It seems to me that you are engaging with a very useful and
   practical program of mental health.

   I remind myself of the amygdala - I often think of it as a
   magnifying glass that makes small things appear huge. I can't
   pretend its not there (in my case, it's been learning to copy
   with panic/anxiety attacks; I've been lucky in that my
   depressions were mild in nature and I was able to accept them by
   letting them run as an undercurrent, like a river flowing under
   a river that I try to accept and let flow... even though I'm
   always aware its there)...

   Melonchaly; I avoid things that exaggerate it. But again, I know
   I'm lucky in being able to manage it.

   But anxiety/panic Much harder. I *really* can't allow myself
   certain situations, as the rationalizer simply works
   faster-and-faster to keep up, while the body is doing its own
   thing - I imagine the amygdala or whatever produces adrenylin
   goes into overdrive and takes 25-40 minutes to end. 25-40
   minutes of hell, over what would be everyday things to many
   people.

   So, I avoid those things. Best way? No. But it's a cope.

   I'm glad you have a system that is showing positive benefits and
   that you can do "real time". Having a real-time process to enact
   seems to be key to a successful journey.

   If this, then that. Case 1, do this. Case 2, do that. Case 3, do
   the other thing.

   Thank you for sharing this. It's reminded me of parts of my own
   journey, things I only consider on occasion, as most of the time
   I'm just 'doing' them. I sometimes forget what works and what
   doesn't. It's easy to be successful and not even notice it when
   it's happening and thereby always feel like a failure. No
   baseline or benchmark. Not sure what mine is, honestly, but if
   you've noticed, I tend to focus on success, so that's probably
   one of my copes.