A Beyond Survivor Shares Her Story

I'd like to to introduce you today to Ockemia, who became a Beyond Survivor in 2015. She shares with you a bit about her journey and what she gained from our time working together.



"To revisit something as traumatic as abuse can be frightening upfront, but it's certainly worth the healing that's going to come out on the other end."

You can learn more about my Beyond Surviving program here, but more importantly, leave a comment for Ockemia letting her know what you got from her story.

Making Sense of Codependency - Part 4

Today we conclude our series on codependency with Dana Zarcone, who shares with us the Four Stages of Codependency Recovery.

--

Hello! I’m happy to be here to round out my series about codependency. 

Over the past few weeks, we’ve clarified what codependency is (and is not), how and why you can become codependent and how to identify core issues and when you might be triggered. Today, I’m going to speak directly to the recovery process. 

There are four (4) primary stages that you go through as you move from codependent to independent and we’ll review each of them in a bit of detail. 

Four Stages of Codependency Recovery

• Stage 1: Acknowledgement and Preparation
• Stage 2: Acceptance and Reassessment
• Stage 3: Adjustment and Planning
• Stage 4: Action and Consistency

Stage 1: Acknowledgement and Preparation

In this first stage of recovery, you’re in a place where you’re most likely anesthetizing and you’re suffering with anxiety, depression or some other disorder. In this stage, boundaries are good because the goal will be to avoid situations and people that aren’t in your best interest. For example, you’ll be enticed to use, drink, eat, abuse, lash out or whatever other method you use to make you feel good.  

The goal in this stage is to acknowledge that you have a problem that you cover up with some form of anesthesia, and start building a plan to wean off, or discontinue your “anesthesia of choice” all together. You can’t deal with your shit unless you’re in your right mind!  If you’re “using” to reduce stress, ease the pain or make yourself feel better … it needs to stop. 

Stage 2: Acceptance and Reassessment

In this stage, boundaries are still important. However, you’ll start to identify and accept where you’ve been wounded, how that’s impacted your core issues and where projective identification is present in your relationships. 

The goal is to explore what kind of wounding you experienced while growing up in a dysfunctional, unhealthy, or perhaps, abusive family environment.  This is the stage where we take a long hard look at the wounding that occurred and how it manifests in your life – which leads to the codependency. 

It’s important to note that the codependency is developed in your childhood and gains strength as you become an adult. It co-exists with other disorders such as addictions, depression, anxiety, etc. That said, the codependency is the biggest culprit which has a tendency to lead to the other disorders. 

In this stage, you’ll focus on abstaining from addictions, compulsions, etc. and address the underlying wounding which caused the codependency. 

In this stage, as a Core Energetic Practitioner, we explore what we call the three layers of self. These three layers were formed and exist as a survival technique as a result of being wounded. Think of it like layers of an onion. On the outside layer, the one we present to the world, is our mask. It is our first line of defense and might be presented as confusion, perfection, numbness, untouchable, loveable, friendly, helpful, etc. It’s a nebulous first layer that we need to get past so that we can begin the real recovery process. 

Underneath the mask is the lower self, or as Jung called it ... the “shadow self”.  It’s the layer that protects our true, higher self at all costs. It’s the toughest layer to penetrate because it’s the part of you that’s full of disowned rage, anger, shame, fear, and longing, etc. This is the part of you that refuses to feel, so you develop addictions, act out, display compulsive behavior and tend to cause drama.

As the saying goes … what you resist persists!  So, when you’re refusing to feel these so-called “bad” feelings they’ll show up in covert ways. They’ll wreak havoc on your life, cause drama in your relationships and result in separation from self and others.  

This is the layer where the codependent self is hanging on for dear life! Because you unconsciously feel if you let all of it go, you’ll be annihilated somehow … you’ll die. Of course, when you face these demons head on, you ultimately learn that you aren’t annihilated, nor do you die. In fact, you actually break free from the proverbial chains that have bound you for years.  

Trust me! It will feel amazing!

In the center of all of this is the Higher Self, or True Self.  This is the place where true recovery and your true identify lives. It is in this place where you’re finally able to feel the pain and suffering that you have been avoiding such as shame, fear, sadness, and longing.  

You reach the Higher Self by identifying and penetrating your mask and expressing your lower self. This is done by addressing all of your “unfinished business”. Only then can you truly connect to who you are and begin to heal! 

