The wounded spirit and true health
Does the word “mental health” sound awkward to you? No one likes to say it, nor do they want to admit they have a “mental illness”. I’m proposing a new model to describe what’s happening to our health in the current world as it is.
The average doctor may say good health is the absence of disease in the body. If you go for your annual check up with your family doctor, they will screen you for certain cancers, such as colon, breast , cervical, as well as screen for high blood pressure, sexually transmitted diseases and a few other things depending on your age. You may get screened for mental health issues or domestic violence, drugs and alcohol. The is secondary prevention. Cancer and high blood pressure are only detected after you get it, but it can take several years of insults and stress to your body before cancer actually develops. And in Western medicine, in some cancers, we can actually pinpoint a virus that is a major contributing factor cancer, such as the HPV virus. But not everyone that smokes gets lung cancer, and not everyone that has a high risk HPV virus gets cervical cancer?
As an OB/GYN, I see patients who have chronic pain, including endometriosis and painful periods, cervical dysplasia, irregular bleeding, fibroids and then there are the more nuanced dis-eases like menopausal symptoms, menstrual mood disorders, postpartum depression and anxiety. These are dis-eases that live within the mind-body-spirit; and our system of practicing medicine where we differentiate between mind and body is extremely antiquated. So if someone were to come to my office with the diagnosis of pelvic pain and endometriosis, I may put them on the birth control pill and start them on ibuprofen. But I am not really addressing the root cause of the inflammation. But if I then go deeper and take a really good review of systems, I may find multiple organ systems in which this patient has several other areas in her body that have pain and inflammation going on, including an auto-immune disorder. And then if I go even further, I may find that she has several Adverse Childhood Events including that her father was in jail, and her mother had severe mental health illness. (This is in fact a real patient).
So what is disease then? Is it locked up trauma in our body. It’s holding negative energy inside. Acupuncturists will open up channels in your body and release that negative energy. Chiropractors will help re-balance your nervous system(though many people falsely believe think they are working on your musculo-skeletal system). You can even do it on your own with the Emotional Freedom Technique(also known as tapping). And then for big releases, people turn to plant medicines (entheogens) and synthetic psychedelics.
I have been playing around with the phrase “spiritual health” because so much of our dis-ease is in fact, due to past trauma stuck in our bodies, including ancestral trauma, racial trauma and collective societal trauma; and whether or not it comes out in the form of a disease of the body, or a mental health illness, perhaps, is a roll of the dice. And some of us are unlucky enough to have it come out in both the mind and the body. Our current healthcare system is too disjointed and broken to help you. It's this wounded spirit that is crying out for help through the body, mind or both.
As a healer, I work on mind, body and spirit in my consultation practice. It’s not easy, and it requires you to show up and go really deep with me. My new practice is in Nevada City, CA. It’s an offering to you, I’m there if you need me. Trust YOUR own inner healer too, and I can work alongside you for true spiritual, mental and physical health.