In Stanley Kubrick's Cold War black comedy Dr. Stangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, a character named General Jack D. Ripper goes crazy and launches a B-52 loaded with nukes in the direction of the USSR. In one classic scene (located at 7:10 on this video clip from YouTube) Ripper explains to a British officer (played by Peter Sellers) the role that fluoridation of drinking water plays in the commie plot to take over the world.
Watch the video and . . .
Watch the video and . . .
At the risk of sounding like Gen. Ripper, I have to say it's all about lactose intolerance. And perhaps a generalized dairy allergy. For me, anyway.
It seems that this little disability of mine went undetected for many years because the symptoms of anxiety and the symptoms of lactose intolerance can be very similar. For me it wasn't a painful feeling, but rather a constant sensation of tension in the gut just a little lower than my navel.
A couple of years ago I started this awakening process, and soon after that I was introduced to the books of Eckhart Tolle. I put those into practice and the anxiety over time was relieved (see A Cure for Anxiety - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 elsewhere on this blog).
But even after that, this sensation of tension remained. How I happened on to the discovery of lactose intolerance was synchronistic in itself. I live in Italy and I accidentally bought a bottle of lactose-free milk (like Lactaid in the U.S.). My friend, who speaks better Italian than I do, told me what it was. So I drank it and felt better.
I looked up lactose intolerance and dairy allergy on the internet and found symptoms similar to those I had experienced (you may notice, if you follow the link, that anxiety itself is listed as a possible symptom).
Additionally, I found other symptoms I had been experiencing for many, many years that have nothing to do with anxiety, like skin rashes, hives and ear inflammation that can also be a result of a dairy allergy. Why many doctors don't seem to know these things, I don't know. I've been to several who never put it together.
Call this magical thinking (See 'Magical Thinking' a Slur Against Faith elsewhere on this blog), but I can't help but see Providence in the timing of these revelations. When the anxiety had done its job in bringing about an awakening in me, it left the stage in all of its permutations.
There's also a wider application here. Anxiety and negative energy inside our physical bodies can mask symptoms of other problems and even diseases. If you are not inhabiting your body, feeling it from the inside out, allowing it to feel the joy of being, which is it's natural state, we interfere with its natural intelligence. We keep it from diagnosing itself and administering the internal, systemic cures it has readily at hand.
We also run the risk of delaying its search for outside help (for this is part of the body's natural intelligence too) when we allow negativity (anxiety, depression, stored anger, hatred and even plain old vanilla neutrality) to keep it from feeling when something isn't right.
For more, read: A Cure for Anxiety - Part 1, A Cure for Anxiety - Part 2 and A Cure for Anxiety - Part 3
Let me know what you think. Your comments will be helpful to others.
I'm interested in your comment about anxiety doing its job of bringing about awakening in you. It really changes the perspective on any challenging experience, such as anxiety, when it's seen as actually a kind of helpful nudge to wake us up out of our painful dreams. It's a kind of Copernican revolution when what had been seen as an obstacle to well being becomes a vehicle to well being. Seeing the good hidden in the bad means it's all good. Once I heard Eckhart Tolle say on a CD, "What blocks the way is the way." Thanks for your post Todd.
ReplyDeleteExcellent blog dude. Really that was an informative post. Thanks for sharing it here. By the way when I was affected because of Anxiety problem I have depressed a lot and not interested in anything. Later my friend advised and suggest to go for the Hypnotherapy treatment which really worked well and cured Anxiety problems. I got a good relaxation.
ReplyDeleteAnxiety, depression, hyperactivity and so many other behavioral disorders have a cause* or are caused by some physiological changes in our brain. I classify B. disorders as 3 groups: the genetically acquired, the ones acquired by life's negative experiences and the ones that have their roots in both- genetics and life's negative experiences. The ones that are not genetically acquired, are still *causing physiological changes in the brain- commonly called "chemical imbalance".
ReplyDeletePracticing hollistic healing approaches in all 3 groups, I find of tremendous value. However, being a clinical scientist, it has taught me how to seek resolution of a human-body related problem in a multifaceted way. Look at the body as a "whole" and question all different aspects that allow us to exist. Before any kind of treatment begins, educate ourselves through books/safe interenet sites and by talking to people with similar experiences.
Then visit a good internist and make sure you ask all questions you may have. Don't let them stop you because they are in a 15 or 20 min/patient schedule. Keep in mind Dr.s, like so many other professionals, don't know a lot of things they should... Ask for a thorough physical exam including labs of all kinds, and that should be a good start of the "adventure" in finding "your" solution to your problem. Just to give you a simple example: When any or all 3 of our main thyroid hormones (TSH, T3, T4)are off due to genetics and/or environmental factors, it can cause either depression (high TSH) or anxiety (low TSH). The appropriate thyroid medicine should take care of most if not the entire medical problem. Another example is weight loss, a $$$ business- they never tell you that is almost always related to the body's chemical imbalance, for i.e. type II diabetes can cause weight gain. They just give you weight loss meds and get you to pay big money to go onto one of the crazy diets out there. There is a new diet every couple of years if you notice, since the old ones stop working or have serious side effects after a while.
That's all for today :-)
Thanks, Dimi