Stage 3: Adjustment and Planning

In this stage, you have begun to better understand, and grapple with, your demons. You’ve connected to the part of you that truly wants to heal and reclaim your personal power. In doing so, you’re able to seek out professional help. You’re able to recruit a guide that will join you on your journey so that you can feel safe and fully supported as you begin to heal, reassess and make adjustments. 

It’s important to mention that rarely can you overcome codependency without the help of a professional because it requires that you do some pretty deep work. Getting the support and help you need is not a sign of weakness. Quite the contrary in fact because it takes courage, strength and self-love to see that you get the help that you need.  When you ask for help, you’re doing from your Higher Self. 

Stage 4: Action and Consistency

This is the sustainable stage where you have established a new “baseline” and laid a new foundation for yourself from which to build upon. When you’re in this stage, you’re living your life more connected to your higher self and to spirit. 

It’s worth saying that being connected to your higher self and spirit doesn’t mean that you’re  ”happy go-lucky” all the time. It simply means that you’re willing and capable of standing in your truth, live in the moment, surrender to your feelings and love yourself unconditionally.

It means you’re now strong, courageous and independent!  You’re no longer organizing your life around pleasing others. Instead, you’re living your life with honor and integrity and in connection to who you really are. 

How long it takes you to move from one stage to another really depends on you!  No matter how long it takes you, move forward on your journey with self-compassion, kindness and love. Enjoy the adventure, without judgement, and know that it will lead to a more satisfying, happy, fulfilling life!

Thanks so much for reading this series! I am genuinely wishing you all the best and hope that you’re able to Source Your Joy and Dance with Life Again! 

If you’re interested in exploring this further, or doing some other personal transformation work, with me feel free to contact me via the links below! 

Joyously Yours,

Dana 

--

Dana, the CEO and Founder of Source Your Joy, is known as a revolutionist in the personal development industry. She is passionate about helping her clients recover from depression, codependency, abuse, and anxiety. She’s a driving force in helping clients reclaim their personal power, unlock their greatest potential, and dance with life again. Dana has been working with clients for over 13 years. She has her M.S. in Psychotherapy and is a National Certified Counselor, Certified Energetic Practitioner and Certified Life Coach.

If you think you might be suffering with depression you can take her depression test to find out once and for all.

Making Sense of Codependency - Part 3

Today we continue our series on codependency with Dana Zarcone, who shares with us how to identify core issues that are showing up in our relationships, move them from unconscious to conscious, and thereby create the opportunity to "deal with our shit."

--

Over the past two weeks, I’ve clarified what codependency really is and discussed how people become codependent. As we’ve discussed, codependency is commonly misunderstood. It carries such a negative stigma with it as well. If you’re codependent, you must be broken, weak, a loser … the list goes on and on. However, all of this is just hogwash. These are beliefs that people hold because, frankly, they don’t understand codependency.  

As we move forward, I want to make it clear that, if you’re codependent, there is nothing wrong with you. It simply means that you experienced chronic disconnections, trauma or wounding in your early formative years. As a result, you’ve organized yourself in a way that would improve your chances of being loved. By healing the pain that you experienced, and have since repressed, you’ll be able to shift from being codependent to being independent.

You’ll be able to reclaim your personal power! 

Projective Identification

In a codependent relationship, there are unhealthy interactions that lead to unhealthy boundaries. The unhealthy interactions are largely unconscious and manifest through projective identification. Understanding if this exists in your relationship is the first step towards bringing your “stuff” into consciousness. When you do, you are beginning to empower yourself in honor of your recovery process. 

So what is projective identification? 

This is a very complex concept but I’ll attempt to describe it with a simple definition. 

“When a person disowns their repressed feelings and denies their true self, but covertly acts out the disowned and repressed parts and blames the other person.”

In non-politically correct terms, it means you haven’t dealt with your shit and it eventually rears its ugly head by causing havoc in your relationship. Yet, instead of taking responsibility, you blame the other person for what you thought, felt or how you acted. 

In essence, your shit is a filter that affects how you relate to other people. 

Keep in mind, all of this is unconscious to both parties of the relationship.  It’s the subtle way we defend ourselves from feeling deep emotional pain. 

