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Did you know that the song “WALTZING MATILDA” was written by a poet as he reflected upon the GRACE and HISTORY of a SHEEP STATION in WESTERN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA? A sheep station is a land reserved for raising LIVESTOCK for the purpose of WOOL and MEAT. Meat? Yikes! No matter how PASTORAL the setting, you can imagine a sweet, grazing sheep could have anxiety after the first shearing. SHREK, a sheep in NEW ZEALAND, once lived in a cave for six years to avoid SHEARING. Shrek said…. “this looks like a baaaaaaaaaad deal,” and escaped for the hills! ANXIETY, AVOIDANCE, and ESCAPE are concepts that no one should waltz around.
Spell: WALTZING Spell: WRITTEN Spell: LIVESTOCK
Name one of the concepts we are talking about today. ANXIETY, AVOIDANCE, ESCAPE
What country was “Waltzing Matilda” written in? AUSTRALIA
What part of Australia? WESTERN QUEENSLAND
Name another place in Australia.
A poet wrote “Waltzing Matilda” as he reflected upon what? GRACE AND HISTORY OF A SHEEP STATION
What two things are produced on a sheep station? WOOL, MEAT
What is the act of obtaining wool from a sheep called? SHEARING
What was the name of the sheep that avoided shearing? SHREK
What is a synonym for avoided?
How many years did Shrek avoid shearing? 6 YEARS
Where did Shrek live for those six years? IN A CAVE
In what country did Shrek live? NEW ZEALAND
Shrek was born in 1994 and avoided his ANNUAL shearing from 1998 through 2004. Sheep are generally shorn once a year. When Shrek was finally captured, he was SHORN by one professional in 20 minutes! His FLEECE produced enough wool to craft as many as 20 wool suits. Shrek went on to become a national ICON and even met the New Zealand PRIME MINISTER.
Spell: ANNUAL Spell: GENERALLY Spell: PROFESSIONAL
What year was Shrek born? 1994
How old would he be today? Current year – 1994 =
What does annual mean?
What year did Shrek begin avoiding a shear? 1998
What year was Shrek captured and finally shorn? 2004
How long ago was this? Current year – 2004 =
How many professionals did it take to shear Shrek? ONE
How many minutes did it take one professional to shear Shrek? 20 MINUTES
How many wool suits could be produced by that one shearing? 20
If the professional took 20 minutes to shear, and the fleece produced could make 20 wool suits – how many suits per minute could Shrek produce after his capture? ONE WOOL SUIT PER MINUTE
What happened to Shrek as a result of his Avoidance, capture, and shearing? HE BECAME A NATIONAL ICON.
What is a national icon?
Who did he meet? THE NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER
Great story, right? But the real story here is… why? Shearing doesn’t sound so bad – we all need a haircut every once in a while. Shrek experienced anxiety and DEFAULTED to Avoidance and escape. Avoidance and escape can be a way of COPING, an effort to avoid dealing with stress. The goal is protection from PSYCHOLOGICAL or PHYSICAL damage.
Spell: HAIRCUT Spell: EXPERIENCED Spell: DEFAULTED
When Shrek experienced anxiety, what did he default to? AVOIDANCE AND ESCAPE
Avoidance and escape can be a way of ____. COPING
What does it mean to cope? Or have a way of coping?
When we are coping, what are we trying to avoid? STRESS
What is the goal of coping via Avoidance or escape? PROTECTION FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL OR PHYSICAL DAMAGE.
The term psychological deals with what organ in the body? BRAIN
When people cope with Avoidance, they can end up experiencing the very thing they were trying to protect themselves from. Avoidance tends to cause more anxiety, nearly a SNOWBALL effect of EMOTIONAL build-up. If you take a look at Shrek when he was captured in 2004, you can see the physical effect of his Avoidance. Imagine how emotionally ANXIOUS he must have felt as his physical movement was RESTRICTED, and he was super INSULATED with all that fleece!
Spell: SNOWBALL Spell: RESTRICTED Spell: INSULATED
When people cope with Avoidance, they can end up experiencing what? THE VERY THING THEY WERE TRYING TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM.
What does Avoidance tend to cause more of? ANXIETY
What is anxiety?
This is nearly a snowball effect of what? EMOTIONAL BUILD-UP
What does the snowball effect mean?
What physical effect of Avoidance can you see when you look at the picture of Shrek upon capture?
What emotional effect do you believe Shrek was experiencing when the physical effects became overwhelming?
So what about people, not sheep? Many folks with GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER engage in Avoidance as a way of coping with anxiety. If a person has SOCIAL anxiety, they may decide to avoid a large social situation. When this is successful in decreasing anxiety, that person may prefer to forgo additional social events in the future. People with PANIC DISORDER sometimes do not leave their homes to avoid panicky feelings! Oddly enough, the more situations they try to avoid, the more every situation (even those in their own home) begin to TRIGGER feelings of panic. In that sense, it is no longer a viable “coping” MECHANISM; it is more of a NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT. The removal of UNPLEASANT feelings (negative) leads to an increase in that behavior (reinforcement).
