Healing From Psychological Trauma and Chronic Illness

One of the most difficult aspects of healing from a chronic illness or chronic disease or even just chronic low-grade symptoms that keep happening over time is specifically the fact that it is very difficult to separate the symptoms from the person. So in this video I thought I would share something that I see clinically a lot and something that I've experienced that I think can help you if you're struggling with chronic chronic symptoms. Hey guys, Dr. Alex Hine, author of the health book Master the Day and doctor of So before we jump into this video, there's a very important link right below this video. If you'd like to become a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine, reach out to my private practice below and there's also a free download there for you for daily rituals that could potentially help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. So right below this video. There's this great quote that there are no incurable illnesses, only incurable people. Now I don't know who initially said it because it seems to be misattributed all over the internet, but specifically in terms of chronic illness, we're not talking about getting a urinary tract infection and you take antibiotics. What we're talking about is people who chronically are ill and this isn't to blame or shame people who are chronically ill as if it's all in their head, but it is a very useful quote to understand the role that we play in continually being sick. So the reason I bring this up is because for many of us, we have these chronic patterns that end up continuing the the same course that is what we've been on for a long time. So whether it is the allergies or whether it is the stuffy noses, whether it is the anxiety or the sleep problems or it is the I keep taking a job that's highly paid and then I burn myself out after three four years and then I'm bedridden for a year. I mean I had a patient that her mind's drive to make a lot of money pushed her into these really high paid two three hundred thousand dollar a year salary jobs and she would do them as a high paid executive for a couple years three four five years reach such severe burnout that she was bedridden and couldn't work for several years. But because she had such a high income she could afford to be at home. But then the crazy thing was a few years later she would do it again and then she did it three times by the time she came to see me. So all of us have these shared neuroses for lack of a better word not in a disrespectful sense but almost these neuroses as in these quirky patterns that we keep finding ourselves in. There's a great quote by Dr. Leon Hammer that psychopaths recover faster than neurotics. Now I love this concept because what he was trying to illustrate is that the psychopathic approach to life is just screw it I'm gonna barrel forward whatever I didn't have a bowel movement today I'm not gonna stress whatever I had a bad night of sleep who cares whatever red spot on my face it's not cancer it's a freaking red spot it's this very like laissez-faire like just whatever it's fine let me plow ahead and do what I have to do. Well the neurotic approach is oh my god that red spot I definitely have leukemia I definitely no that's weird I definitely have cancer my mom remember my mom oh my dad my aunt aunt sally she definitely had it or missing a day of bowel movements or god forbid two days I definitely have colon cancer I don't this is really bad I don't know what's going on I this is no this is I need to take a purgative right now I need to get exlax I need to drink six cups of coffee or the little pains the aches and pains my neck or I got a zinger on the you know on my neck or my low back or my knee I don't something wrong am I gonna have a stroke I smell burnt toast am I having a stroke the neurotic stereotypically is kind of the warrior archetype right where little things are big things even if they're not sometimes little things are big things and a lot of the time they're not but I love this idea of psychopaths recovering faster than neurotics meaning just think fundamentally the effect that these two states of consciousness habits patterns and what it does to the nervous system think about that effect it has in your physiology 100 times a day if some little thing comes up and you're like whatever if it keeps happening then I'll check in on it versus oh my god this is really worrisome this is really bad this red spot is definitely skin cancer just think what that does to your nervous system hundreds of times a day now understanding that it is often our neuroses maybe another synonym a nicer synonym is our patterns our habits these are a little bit less pathologized or stigmatized understanding how these patterns keep us sick because fundamentally the first question is always why did somebody get sick and the second follow-up question that is also fundamentally important is why do they stay sick right those are not always easy questions and answers so neuroses these patterns these habits these systems these repetitive systems in our lives loops are often why we stay sick the loop can be as simple as the person who's on metformin for diabetes and yet they haven't changed anything about what they eat or any exercise well you're going to guarantee keep yourself in that loop probably right up until the day you die right or the person who is like that high-powered executive I mentioned where whatever psychological driver is making her choose work that does not make her feel good but makes her mind believe that making a lot of money makes her feel good whatever that pattern is whether it's childhood something with her father her mother uh scarcity mentality insecurity self-esteem she gets from making a high income that pattern is the root of her neurosis that makes her sick versus learning that maybe she could take a job that makes $120,000 a year with a 50-hour work week that's lower stress and it's sustainable or the pattern of maybe someone who is an excessive worrier and who every little lost night of sleep every little missed bowel movement every little ache and pain becomes a stressor that then carries over throughout the day that can be a big problem for that person because that pattern that habit of worrying becomes a significant burden on their mental health and their nervous system health so I think this idea of there are no incurable illnesses only incurable people is very wise specifically in chronic illness where the pattern continues and continues and continues and there is a level of chronicity that is regardless of what you believe the chronicity may be a part of that actual illness so understanding where our own patterns or habits are contributing to staying sick longer I think is very very important and the best way I think to visualize this is purely what I'd referenced in other videos where some of us are wired more towards tension and worrying other of us are wired more towards laxity and maybe lack of motivation for lack of a better word one is hyper rigidity one is hyper laxity so the hyper rigid person is more likely to be on it on the positive side on the negative side to be way too on it and just cannot relax and the lax person maybe should be taking more initiative to go to the gym or eat well or whatever it is to change and on the positive side they often have a very relaxed nervous system so not likely to get worked up over things as much recognizing where we are on this yin and yang spectrum is very useful for healing and to break these patterns for good so I think when it comes to healing from trauma and chronic illness understanding our patterns of often I've put them into the category of neurosis right the excessive tension and worrying type and everything the chicken little sky is falling kind of pattern is very common but understanding where we are in that spectrum can be very useful to heal all right guys all I have for today again if you want to become a patient in Los Angeles reach out to my private practice below and there's also a free guide for you down below on Chinese medicine that can help you two other videos for you right over there