The Core Issues

The deep emotional pain I talk about is the result of the wounding you experienced and, from that, you have core issues. These core issues will show up in your life over and over again until you have healed the original wound.  

Some of the core issues are as follows:

• Fear of being abandoned
• Needing to be in control 
• All or none thinking
• Difficulty trusting
• Low self-esteem
• Sense of shame
• Neglecting your own needs
• Difficulty to give or receive love
• Difficulty resolving conflict 
• High tolerance for inappropriate behavior

These issues show up as conflicts in our relationships, “hints” in our activities (what we read, the music we hear), in the feedback we get from others and through our own insight.

In order to begin the recovery process, it’s important to recognize and identify that a core issue has shown up, questioning what it’s really about, taking responsibility and let it go. 

One of the most common issues I see is low self-esteem. It seems to be the initial issue that triggers a lot of the other issues. If you have low self-esteem, you may be more fearful that you will be abandoned. As a result, you’ll have a greater need to be in control, you’ll have trouble trusting the other person and you’ll tolerate inappropriate behavior so they won’t leave you. 

Connecting the Dots

When you have these core issues, they manifest in your life by way of projective identification. 

Let’s look at a simply example.

Suppose Lori unconsciously carries shame and feels inadequate. When her employee, John, makes a mistake she projects her shame onto him by scolding him instead of helping or supporting him. John has unconscious shame of his own so, instead of defending himself, he just sits there and takes it. John wants to be accepted so he admits his mistakes when they happen. This absolves Lori of any responsibility. As such, she continues to scold John repeatedly, without objection by John. 

Can you see how core issues and projective identification can manifest in your life? 

In this example, Lori and John continue to disown one of their core issues, shame, and they develop a very destructive working relationship. All of this is unconscious. 

Bringing the Unconscious Conscious

I’ve mentioned this several times: the majority of our issues are the result of unhealed wounds and unresolved feelings that are largely unconscious. So, it would be safe to assume that by bringing the unconscious into consciousness you can begin to heal and start the recovery process. Yes, my friend, it’s time to deal with your unfinished business. 

Dealing with your unfinished business, and bring it into consciousness, is critical to developing healthy boundaries and happy relationships. The more you practice doing this, the easier it gets over time. In fact, you’ll get much better at processing things in the moment so as to facilitate your own personal growth and establish healthy interactions, boundaries and relationships. 

When you’re in an unhealthy relationship you’re approaching life from your false, wounded self and you won’t accept responsibility for your unhealed stuff.  As a result, you’ll have unhealthy boundaries. Conversely, when there is a healthy relationship, you’re approaching life from your higher self, your true self, and you have full awareness of, and accept responsibility for, your unhealed stuff. As a result, you’ll have healthy boundaries. 

Recognizing Your Unconscious Stuff 

Admittedly, it can be difficult to figure out when your unconscious stuff is at play. However, there are several ways you can detect this. 

1) Disproportionate Reactions

When you have a reaction to something that is out of proportion with the situation at hand. For example, your partner questions a decision you just made and you react by screaming, yelling, slamming doors or leaving the room. When you were questioned, it triggered an unhealed wound from the past that, most likely included some type of boundary invasion. 

When the original pain wasn’t expressed, it goes into your unconscious and, over time, it will resurface by way of patterns in your life. 

2) Experience Age Regression

When you feel upset, scared or confused for apparently no reason, you may be triggered and, therefore, regress. It as if you’re an adult one minute and the next minute you’re a helpless little child. When this happens, your boundaries have been invaded and the experience you had reminded you of something from your past. 

3) Experiencing an Abreaction

An abreaction is when your reaction to an experience builds so much that you become overwhelmed with emotion and your feelings begin to pour out. 

Suppose someone makes a pass at you and you immediately start to cry. After some exploration you realized that the way he approached you reminded you of being sexually abused by your uncle. So, in that instant you immediately felt terror and immense sadness. 

An abreaction is an extreme, intense version of age regression.

Summary

It is so critical to heal your wounds, hurts and past trauma so that you can approach life from your higher self and develop and maintain healthy boundaries and relationships. Until you heal, you will approach life from your false self, conflict and drama will rule your life and you will be unable to have a loving, fulfilling relationship with yourself or others. 