Spell: ENGAGE Spell: DECREASING Spell: MECHANISM
Name one health disorder that engages in Avoidance as a way of coping with anxiety.
GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER, SOCIAL ANXIETY, PANIC DISORDER
If someone has social anxiety, what might they choose to avoid? LARGE SOCIAL SITUATIONS
What place do some people with panic disorder choose not to leave? THEIR HOMES
Why do folks with panic disorder choose not to leave their home? TO AVOID PANICKY FEELINGS
At what point does Avoidance no longer serve as an effective coping mechanism? WHEN EVERY SITUATION BEGINS TO TRIGGER FEELINGS OF PANIC
What does mechanism mean?
When Avoidance is no longer effective, i.e., the person with panic disorder begins to have anxiety attacks at home too, Avoidance is considered a negative _____. REINFORCEMENT
How did Shrek’s Avoidance eventually become a negative reinforcement?
As you can imagine, once Avoidance becomes a negative reinforcement, it can snowball into a much larger concern than the original issue! Shrek’s fleece eventually became too heavy and dense; his general quality of life decreased! When Avoidance becomes a negative reinforcement for people, it can decrease our quality of life. It can eventually INTERFERE with activities we enjoy, it makes INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS difficult, and we are no longer able to engage in daily activities and RESPONSIBILITIES.
Spell: IMAGINE Spell: EVENTUALLY Spell: INTERFERE
What decreased as Shrek’s fleece became too heavy and dense? HIS GENERAL QUALITY OF
LIFE
Once Avoidance becomes a negative reinforcement, it can interfere with ___ that we enjoy. ACTIVITIES
What type of relationships can become difficult? INTERPERSONAL
What is an interpersonal relationship?
Besides daily activities, what is another aspect that people may no longer be able to engage in? DAILY RESPONSIBILITIES
In a way, Shrek totally escaped to DODGE the shears all those years! The inability to have relationships and take care of daily responsibilities would certainly decrease my quality of life. So what are the symptoms…what does anxiety look like? There are physical signals that can alert anyone that avoidance/escape is EMINENT. Rapid HEARTBEAT, BUTTERFLIES, OBSESSIVE thoughts or worries, RESTLESSNESS, IRRITABILITY, or fear of losing control are sure signs. Anxiety can lead to Avoidance of people, places, or things. With people, this can look like leaving a party early, walking out in the middle of a class, or hiding in a restroom. Shrek simply disappeared into a cave!
Spell: DODGE Spell: INABILITY Spell: EMINENT
Name two of the physical signals mentioned of anxiety that may signal that Avoidance or escape is imminent. RAPID HEARTBEAT, BUTTERFLIES, OBSESSIVE THOUGHTS OR WORRIES, RESTLESSNESS, IRRITABILITY, FEAR OF LOSING CONTROL
What is a synonym for eminent?
What does it mean to have butterflies?
Name something a person avoids once the signs of anxiety become overwhelming. PEOPLE,
PLACES OR THINGS
What is one example given that people may do? LEAVING A PARTY EARLY, WALKING OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF CLASS, HIDING IN A RESTROOM
Shrek may have been uncomfortable after six years, but bringing him back into the FOLD was still hard! For people, overcoming anxiety and CEASING to avoid or escape is a PARADOX. A paradox is essentially doing the opposite of what you want to do to cope; it is COUNTERINTUITIVE. To overcome anxiety, we must do the opposite of what our brain and body tell us to do. If you have told yourself you will NEVER be able to go to the shopping mall without a panic attack, you will NEVER WANT to go to the shopping mall. Create a plan, partner with a family member, and take small steps; walk a hundred feet further each time you visit the local shopping mall. Your brain and body say NO; it will take hard work to get to YES.
Spell: UNCOMFORTABLE Spell: PARADOX Spell: OVERCOME
What is a paradox? DOING THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU WANT TO DO TO COPE.
What does counterintuitive mean?
To overcome anxiety, we must do the opposite of what our __ and __ tell us to do. BRAIN; BODY
Why is overcoming anxiety, Avoidance, and escape often a paradox? BECAUSE IT IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WILL ACTUALLY HELP YOU COPE
In order to work towards overcoming anxiety, you can create a __. PLAN
Your brain and body say no. It will take hard work to get to? YES
CREATIVE WRITING: Have you experienced anxiety? If so, what are your trigger situations?
What symptoms of anxiety have you experienced?
When the symptoms become overwhelming, what has your Avoidance or escape coping mechanism been?
Have you ever noticed your avoidance/escape coping mechanism transition to negative reinforcement that impedes your quality of life? What paradoxical approach could you take to enhance your quality of life?
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrek_(sheep)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltzing_Matilda
https://socialanxietyinstitute.org/avoidance-our-worst-enemy
