Derailment: What it is and How to Manage it

In the world of psychology, derailment describes thought processes that veer off track, go awry, stray from the thought. Like a car that has skidded off the road, the ideas fail to arrive at their destination. In the realm of politics, derailment refers to a tactic by those in power that deflects attention away from complaints about abuse or wrongdoing by introducing an alternative topic. This blog explores derailment as a diversion from a life goal, and how it’s possible to get back on course.

In his journal, the writer John Cheever alluded to a loss of continuity at a critical point in his life. “It seems that in my coming of age I missed a year—perhaps a day or an hour....The consecutiveness of growth has been damaged. But how can I go back and find this moment that was lost?” Although the impact of Cheever’s derailment extends beyond the scope of this blog, his expression highlights the common problem.

In the newly released movie, Florence Foster Jenkins, the heroine, Florence, contracted syphilis from her first husband. As a result, she didn’t bear children and was deprived of a fulfilling family life. That derailment led her to devote her life to singing and supporting the musical world with the fortune she inherited from her father.

We assume an extreme diversion is equivalent to a disaster, but the event may actually represent a chance to recover a “lost” direction or passion. The classic story of The Little Prince (recently made into a popular movie) can be viewed as a metaphorical derailment in the realm of literature. As a young boy, the protagonist of the story drew a boa constrictor swallowing an elephant. But the adults insisted that the drawing resembled a hat. Unimpressed with the child’s skill, the grown-ups redirected him from artistic to practical studies— geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. “That is why I abandoned, at the age of six, a magnificent career as an artist,” the protagonist says, justifying his profession as a pilot. Years later, his plane crashed in the middle of the desert, and he was visited by a little prince who commanded him to draw. The little prince may well represent the pilot’s imagination or alter ego that harbored his desire to become an artist.

In real life, a patient of mine, Ms. W., experienced a serious depression, a kind of psychological crash. During her hospitalization, she recalled that in her youth, she had aspired to become a singer. In the hospital, she had the opportunity to connect her depression with the long-forgotten ambition. Upon her recovery, she studied voice and became a successful musician.

Conclusion: Although we can’t undo the past, we can recognize a derailment and take action to get back on track.

Dear Reader, I welcome your input. jsimon145@gmail.com

Our Curative Breath

“For breath is life, and if you breathe well you will live long on earth.”      Sanskrit proverb.

With the opening of the Olympics in Brazil this week, focusing on the breath is timely.  Without proper use and training their respirations, athletes wouldn’t be able to accomplish their amazing physical feats. On a perhaps less ambitious but no less vital scale, we can become a kind of athlete by paying attention to our everyday breathing.

By the end of reading this blog, you will understand why literally everything depends on the breath. Of course without it, we don’t have life. But we rarely think of the extent to which proper breathing affects our health.

First, a bit about the anatomy of the respiratory system: It consists of the nose (nasal passages), trachea, diaphragm, bronchi and bronchioles all the way down to the tiny air sacs at the base of the lungs. Good-enough breathing depends on using muscles that include the diaphragm, intercostal muscles (between the ribs) and the abdominal muscles.   When we don’t breathe fully we don’t circulate the air down to the alveoli or tiny air sacs.

The two main types of breathing are superficial or chest breathing, which involves the expansion of the chest, and deep or abdominal breathing., which engages the abdomen.

For the most part, breathing is automatic. If it weren’t, the attention we’d have to pay to it would detract from our daily activities. But if breathing is automatic, how can we forget? Yet when the coach asks, “Are you breathing?” we realize that we haven’t been breathing. Instead, we had focused on the exercise and held our breath, a counterproductive, but not uncommon, behavior.

Not infrequently, we hear in the course of an exercise class, the instructor remind us to breathe,  “ Breathe to the bottom of the lobes; she might advise. “That’s where the calmness is.” Obviously good breathing doesn’t come naturally.

Ignoring the mechanics of breathing handicaps us. Disorders of breathing cause physical symptoms. and we rarely realize how simple it is to correct these symptoms. Under stress we tend to hold our breath, which may compromise our body’s ability to stave off disease, helping to explain our tendency to become ill under stressful circumstances.  Common sense suggests that deep breathing enhances the flow of air that prevents bacteria, viruses and fungi from settling in our lungs.

Failure to use our abdominal muscles can cause health problems like poor posture, which leads to problems with balance and the potential to fall.

Abdominal breathing helps us to become aware of the muscles that support our frame.  In addition, we burn more calories when we put our muscles to use. Abdominal breathing involves the large muscles that support the abdominal cavity and utilizes more calories than the shallow breathing that involves the smaller intercostal muscles located between the ribs. One fitness instructor, Jill Johnson, even invented a weight-loss regimen called Oxycise based on breathing from the stomach.

The added benefit for using the breath as exercise is that we don’t need a gym, i a change of clothes or even additional time. We can perform deep breathing while remaining in our seats in a classroom or an office by focusing on our respirations.

We can wake ourselves up by increasing our oxygen level by breathing deeply.  Or conversely, we can put ourselves to sleep with a kind of meditation of shallow breathing, and repeating silently the words to the rhythmic “in” and “out” like a mantra.

When we feel out of control, remembering that we can modulate the breathing has the power to give us an immediate sense of control. Mr. G. treated his flying phobia by focusing on his inhales and exhales. Ms. K. treated her panic attacks, exacerbated by light-headedness resulting from breathing too quickly and over-oxygenating the blood, by breathing in and out of a paper bag.

We may not be aware of our anxious state, but experience chest pain or pressure caused by holding our breath.  If so, inhaling deeply will give relief. (Of course, if the cause is more serious, the discomfort won’t disappear.)

Conclusion: A focus on the breath grants everyone the power to become an athlete and a self-healer.

Dear Reader, I look forward to your comments. jsimon145@gmail.com