“Prescribing Brain Science to Your Life”
New work from the author of the best-selling book "Brain Science When You're Depressed"

From what you can do, to what you want to do, to what seems easy!
Practical and well-founded advice and guidance that will help you overcome depression before you know it.

"Brain Science When You're Depressed" is the first book to approach depression as a "brain problem, a biological problem," breaking away from the conventional view that attributes the cause of depression to individuals, such as "a sensitive personality" or "a disease caused by weak willpower."
In particular, it defined depression as a "byproduct of the brain's interaction process" and meticulously explained the reasons and mechanisms of depression from a neuroscientific perspective, receiving favorable reviews from those suffering from depression, such as "Just hearing that it wasn't my fault was reassuring," "I was able to objectify the problem," "This is the book that doesn't talk nonsense the most," and "A clear consolation from science," and establishing itself as a steady seller in the humanities field.
Neuroscientist Alex Korb, author of "The Brain Science of Depression," returns with practical tools to help you finally overcome depression.
If 『Brain Science When You're Depressed』 offered 'scientific comfort' to those suffering from depression, this book 『Brain Science When You're Depressed, Workbook for Practice』 goes beyond comfort and offers a 'scientific prescription' that can be directly applied in everyday life.

"Brain Science for Depression, Workbook for Practice" is not a book to read, but a book to read and practice.
This book presents ten practical and practical ways to help you overcome depression.
Some of these methods are relatively new, while others have been around for decades, even centuries, and have proven effective.
The book guides readers through numerous scientifically proven ways to improve mood, sleep quality, and stress reduction, starting with what they can do, want to do, what's easy to do, but at least one thing they must do—by writing it down, doing it, or putting it into practice.

This book is filled with simple activities that will transform your life, from moving your body to writing a gratitude journal.
Some of these may seem pointless, but they are all activities that have been proven effective through rigorous scientific research.
All of these activities will contribute to the purpose of this book.
The goal is to get you back on track, to live the life you want, and to become the type of person you want to be.

--- p.14

The roots of depression are biological.
What I'm saying is that it's not something you can just get out of in one breath by making up your mind.
If you can just snap out of a depressed state, it doesn't fit the definition of depression.
Let's give it a try. Just get out of that state! Did you get out? If so, great! You can close this book right here.
But if you haven't, read on.
If depression isn't something you can just get out of, what should you do? While depression has a biological basis, that doesn't mean it's etched in stone and immutable.
Rather, it would be more accurate to say that it is engraved on caramel.
A caramel that is firm but can be reshaped.

--- p.26~27

Physical symptoms are also linked to mood and anxiety.
Pain and suffering are not only the result of signals your body sends you, but also the way your brain processes those signals.
For example, communication between the insula and the limbic system is correlated with anxiety.
When we look at the brains of people suffering from depression or chronic pain, we see changes in communication between the insula and the limbic system.
This means that your brain becomes more sensitive, so you feel more pain and react to pain more intensely emotionally.

--- p.45

When you suffer from depression, you often think that you are broken.
In times like these, understanding the different areas of the brain can be very helpful.
If your arm is broken, you say your arm is broken, not you.
Everyone knows that your arms are not you.
You can raise your arms or wiggle your fingers.
Your arms are a part of you, not you.
But when you feel sad, depressed, or anxious, it's hard to separate those feelings from yourself.
But it is true that they are separate from you.
Those feelings are just how you experience the world in this moment.
Just because your emotions originate in a specific area of ​​your brain that belongs to you doesn't mean that your amygdala or hypothalamus is you.
Those areas may belong to you and may cause problems at times, but they are not the essence of who you are.

--- p.47

Unhelpful thought patterns are common in depression.
It is a result of activity in the limbic system and striatum.
Fortunately, you don't have to eliminate all useless thoughts to engage in beneficial activities.
In fact, you can't control the thoughts that spontaneously pop into your head.
If you try to control things, things won't go your way, and you'll end up feeling frustrated and stressed out (plus, focusing on things you can't control will increase the reactivity of your limbic system).

