Mind Over Medicine - More a Recommendation than a Review

From My Pinterest Inspiration Art

Anyone who’s read my blog for any length of time will know that I have, in the past struggled with depression.  Struggled with admitting to it’s existence, understanding what it is and with the long and arduous journey out of the depths.  If you know me, at all, you will also know that I am a recovering Self Help Addict. Today’s post is evidence that it’s all a one day at a time journey.  And that helping yourself is a more natural reponse than you might think.

‘Mind over Medicine’ by Dr Lissa Rankin is a book that brings into perspective the shortcomings of the medical professionals and our own responsibility in our recovery and wellbeing.  And whilst I am not affiliated with Dr Rankin or Amazon in any way I highly recommend you get yourself a copy.

Strangely enough, I started reading this not so much on a Self Help kick but as I found myself questioning more and more the authenticity and validity of the medical professionals I was coming into contact with on a daily basis, regarding the treatment of a family member.

Dr Rankin validated my belief that these professionals were not treating the patient, but individual symptoms.  Hence we went through over a year of endless poking and prodding at various hospitals, each time seeing no light at the end of an endless dark tunnel.   Every so often there would be a little glimmer of light from someone who ‘understood how we felt’ , only for it to extinguish as they were blinkered to the Big Picture. But I digress...

Do you know how ingenious your body is?  Do you know what it does best?  It has “the ability to heal itself”.  The ‘Relaxation Response’, a natural function of our body, activates self repair mechanisms, releasing endorphins and other healing chemicals.  And this healing process is very much a by product of what is going on in our minds. Hence the title of ‘Mind Over Medicine.

Whilst there is still a need for Doctors, they are highly qualified and experts in their fields, the need to treat the patient as a whole person is key to the holistic approach and the achievement of the finest healing process.

This book is a breath of fresh air.  It asks the patient ‘what does your body need in order to heal’’, recognises there is courage in taking responsibility for your own healing, “healing yourself is not for the faint of heart” and that we are all entitled to the best level of care.  And that you are a key member ot your care team, there is no ranking, but perhaps for the fact that you have been with your body the longest and thus know it best.

Do what you can to encourage that Relaxation Response to do it’s thing, it’s alter ego the ‘Stress Response’ has the key to the toxic cabinet so don’t let it go there.

Happy reading.

Namaste

Catherine x

I'm Not Done - and that's a beautiful thing...

Getting Some Zen - my next needlework project

I’ve been thinking about a can of worms I opened last week.  It is true that we get more of what we focus on.  And for quite some time now I have focused on depression and stress and the innate lack of understanding of the effect of these illnesses on our overall well being. I have rallied to have them recognised as disabilities.  In so doing can it be that I have lost sight of the big picture?   Can it be that I have done nothing but feed the beast?

I’ve been reading Lissa Rankin’s Mind Over Medicine and having my belief reinforced that ‘what and how we think has a powerful effect on our physical well being’, positive or negative.  Then, today I happened upon Lisa Esile and her ‘7 Secrets Your Mind Does Not Want You toKnow.’  And it struck me that I’ve really been giving my mind too much space.  And working my way through ‘Mind Over Medicine’ I have come to see the big picture and finally found the ‘a-ha’.  It’s about everything working together – taking the whole person into account.

There is no compartmentalising, life is a whole package thing.  And we have to look after the whole package.  That’s why it’s so important we look after our mind, body and spirit.  Each relies on the other and if one is out of sync they all are.  And that is why I need to step up and live my life fully.

In living my life fully I am leading by example.  What I have been doing up to now has served its purpose but now I know better and serendipity sent me this on my Pinterest front page.

Because it's meant to be

Hope you all have a complete week.

Namaste

Catherine

xxx

Tuning into the Invisible Stuff - working through the research

One of my first 'Inspirational Quote' Pins

While at least 1 in 4 suffer from some kind of mental health condition and the number of children included in the statistics increases annually what can we do, not necessarily to reduce the statistics, to deal with this modern epidemic.

Whilst looking for information on pseudo seizures I came across a video of Dr Andrew Weil of Big Think Mentor and serendipity brought it back to me again today through Finer Minds, so I thought I should share with you all. 