To begin the healing process, there are steps that you can follow that will take you through the various stages of recovery. I’ll talk about those next week, rounding out my series about codependency. 

Until next week … 

Joyously yours, 

Dana

Read Part 4 of "Making Sense of Codependency"

--

Dana, the CEO and Founder of Source Your Joy, is known as a revolutionist in the personal development industry. She is passionate about helping her clients recover from depression, codependency, abuse, and anxiety. She’s a driving force in helping clients reclaim their personal power, unlock their greatest potential, and dance with life again. Dana has been working with clients for over 13 years. She has her M.S. in Psychotherapy and is a National Certified Counselor, Certified Energetic Practitioner and Certified Life Coach.

If you think you might be suffering with depression you can take her depression test to find out once and for all.

Making Sense of Codependency - Part 2

Today we continue our series with Dana Zarcone, who shares with us four steps to healing our true self.

--

This month, I’m dedicated to raising awareness about a codependency – a commonly misunderstood concept because it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Because of this, I started this series by getting everyone aligned on the definition of codependency. Based on my personal and professional experience, I’ve come up with my own definition which is as follows: 

“A codependent person is someone who has let another person’s behavior change the way they think, believe, behave and act in order to make the other person happy at the expense of their own mental, emotional or physical health.”

A person becomes codependent as a result of disconnections, trauma or emotional wounding that was experienced in the early formative years. These experiences lead to a fear of abandonment, rejection and betrayal. As a result, the codependent has low self-esteem, low sense of self-worth, self-hatred, low level of confidence … in essence the codependent feels rather worthless. As a result, he or she is organized around fixing, helping or controlling others in order to feel worthy again. In essence, the codependent does not set, define or enforce boundaries in their relationships because they so desperately want to feel like they matter. 

Boundaries and Human Development

When you’re in the womb, you have no individual boundary. When in utero, you’re resting nicely in cozy, warm relaxing state of bliss. When it’s time to be born, you’re violently expelled from the mother’s body. You’re getting tightly squeezed, pushed, prodded and even spanked as soon as you enter the world. You’ve literally been evicted from the only home you’ve known and forced to separate from your mother. This is extremely painful and traumatic. You’ve had your first traumatic experience the minute you’ve been born. 

For the first few months of your life, you’re focused on fusing with your parents mentally and emotionally. At this point, you still believe you’re an extension of your parents but this changes as you continue to grow and develop. Once you learn to crawl, then walk, you start to develop a sense of self, learn about boundaries, limits and develop a sense of independence. If the environment is healthy and loving, you will foster a healthy relationship with self, others and you’ll form healthy boundaries. 

Conversely, if your environment is unhealthy, you’ll have a distorted, unhealthy sense of self and have a little to no boundaries. The primary reason for this is because healthy boundaries may not have ever been modeled for you growing up. In fact, if you’ve grown up in an abusive environment (mentally, physically, sexually, or emotionally), you may have tried to overcome this by being extremely cooperative, the “good child”, or going the opposite direction, becoming a rebellious delinquent. 

How You Get Wounded

It is unfortunate, but most psychological wounding that you’ve experienced is shoved deep into the unconscious because it’s too painful. Especially as a young child who has not yet developed any ego strength to deal with the pain in a constructive way. 

So how does the wounding happen? 

First and foremost, it happens because your primary caregivers were wounded themselves. As a result, the parent is inadequate, unfulfilled and ill-equipped to be a good parent. In fact, all of their “stuff” gets projected on to you. For instance, if your parent is incapable of being truly happy and experiencing joy, they will shut you down when they see you feeling joyful. They don’t want you to have it because they can’t have it. Now, keep in mind this is all unconscious. The parent usually doesn’t know they’re doing this. 

In order to survive, you will play the peace maker and try to control your environment by overcompensating. You’ll abandon your true self and focus on being perfect and good to ensure you’ll be loved and won’t be abandoned. Your true self, your inner child, goes into hiding. 

As nature would have it, you can’t keep the true self in hiding for long. Your true self will always be   striving to be present again. So, there’s a destructive battle going on between the ego self, that wants to protect and defend, and the true self that wants to be set free. This stifles your development and creates chronic feelings of sadness, emptiness, fear and hopelessness. In fact, depression is also very common. Hence, codependency was born!