First of all, recognize that your thoughts are just thoughts, not truth.
While it may be true or contain elements of truth, the thought is triggered, filtered, and distorted by your neural circuits.
Let's take the thought, 'A meteorite could hit my house and kill me.'
Strictly speaking, that's true, but it's so unlikely that it's almost meaningless.

--- p.69

Take a moment to stop reading, get up, and walk around the room.
Try doing 10 jumping jacks or shadowboxing, lightly punching the air for 15 seconds.
I'll be waiting here.
I'm not kidding.
If you don't move your body, I can't help you even if I talk for a hundred days.
Move your body, even if it's just for a little while.
It's not too late to read the rest of this book.

--- p.86

You don't have to run a marathon.
You don't even have to run a kilometer.
Again, the key is to walk out the door.
Because unlike when you're out on the open road and enjoying the deep sunset, running doesn't really appeal when you're sitting on the sofa.

--- p.96

Just like facial expressions, changing your posture won't dramatically change your mood, but it can enhance your current mood, whether positive or negative.
For example, if you are feeling down and you are hunched over or in a hunched position, it will get worse.
Conversely, if you feel good or have done something good and you are confident and poised, you can multiply those positive feelings.

--- p.114

In Camus' novel The Stranger, one day the protagonist squints in the bright sunlight on the beach and is seized with an inexplicable rage.
He keeps chewing on that anger.
When I read the novel, I didn't understand that scene, but brain science gave me the answer.
One study found that squinting in bright sunlight increased feelings of anger and hostility.
At this time, you can alleviate negative emotions by turning your face away from the sunlight or wearing sunglasses.

--- p.116

How can you avoid situations where you have trouble falling or staying asleep? The answer is to make yourself sleepy.
How can we make that happen? It's simple.
I'm getting less sleep.
This may sound counterintuitive, but by being mindful of your sleep structure and intentionally reducing your sleep, you can retrain your brain to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Easier said than done, this method is quite difficult to put into practice as it can make your condition worse for the first few days, and even for several weeks.
So, only use it if your insomnia is very severe.
Also, people with bipolar disorder, sleep apnea, or seizure disorders should never try this method.
This is actually a complex treatment and is best done under the guidance of a professional, but I'll simplify it a bit here.

--- p.152

Imagine you were living on Earth 30,000 years ago, wandering through the forests with your fellow tribesmen.
I found some fruit on the tree along the way and was so absorbed in picking it that when I looked up, I saw no one.
Where did everyone go?
I tried calling out, but no one answered.
You are lost in a deep, dark forest.
Thirty thousand years ago, being left alone in the forest meant being eaten by other animals or succumbing to the forces of nature.
So the human brain has evolved to make being left alone feel so horrible and terrifying that we try to avoid it as much as possible.
So it makes sense that when you're left alone, your amygdala fires off signals and your hypothalamus goes into hyper-vigilance.

--- p.164~165

It is precisely the loneliness and social isolation that causes depression to interfere with the social spiral.
These two are separate concepts.
Loneliness is an emotion or a perception.
It's a combination of a desire to be close to others and a fear that there's an unbridgeable gap between ourselves and them.
Social isolation, on the other hand, is a result of your actions or your environment.
Isolation is simply a state in which you do not get close to other people or interact with them.

--- p.167

The striatum and hippocampus, which are involved in feelings of loneliness and social isolation, react sensitively depending on the environment you are in.
So, just by changing your environment a little, you can feel closer to other people.
Place photos of people who are important to you or items that contain memories of them in a prominent place.

--- p.177

Every time you make a decision, you are given the opportunity to base your decision on what you want or don't want, what you like or what you fear.
Fear is an unpleasant emotion, but it shines a spotlight on something, helping you identify what's important to you.
Because what you fear is often what you value.
For example, 'I'm afraid that people close to me will leave me' means, 'Maintaining close relationships with people is important to me.'
Both approaches influence your decisions about what actions to take, but the directions those decisions lead are quite different.