Dr Andrew Weil

This film is only 4 minutes long and in such a short time raises so many questions - is depression a product of the 21st century? and are we really using our children as guinea pigs?  If we don't know what effects anti depressant drugs have on developing minds - are we doing more harm than good?  

I strongly believe that anti depressants have a place in the whole recovery/coping process.  There have been times where functioning on a day to day basis would not have happened without them. But I believe even more strongly that there has to be a change in the way we manage our mental health.  With a major emphasis on managing and taking responsibility.  

I read a great post by Beth Beulow recently it builds on the premise that we should "view and hold others as whole, capable and responsible."   Because that is what we all are. 

When you suffer from a mental illness like depression it's like a loss of control, a loss of reality and it can scare the bejeesus out of you.  The old 'fight or flight principle' jumps in and we rush for cover and welcome the protection and support of those around us.  You lose faith in yourself and rely on the wisdom of others.  Unfortunately that protection, support and wisdom can so easily take over, our inner light switches off and we are now following someone else's light.  Now this may all seem a bit airy fairy and out there but bear with me.

I believe that depression, stress, anxiety are our body's way of telling us that  something is out of sinc.  Life is not the way we want it to be.  Duh, there never seems to be enough hours in the day, money in the bank - life is what it is, that's life - is it ever the way we want it to be?  I'm talking more about   that something inside that tells you, sometimes just once, but mainly over and over that you are not living "your life".

Does depression breed depression?  As the first episode highlights an imbalance with our values bringing with it the dependence on others, the reliance on their take on values and situations.  This dependence pretty soon dulls the line between our authentic values and theirs and in many ways can enhance our challenges, distancing us even further from our path.  Others decide that we should not be stressed, that we don't need responsibility, no added hassle when in reality those may be the very things that we need.  We need to feel challenged, to feel responsibility - and yes, stress can be a good thing.

It is key that whilst acknowledging help is good and we do not have to cope alone we can take responsibility for and manage our daily coping processes.  For if that management and responsibility are taken away for too long our skills and confidence may be eroded completely.  It's like we've embarked on a vicious cycle and I for one am ready to jump off.

I want to manage my life, I want to have responsibility - I am not broken, in fact, having been there and back and forth again, I could be an invaluable asset.

 I make no secret of my ongoing battle with depression and a very quick skim over the statistics would suggest that in doing so I'm shooting myself in the foot, apparently only 4 in 10 employers would employ someone with a mental health condition in comparison to the 62% that would employ someone with a physical disability.  This could go a long way to explaining why so many of us move toward self employment.

But is that only feeding the problem further?  Perhaps our job should be to educate, actually to show that mental health issues are not only the norm but an awareness of what could be.

If there is a reason for everything I'm hoping the time has come to embrace the reason and make a difference.

It's taken a while but I have found my reason and my difference and I hope that I can help in some way to help others find theirs.  I'm ready to be what I am.

Using what I've got:  Pins I've already collected and skills I forgot I had.

To find the positives I recommend you have a look at: Kind Over Matter; Roots of She; Lissa Rankin - there are so many responsibilitarians out there.

Are you ready to join?
Have a responsible week.
Namaste

Catherine
xxx

Not so much the April Fool

Artwork by Catherine at The MacsX

I found the above quote in my 'Day Book of Comfort and Joy' by Sarah Ban Breathnach.  The first time I read it I probably felt completely lost and pretty hopeless.  The amount of rain we have here in the West of Scotland there's been plenty in my almost 48 years to wash the whole town away never mind just little old me.  Still I have come to realise that all is not lost - there is a beacon of light at the end of the tunnel. (And it's not a big train coming from the opposite direction).

Despite my gung ho post last month I have gone to ground these past few weeks.  Stressed, exhausted and yes, even a little depressed I finally hit the wall of 'no more'. Having a sick child takes away any 'self indulgence' of climbing under the duvet and hiding away that may have been indulged in the past, and right now seems like a really dreamy prospect.  Even a Jennifer Aniston Day is a distant longed for memory.

I feel like I've been trying to go at full tilt with the handbreak on for the past 9 months and the engine has finally given up the ghost.  So it's time for some reassessment and to figure out just what's important. Each time I have hit this invisible wall in the past I go back to core values and my key priorities.  Key is health and happiness.  As overwhelming as the frustration of not being able to figure out the health issue is, I need to get the engine going again.