In order to reorganize and recover, it’s critical to gradually get reacquainted with your true self and detach from the ego - to reclaim your personal power. It’s important to do this in a supportive, safe environment such as individual therapy, group therapy, or close friend – finding someone that can guide you along the way. And, of course, don’t ever discount the healing power of connecting to your own higher power. 

Healing Your True Self

In order to heal your true self, there are four steps that need to be taken – not necessarily in order because they’re interrelated.

1. Let go of unhealthy boundaries, walls, and defenses

2. Rediscover your true self

3. Bring unconscious wounding, and associated feelings, into consciousness

4. Practice setting healthy boundaries 

As you read these four steps, you probably think it’s easier said than done, right? Well, in a way, that’s true. The recovery process isn’t easy. It takes dedication and persistence.  It’s all about taking small, deliberate steps. For instance, it could be as simple as saying “no” without excuses or justifying yourself. 

When you’re able to define, and maintain, healthy boundaries, you’ll foster a healthy relationship with yourself and others. You’ll live your life from your true self, not your false self; you’ll approach life consciously instead of unconsciously; you’ll take responsibility for yourself – mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally.  

One of the challenges with this is that, in most cases of codependency, it’s not easy to decipher what’s yours and what’s theirs because the boundaries are blurred. Next week I’ll talk about this in more detail. 

The biggest takeaway for today is to know that codependency is something that is cultivated as a result of growing up in unhealthy, unsupportive and, in a lot of cases, abusive environment. In order to shift from codependent to independent, you need to do some healing. Once you do, you can develop and maintain amazing, rewarding, healthy relationships. 

Until next week … 

Joyously yours, 

Dana

Read Part 3 of "Making Sense of Codependency"

--

Dana, the CEO and Founder of Source Your Joy, is known as a revolutionist in the personal development industry. She is passionate about helping her clients recover from depression, codependency, abuse, and anxiety. She’s a driving force in helping clients reclaim their personal power, unlock their greatest potential, and dance with life again. Dana has been working with clients for over 13 years. She has her M.S. in Psychotherapy and is a National Certified Counselor, Certified Energetic Practitioner and Certified Life Coach.

If you think you might be suffering with depression you can take her depression test to find out once and for all.

Making Sense of Codependency - Part 1

I am so happy to bring to you this month, Dana Zarcone. She has a lot to say and we're so lucky to have her here to share her perspective on codependency this month!

--

First off, I am very excited to be a guest writer for Rachel, because it is giving me an opportunity to talk about a very well known, but often misunderstood, topic … codependency. 

The words codependent and codependency are thrown around all the time. However, most people who use them couldn’t really tell you what they mean. Even if they could come up with a definition, it wouldn’t be the same from one person to the next. 

When I’ve asked my clients what they think codependency is they come up with interesting definitions such as “being married to an alcoholic”, “being in an unhealthy relationship”, or “when you spend most of your time taking care of someone else”.  These are very different definitions. So which definition is right? 

Well … all of them! 

The History of Codependency

Believe it or not, this concept really isn’t that old because it didn’t come about until the late 70’s (okay, maybe I’m dating myself! Ouch!).  At the time, it was a word used very specifically to describe a person who’s unable to cope with life in a healthy way as a result of living with someone who is chemically dependent. Chemically dependent meant addicted to alcohol or drugs. 

This definition has evolved over time shifting from just chemical addiction to all types of addictions, or compulsions, including overeating, gambling, sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll! Well, okay – maybe not rock ‘n roll – but you get the gist!  

As time went on, mental health professionals started noticing that people in close relationships with individuals who had these non-chemical addictions, developed the same unhealthy coping patterns as those who were in relationships with alcoholics. They started noticing the strong impact the addict had on the family and, conversely, the strong impact the family had on the addict. In essence, they had developed an unhealthy reciprocal relationship. 

Fast forward to today, the concept of codependency has expanded even more. In addition to what’s described above, it also includes people in relationships with individuals who are emotionally or mentally disturbed, have a chronic illness, behavior problems, anger issues or are just flat out irresponsible.  As a result, codependency impacts more of the general population than it had before. 

It’s often referred to as a “relationship addiction” because the codependency comes from a place of control and neediness rather from a place of love and respect.   