--- p.211

Most people keep thinking about something until they make a decision that makes them feel good.
If you do that, the standards for selection will only get higher.
This is especially true when you're depressed, because no matter how much you think about it, it's hard to magically improve your mood.
That is precisely why action is paramount in decision-making.
If you don't know where to go, you should just move in any direction.
Of course, reflecting on your current situation and properly understanding the situation may help you find the right direction.
But if that doesn't give you an answer, you're just wasting your time.
Don't know the solution? Pick a direction and start moving.

--- p.222~223

Read the following sentence in a very angry voice.
“I don’t like being in this situation.
“I feel like I can never get out of here!” Then try reading the same sentence in a resigned voice or in a voice that conveys some other negative emotion.
And finally, read the following sentence without any emotion, just as if you were stating a fact:
“There is nothing I can do in this situation.” This is acceptance.

--- p.241

Stopping trying to control the uncontrollable is not giving up, it's acceptance.
Because whether you accept it or not, the fact that you have no control doesn't change.
Acceptance stops you from continuing to futilely try to do the impossible.
But accepting what is within our control is a whole other story.
That's not helpful.
If you're in a bad relationship or working at a job you hate, accepting it isn't necessarily the best option.
The best solution in that case is to correct the situation.
You may need to resolve a problem in your relationship or break up with that person altogether, request an improvement in your work environment at your workplace, or find a new job.

--- p.242

We often feel positive or excited about something enjoyable, but at the same time, we are afraid and sad that it will end.
Positive emotions can act as a guardian to keep you from drowning in depression.
But if you believe that positive emotions are the only thing that keeps you from drowning, you may end up worrying that they will disappear.
Rather, it's better to realize that while positive emotions can empower you, they aren't necessarily needed at all times.

--- p.260

The habit itself is not an obstacle to overcoming depression and living a happy life.
However, if you feel like you're being dragged into a predetermined routine rather than taking charge of your own life, then habits become the problem.
Fortunately, you are both a computer program (striatum) and a programmer (prefrontal cortex).
Even if you can't recode the entire program, you can work through it piecemeal and fix some errors.

--- p.266

If you want to change the activity of your ancestors, you have to speak their language.
Of course, you may be very concerned about whether that habit is good or bad, but again, remember that your striatum doesn't care.
That doesn't mean your ancestors will always go against your will.
I work for you too.
But to do that, you have to train your ancestral body like you train a dog.
The important thing here is consistency.
When your dog jumps up on the sofa, how confused would your dog be if sometimes you yelled at him to get down right away and other times you just plopped down next to him and gave him a hug?
--- p.274

When a bad habit is triggered by a simple trigger, such as an event or object, the solution is simpler.
Just remove that trigger.
For example, let's say you're trying to focus on your work at home, but your eyes keep going back to the TV.
You might be able to resist the temptation to watch TV with a strong will, but you can also just turn it off or leave the room.
It is better to avoid temptation than to confront it.

--- p.278

The existentialist novelist Albert Camus said that within us there exists “a summer that no one can destroy.”
It refers to positive memories that remain deep in the heart and help us endure difficult times.
What's interesting is that sometimes sadness can also bring us to such moments of gratitude.
When something ends, we feel sad that it's over, but also grateful that we experienced it.
In this way, sadness and gratitude are like two sides of the same coin.

--- p.299

Forgiving doesn't mean you have to like that person or be friends with them.
Forgiveness is an act of acceptance, and it actually changes the way the prefrontal cortex and limbic system communicate.
Forgiveness helps reduce depression and anxiety because it allows you to let go of anger and pain.
Forgiveness is a power you have, and it is your choice whether or not to wield it.

--- p.318

One thing I want you to remember as you go through life is that you are not broken.
You just happen to have a human brain full of miraculous wonders, and unfortunately, that brain has the potential to get stuck in a pattern of depression.
When you feel anxious, just think of it as your brain's amygdala sending signals alerting you to potential danger.
When your body and mind are in pain, I think your anterior cingulate cortex is telling you what it thinks is important for your journey.
If you're stuck in a worry loop, think about it: your prefrontal cortex has found a way to deal with your anxiety, but it's not yet perfect.
If you feel defeated, it's because your dorsal striatum is repeating emotional habits you've been practicing for years.
Besides, that habit can be retrained and changed.

--- p.334