontal cortex, which is at the heart of reasoning and self-control, to step up and shut that worry down? Remember, from an evolutionary perspective, the prefrontal cortex is the youngest and the weakest part of the brain. And do you also remember that irony that I mentioned before? The prefrontal cortex is the first part of the brain that goes offline when we get stressed or anxious. As an extreme example, answer this question for yourself. How well can you plan or even think for that…
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