Everything has been up in the air and I guess it's time to get grounded.  As much as everything else loses its importance life does go on.  And now, perhaps more than ever, it's important that the form that life takes is the right fit.  That it is true.  That it is authentic.  And that, at long last, it is real.  No more pfaffing about.  I've gone through internet overload, too much information, too much advice, too much of everything.   Going through my pinterest boards I came across this.

 

What I was really looking for was this:

Despite everything that has been going on there is something I think about every day. And that is running a successful business.  And April 1st seems like as good a day as any to start over again.  This time I'm not starting from scratch I'm starting with a whole truck load of resources.  So taking one day and one step at a time the first step is to do some spring cleaning and get things in order and realise just what I already have.

Let the games begin,

Springing the changes.

Catherine

xxx

The Last of the Usual Sunday BS - Putting a Pin in It

Things have been simmering under for quite some time now and I think it's finally time to let go.

I’ve been working on some new designs combining my love of textures and embroidery and my love of words; spoken, written and unsaid.   The piece illustrated blow being one of my current works in progress.  I'm hoping to add this piece to my Etsy shop this week as it really sums up where I'm at right now.

 

 I make no secret of the fact that I have been fighting an ongoing battle with depression.  I've finally conceded to writing in my journal, letting the truth out.  And today's journey has been quite enlightening.  I guess it was inspired by this pin I found earlier in the week and my updating The MacsX in all areas, this week will bring the changes.

Can Be Found Here

So today’s journaling brought me to this revelation.  The first time I fell, I crumbled, I climbed under that duvet cover and did not want to come out - until I switched on my TV and flicked from channel to channel watching a plane crash into the twin towers.  Yeah, I climbed back up out of my first recognised fug on 9/11 or as we say here in the UK 11/9/2001.  It's been going on a while.  The second time was a couple of years later and spurred on by something that happened on this very day 03/03, 03/03/03 to be precise.  I'd been using up all my reserves to fight a battle against an organisation that seemed to have no core values, or if it did they were way out of zinc with mine.  I took some time out and returned to continue the fight.  And the third fall, well that's usually time for a submission and in a way I guess I did because I packed up and walked away.  So, in a pretty fragile state, I decided to step back, jump off the corporate ladder and engage in 'less responsibility'.  When I fell for the fourth time I got some help and learnt how to cope with things, putting some coping mechanisms in place - the word 'STOP' springs to mind.  At this point in the tale I would encourage vigilance, because coping mechanisms are just that, they are not about change, they are about acceptance and we must be careful of what it is we accept.  So when I fell for the fifth time I took some time out, enlisted some truly professional and never forgotten help, and not only rebuilt my reserves but recognised my values and although not fully recovered went back to carry on.  So equipped with  some valuable insights I was a little more prepared when I was knocked down for the sixth time - so much so that I fought the injustice of it all and won a battle but not the war.  So licking my wounds, confidence levels around zero I took the 'self preservation' path and went on to loose track of the 'big picture' and somehow manged to ignore all of the white noise.  When the sucker punch for fall number seven came along I didn't really see it coming but I believe that the work I've done until now has stood me in good stead.  It took me a while to realise, I find it really difficult to sit still and quiet in an environment that on the surface appears to support my core values but on the underbelly not only  goes against but blatantly disregards them.  I have been put in the position to do something about this on a number of occasions but like the man who turned away the lifeboats and helicopters waiting on God to make it right, I've missed the whispers and depleted my reserves. But unlike him I've been doing the work to keep me in shape - mentally if not physically.  I've not made that uncalled for rebellion against supportive medication and recognise my strengths, have rebuilt my confidence and am ready now to take on the war. If some of this seems cryptic or is awakening the buzzers in your brain bare with me because all will be revealed.

My experience with depression, stress and anxiety, my life and career experience with employment law and the many influential and open contacts I have been blessed to meet have made me ready to address the lack of knowledge and ignorance to conditions that exists.  In the words of Lee Iacocca "In times of great stress and adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plough your anger and your energy into something positive."  And I am truly ready to plough.



Today’s post is a bit of a long one and really doesn’t resemble the Usual Sunday BS much. At last I can see the shape of things to come.  And I can see what I've been working toward and am ready to unveil The MacsX   in all its authenticity.

Look out for Spring changes.

Catherine

xxx