Research in University College, Cork has provided evidence that links the extremely distressing and embarrassing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to extreme stress in childhood. Up to now, medical doctors had found no obvious organic cause for this painful and debilitating condition. The researchers, Dr. John Cryan and Professor Ted Dinan found that individuals with the condition reported having a lot of stress in their lives and had experienced highly stressful events during childhood. Without going into the biochemical complexities of their research, it was found that higher glutamate (an essential protein) in the spinal cord may be contributing to the emergence of severe abdominal pain as reported by persons with IBS. The researchers believe that the current expensive medication is not very effective due to the fact that it does not target the glutamate transporter specifically. They are determined to develop a new drug that will be specific to the physical pain symptoms of the condition.
Read moreNo Enemy Within
The most common reaction to the suggestion that an illness may be created to heal wounds to the deep emotional self, to the soul, is aggressive: ‘do you mean to tell me that I brought this illness upon myself? – that’s mad, off the wall!’ A medical colleague responded similarly exclaiming: ‘you are blaming people for their illnesses.’ On the contrary, my intention is to draw attention to the awesome power of the Self to heal the deepest dis-ease of all – alienation from one’s unique and sacred presence.
When we consider the many other ways that a person reveals his or her dark inner terrain – depression, chronic anxiety, obsessiveness, perfectionism, aggression, addictions to substances, addictions to work, what others think and say, to the ‘body beautiful’, anorexia nervosa, hallucinations – are we equally going to say that ‘these creations are off the wall?’ It may be easier to accept that the foregoing distressing symptoms are creations in times of emotional danger, but, in fact, illness has exactly the same compassionate intention. After all, each of the conditions mentioned are cleverly devised to draw attention to a troubled and troubling interiority. It is not that a person wakes up one morning and consciously decides ‘I’m going to create a depression or, indeed, an illness today’; no, this process occurs unconsciously, and necessarily so, because without emotional safety, consciousness of the creative and defensive nature of the depression or an illness would weaken its power.
Read moreModels for Recovery
At the moment individuals who experience major problems in living and attend what I believe are the misnamed ‘mental health’ services are likely to encounter one of four different models of recovery:
- The biomedical model of mental illness and recovery
- The rehabilitation model of mental illness and recovery
- The empowerment model of recovery
- The psychological model of recovery
The first two models view people’s problems as ‘mental illness’ and are based on a deficiency approach to human problems. Indeed, these two models assume that individuals with ‘mental illnesses’ will experience a progressive deterioration of mental and social functioning and that this would be carried forward from one affected generation to the next one. The good news is that this biological view of ‘mental illness’ as a disease stemming from brain malfunctioning has not been supported empirically despite the magnitude of research carried out. There is also increasing evidence that individuals diagnosed with a ‘severe and enduring mental illness’ can recover and thrive in society. Mounting evidence also shows that anti-depressants are not clinically effective and that recovery can happen with or without medication. Furthermore, adherents to these two deficiency models can in fact create obstacles to reawakening hope and responsibility for one’s own life. The bad news is the belief that ‘mental illness’ is an incurable genetic disease that continues to persist among both the general public and the mental health professionals despite the growing evidence that individuals labelled schizophrenia or bi-polar depressed can recover and contribute to society. However, more and more consumers of these two recovery models are rejecting these models’ unsubstantiated claims.
Read moreHolding Out for Love
May 4th was Asthma Day and I was reminded of the very high and increasing level of asthma in Ireland. Presently, over 440,000 individuals suffer from this condition. The condition of bronchial asthma refers to the type of suffocation-spasm typified by wheezing during expiration. It is preceded by a constriction of the small bronchi and bronchioles, which can be caused by a cramping (a prolonged holding) of the smooth musculature, an inflammatory itching of the airways and an allergic swelling and secretion of the mucous membranes. Individuals – children and adults alike – experience asthma as a life-threatening suffocation: sufferers claw for air and breathe in gasps with the out breath especially throttled.
Read moreThe Story Behind What We Do
Everybody has a story and each person’s story is a unique autobiography and only that person fully knows their story.
However, some aspects of a person’s story may be known only at an unconscious level and this hidden world will only become available to consciousness when the person finds adequate emotional and social safety, initially with another and, subsequently, within self.
The story of a person’s life is not the events he or she encounters – for example, difficult birth, loving mother, emotionless home, conditional loving, violent father, possessive mother, kind grandparent, affirming teacher. The story consists in the person’s inner responses to these events. What is amazing in a family or classroom or workplace is that each person responds in a unique way to situations that arise. This means that each child has a different mother and a different father, each student a different teacher, each employee a different manager and each voter a different politician. This makes total sense because when two individuals interact, inevitably, their interaction will be of a unique nature. Parents are powerful witnesses to how each child is completely different from the other and this happens whether children are reared in benign or difficult circumstances.
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