by William Taboas, M.A.
So, let’s talk chemistry for a second. Ever heard of the Grignard reaction? Neither have I (or maybe I did when I took Organic Chemistry, but I totally forgot everything about it). I’ll leave either the internet or chemists to explain what the Grignard reaction is (named after French chemist François Auguste Victor Grignard). Instead, I want to talk about how a chemical reaction became a metaphor for depression and anxiety.
This past weekend, the Grignard reaction came up in a conversation with a close friend, who happens to be a chemist. Often are the times that psychology and mental health become a topic of conversation when we are together. We talked about daily stressors and how we can make ourselves even more distressed and emotionally disturbed, emphasizing how we can exacerbate the problem on our own. She made a comparison between over-mulling, ruminating, worrying, etc., to a chemical reaction, in this case, the Grignard reaction. Why the Grignard reaction? You see, once you initiate the reaction with heat, it requires less heat to continue its chain reaction; thus, it is a self-propagating reaction. I believe this is where we have a choice; either in continuing the reaction, or by taking steps to guide it to a non-cyclical, non-propagating end.
Now heading back to psychology and REBT terms, habitual and rigid thinking and behaving is, in a nutshell, what many modern psychologists believe leads to emotional distress. Once we’ve developed maladaptive habits of thinking, it’s hard not to engage in the self-propagating cycle. The process of breaking the cycle is less of an abrupt end to the reaction, and more of a process of dilution. Just as we can continue to propagate the cycle, diluting the habitual rigid thinking with more flexible ideas and beliefs is within our control as well. What I truly find interesting is that metaphors or metaphoric language is common in the practice of REBT and psychotherapy. Metaphors capture concepts and ideas in a way that it resonates with a person. In this case, the metaphor was informed by my friend’s education and profession. How would you use your own metaphors to describe what’s going on in your head?
