It's All in Yer Head

This gentleman has too many limbs

I've recently been preoccupied with the mind-body connection.

It's no secret that the human brain is largely a mystery. To say the balance between what we know about the mind versus what we do not is unequal is an understatement. And, often, physicians are apt to dismiss anything they do not understand. If whatever problem you are experiencing cannot be solved by the pharmaceutical industry, then you will likely be sent away from your doctor's office with little more than a referral to a psychologist and an insincere "sorry 'bout you."

As a patient, this is infuriating and demoralizing. Chronic physical pain is difficult enough to manage. When a doctor gives you that sideways look and states, "this is probably an issue for your psychiatrist," it is like being kicked when you are down. If you have any type of psychological diagnosis listed in your chart, you will probably hear this more than once from more than one different physician.

"Diagnoses" like these beg the question: if the very real pain that one is experiencing is rooted in the mind, why not take a more holistic approach to treatment?

I see one doctor for physical issues and one doctor for all things mental. While these physicians can communicate with one another, there is a very apparent disconnect I notice when having to reiterate my issues to each. If my mind and my body work so closely with one another, why can physicians not do the same. Or better yet - why can't doctors view & treat the body as a whole rather than a sum of their parts?

I don't think I've ever looked so peaceful

If you are like me, you will try virtually any reasonable treatment to relieve chronic pain. I mean, I am not going to go out and pay someone I've met in the woods two hundred bucks for a concoction of deer pee and ground-up rat bones but if something, say acupuncture, has been used for centuries and people report real improvement in their symptoms, what would prevent me from trying it?

It baffles me that such things are thought of as quackery. I've received a lot of flack for this opinion in the past, but, I would much rather use a natural, minimally invasive treatment than put another chemical in my body. I am not a fool - modern, western medicine is incredible and life saving. However, it does not make sense for me to choose a lab-created treatment whose side effects include liver damage or stroke over a plant that can be grown in my backyard.

I don't even want to know how much the pharmaceutical industry spends on advertising and lobbying activities each year. As a society, we are brainwashed into believing that the answer to all of life's problems can be found in a pill. Alternative medicine (even that term is dismissive) is portrayed as kookyfuck nonsense reserved for hippies or those too poor to afford the latest designer medication. However, we forget that before the advent of fancy drugs with names most of us cannot even pronounce, many common conditions were effectively treated with "natural" remedies.

Here is a fun anecdote from my personal experience: I get migraines. At one point, they were so severe that I was prescribed a daily medication as well as an abortive painkiller that I would take when my screaming demon would rear its ugly head. At this time in my life, I was working in a bakery and I did not take the abortive medication at work because it decreased my coordination (industrial mixers and loopiness DO NOT mix). One day, I was preparing a large batch of icing that contained peppermint oil. When I poured the peppermint oil into the mixture and the smell reached my nose, I noticed immediate relief of the pain in my head. It was so remarkable and unexpected, that I researched it when I arrived home that day. As it turns out, peppermint and lavender are used to alleviate headache pain. To this day, I have a bottle of peppermint oil on hand at all times and put a few dabs on my temples and underneath my nose when I start to get a headache. Not only do I smell minty fresh, but my symptoms are greatly improved.

Of course, I listen to my doctors and take all of my medications like a good girl. But I will not discount any natural line of defense unless I have tried it myself. Just as my pain is in my body it is "all in my head" as well. Anything that will treat both in one fell swoop is a friend of mine.