On Sickness
Years ago, we discovered that certain bacteria can cause illnesses.
And viruses can spread ill health.
So we developed medicines to solve these ailments.
If the dis-ease was cause by the presence of something - bacteria, virus.
Removing it would then ‘cure’ the disease.
With mental health, we also see ‘symptoms’ arising, that cause the patient trouble.
But with some of these issues, such as lack of Sleep, and Depression,
the issue sometimes is not the ‘Presence’ of something,
but the ‘Absence’ therein…
But to a certain degree, we MUST know the Symptoms, to understand the Patient’s source of dis-ease or Pain. Symptom based Understanding goes like this:
P: ‘Doctor’ “I have Pain of some sort.”
D: “Horrible! How horrible!” - he draws a long drag on his cigarette.
P: ‘YES!’ Thank you for understanding. I’ve been unable to work from the Pain.
D: “And what do you want me to do about it?”
P: ‘Well naturally…’ I want you to get rid of it!
D: ‘You seem to have a Presence of Pain’
P: ‘Is that your Diagnosis?’
D: What would you say is a diagnosis?
A known description of the pain. And therefore, a total understanding of it. To know it, means to also Know its causes. And therefore, its method of removal. In some sense, the Doctor pattern matches to other symptoms similar to what he is hearing, running a sort of statistical analysis. If the Descriptions match up, he assigns a course of Treatment. This form of logic is very good if we know the exact problem, match it well, and know that a treatment does in fact exist with a high degree of confidence it will fix it.
However. This the ‘removal’ of the pain, is not the best way always to go about creating new solutions, for problems we have never fully solved. Or are currently unaware of its solution (even if someone else solved it).
Not all Causes require Removal. Bacteria requires killing. A pin requires Removal. A lack of a certain vitamin requires Addition. And a toxin might require a Counter-Action.
So to look at the Symptom and assume we must ‘Remove’ at all times is simply not the way. This is like the man with a Hammer. Our focus must be wider. Expansive. On the Causes. The Symptoms are only one piece. They tell us a story of what might be going on. We do pattern matching on prior cases to understand the problem.
You see, if we Focus only on the Symptom, our natural inclination is to simply ‘Remove’ the Symptom. Imagine the patient comes in with chronic headache. And you give them Tylenol. Well the Symptom went away. But what if there’s an underlying misalignment in their spine. That if not actually treated, will lead to much bigger problems down the line - spinal degeneration. If the fluids aren’t moving properly, certain cells might actually die! That’s far worse than a headache…
Our expansive search must go to the Causes of the Symptom.
And a full and Complete understanding of the Patients history allows us to go far back. And make a bigger Picture of what’s going on. It might be related to their Emotional state… Many things actually are. Their spine is misaligned because they spend so much time at work. Or what have you because they have a giant house they need to pay for.
So then ‘Removal’ is only one mechanism. Addition is another. Counter-Action is a further solution. And sometimes, doing absolutely Nothing is another. Allowing the body to heal on its own.
There’s so much more to talk about. But I will focus mainly on the reason for this post. That Mental Health in the Western World began to be treated in the same way as all their other ailments - many of which they successfully treated, or patched, prolonging the ‘health’ of the individual. Not the Philosophical Conceptual Health, of Perfect Alignment. But dilating the blood vessels a bit counter-acted certain blood problems.
But what if a mental health problem is caused by Social issues. And the Symptom is depression or anxiety. This is more an emotional spiritual problem. And dousing the patient with pills to ‘remove’ the Symptom, is a disservice in many ways. Firstly, allowing them to endure and live their Material sustenance is of course a good thing. Helping them get up and actually live is also good. But what if the issue is that their entire life is badly lived? And patching it up a bit, might not allow them to go deeper, and find the real reason they are on this Planet…
Or even more simply put, it could be their social circle is lacking. Maybe they haven’t created the deep connections that are necessary to live a balanced life as a Human Being. And they find out too late at a later age, Symptom-Less, but also Friend-Less. This is a far worse state to be in at the age of 70, alone, then a bit of anxiety at the age of 25. No?
So then, the idea of Focus on Symptoms only leads to ‘Removal’ mentality.
Expanding our Range of Attention, allows us to see more, not only finding the real Cause and Cure, but leading to far better outcomes.
And this page still has only 9 viewers.
I’m baffled.
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