When I’m working with my clients I try to answer seven (7) questions: 

1. Do they communicate openly and honestly?
2. Can they resolve conflict effectively?
3. Do they have realistic expectations of one another?
4. Can they express their feelings?
5. Do they trust themselves and each other? 
6. Do they discuss their problems? 
7. Do they make decisions together? 

If the answer to these questions are “no”, then they are most likely in a codependent relationship. 

As you can see, codependency is a very tough concept to grasp because it is quite complex. However, I like to simplify things as much as possible so I am going to give you my definition: 

“A codependent person is someone who has let another person’s behavior change the way they think, believe, behave and act in order to make the other person happy at the expense of their own mental, emotional or physical health.” ~ Dana Zarcone, Founder of Source Your Joy  

Based on my studies, and my personal and professional experience, I am really comfortable defining it this way. While it’s somewhat of a “catch all”, it takes a rather complex issue and simplifies it by addressing the symptoms, cause, effect, patterns and pain.  

The most important point to make here is that the definition doesn’t focus on the person with the addiction or compulsive behavior. Instead, it focuses on the person that’s in the relationship with them! The focus is on anybody that’s in an unhealthy relationship and has yet to define and maintain healthy boundaries.  

The co-dependent pays a huge price. While trying to control, support, care for the other person, they give themselves away with the bath water. When the energy is spent focused on something or someone outside of themselves, they give away their power. The result is low self-esteem, low level of confidence, self-hatred, self-repression, feelings of anger, sadness, guilt, and an unhealthy tolerance for bizarre and narcissistic behavior. When you sum it up, the codependent has completely abandoned themselves.  

Is Codependency a Disease?

Just as there is a difference of opinion on the definition, there are many differences of opinion as to whether codependency is a disease or not. Some consider it a chronic, progressive illness while others think that it is a typical, organic reaction to an unhealthy situation.  

Personally, (yes, I’m a bit opinionated on this one) I don’t think it’s a disease at all. I think saying it’s a disease is a huge mistake. First, it makes the person think they’re sick. Second, it takes responsibility and accountability away from the codependent and allows them to play the victim.  “I can’t help it. I have a disease”.  Third, it allows the pharmaceutical companies, healthcare companies, and physicians to leverage this positioning and subscribe medications unnecessarily so they can benefit financially. 

So, if it’s not a disease, how does someone become codependent?

As the old saying goes, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”!  

Codependent behavior is the result of growing up in a dysfunctional family environment where they experienced pain, fear, rejection, or shame that was ignored, minimized or denied. This happens in families where there’s substance abuse; mental, emotional, sexual or physical abuse; mental illness; chronic criticism; or simply a non-loving environment. In this environment, individual needs are disregarded, issues don’t get discussed nor do they get resolved, feelings are repressed not expressed. 

In essence, the codependent experienced some sort of disconnection or trauma in their early developmental years that has manifested in a fear of abandonment, rejection, and/or betrayal.  As a result of these experiences, they feel worthless, unlovable … defective in some way. The coping mechanism is for the codependent to “fix”, help or control others as a way to feel worthy and loveable.

As you can see, codependency is the result of a cycle that can go on for generations if it’s not nipped in the bud.  

It’s important to emphasize again that the codependent isn’t broken, sick, twisted, mentally ill … I could go on and on. It simply means that they’ve been wounded spiritually, emotionally and psychologically and, as a result, they have some real healing to do. In order to do this, they need to begin a very personal journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance and, eventually, self-love. When they start this journey they can begin to reclaim their power and enjoy life again on their terms! 

Stay tuned because over the next few weeks we’ll explore this topic in more detail. Specifically, I’ll talk more about relationship boundaries, underlying issues of the codependent, and the recovery process. 

Until next week … 

Joyously Yours, 

Dana Zarcone

Founder, Source Your Joy 

Read Part 2 of "Making Sense of Codependency"

--

Dana, the CEO and Founder of Source Your Joy, is known as a revolutionist in the personal development industry. She is passionate about helping her clients recover from depression, codependency, abuse, and anxiety. She’s a driving force in helping clients reclaim their personal power, unlock their greatest potential, and dance with life again. Dana has been working with clients for over 13 years. She has her M.S. in Psychotherapy and is a National Certified Counselor, Certified Energetic Practitioner and Certified Life Coach.

If you think you might be suffering with depression you can take her depression test to find out once and for all.