This is the continuation of a series on allostatic load. In part 1, there are notes from a video discussion with Dr. Donald Bosch of the Headington Institute on allostatic load. He does a very good job of explaining what allostatic load and allostasis are.
I
have always said that if you don't deal with stress, stress will deal
with you. We all will probably shake our heads and agree, but that's
about as far as we take it. We don't fully understand and comprehend
what that means. We are disconnected from what it means, in many ways.
However, I keep attempting to write about this so others can begin to
understand it more. I realize it is a complex subject that tends to
sail right by, but it is important.
I speak from my own
experience and that of what I have learned from Dr. Paul Canali of
Evolutionary Healing Institute. He understands this far better than I do , but I have experienced it firsthand in many ways.
Trauma can be simple everyday stuff...
In the video from part 1, Dr. Bosch talks about the set point
and how the further we veer out of allostatic load, the further this set
point gets moved. It does not have to be trauma or child abuse or war
or other means to cause this set point to shift. It can be as simple as
office work stress, caring for others, or just dealing with life
when you were not taught great skills in adapting to stress that comes
along.
We all like to think that we've got life by the horns and we are in control. We all like to think that if we have a
beer or a glass of wine that we've relaxed and the stress has all
vanished. We all like to think that if we manage to squeeze in a day
off here and there or maybe a few days for a vacation once every couple
of years that we're in charge of the stress in our life. "We're handling
it" is what we tell ourselves.
Daily buildup of stress is as harmful...
However, this could not
be further from the truth. The daily build up of stress is just as
harmful as if we encountered some traumatic event in our life. If we
don't discharge that, it finds a home in our mind and body. It moves
the set point just a little further away from homeostasis. Our body
ends up staying in that constant state of alertness ready to handle what
is bombarding us in life. We have ended up pushing our allostatic load
to the point where it is getting so far into the danger zone that
turning back gets more difficult with each passing moment.
It
happens before you know it. It takes place in the blink of an eye. It
is not like you wake up one day and go, wow - I've pushed my set point
way too far. Okay, it can happen that way but more often than not, it
goes unnoticed. It goes undetected until something in our life happens
that tries to wake us up.
In the meantime, we maybe
experience things like headaches and muscle pains. Sometimes we find
out in a routine doctor visit that our blood pressure is high or our
pulse rate stays at a constant high rate instead of dropping down into
rest and repair mode.
We may experience fatigue, sleeplessness and
nervous stomachs, acid reflux or other conditions. Chronic health
issues may set in and begin to become more pronounced. We may encounter
all kinds of health conditions as issues progress.
In
worst case situations, we may go into Conversion Disorder like I did or
experience health situations that are life and death. It varies by
person and it depends upon so many factors. I'm not trying to say that
there are not other underlying factors in the exhibition of illness and
pain, but I am saying that allostatic load is the cart pushing the horse
over the cliff.
Make sure you check out the next part in this 5 part series.
This is a video interview that Jim Fazio did with Dr. Paul Canali of Evolutionary Healing on March 29, 2013.
We all know that stress is not good for our body, but as Dr. Canali discusses, chronic stress does affect the body and our mental health. New healing paradigms attune our attention inward and deal with not only the mental aspects but physical sensations.
Emotions are not something that are purely in your head. They are physical body states. Anything that you can feel, you can re-regulate or change.
Most people are afraid of what they feel in their own body whether it is disease, illness, anxiety, depression or other things. The immediate response is "please doctor, take it away." Most are not necessarily interested in how it got there or how they can take it away. They just want it gone!
Now we are realizing though that to make long term changes, one must be brought into that point to interact with what is going on within the mind and body. Because we are so afraid of what we are feeling, we tend to numb and disconnect, rather than go in an interact with the physical body.
Listen to the entire video interview to learn more.
This study is one that needs to be told to every corner of the world. It was done by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente.
The study is often called the ACE study which stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences. It was one of the largest studies into the impact of childhood abuse on health later on in life.
Some facts about how the study was done according to the CDC.gov website.
Two waves of data collection between 1995 and 1997 with over 17,000 people.
Study comprised of 54% women, 46% male.
Ethnicity and race was 74.8 white, followed by 11.2% Hispanic and Latino with other groups making up the difference.
Age ranges were more heavily sampled on 60 and over at 46.4%
Major Findings According To The ACE study
Almost two-thirds of the participants had at least one Adverse Childhood Experience. More than 1 in 5 reported three or more Adverse Childhood Experiences.
The greater the number of experiences you have as a child that are adverse, the greater your risk for having chronic health conditions as you get older. This study shows that in no uncertain terms.
The following website, AcesTooHigh.com does a good job of explaining this in more detail.
As the number of Adverse Childhood Experiences increases, so does the risk for the following:
Alcoholism and alcohol abuse
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Depression
Fetal death
Health-related quality of life
Illicit drug use
Ischemic heart disease
Liver disease
Poor work performance
Financial stress
Risk for intimate partner violence
Multiple sexual partners
Sexually transmitted diseases
Smoking
Suicide attempts
Unintended pregnancies
Early initiation of smoking
Early initiation of sexual activity
Adolescent pregnancy
Risk for sexual violence
Poor academic achievement
Adverse Childhood Experiences Definitions
Abuse
Emotional abuse
Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Household Challenges
Mother treated violently
Household substance abuse
Mental illness in household
Parental separation or divorce
Criminal household member
Neglect
Emotional neglect
physical neglect
How To Calculate Your Ace Score
Answer the following questions to calculate your score.
(prior to your 18th birthday)
Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often… Swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? or Act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often… Push, grab, slap, or throw something at you? or Ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Did an adult or person at least 5 years older than you ever… Touch or fondle you or have you touch their body in a sexual way? or Attempt or actually have oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Did you often or very often feel that … No one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special? or Your family didn’t look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Did you often or very often feel that … You didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you? or Your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you or take you to the doctor if you needed it? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Were your parents ever separated or divorced? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Was your mother or stepmother: Often or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her? or Sometimes, often, or very often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard? or Ever repeatedly hit over at least a few minutes or threatened with a gun or knife? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic, or who used street drugs? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or did a household member attempt suicide? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Did a household member go to prison? ___No ___If Yes, enter 1
Understanding The Score
Add up all your "YES" answers and that is your ACE score.
The higher the ACE score, the greater health risk you have. It becomes an index where your risk for the health factors listed previously become more a reality.
I'm a firm believer in that if you have a health condition, as long as it is not past the point of no return, I think a person can turn it around. Think of a train going off a cliff that once it gets to the end of the track, there is no stopping it. However, if we're not at that point, we still have a chance to slow the train down. I understand that I am often in the minority on this and many may think I just don't understand. I use my own life's experiences and conditions as proof of this conclusion.
So, I don't accept that any physical health condition cannot be stopped or reversed. This is my opinion and I cannot base it upon fact. So, please don't take this as medical advice because it is not intended to be that. Just don't limit yourself to the current medical wisdom out there. I believe there is far more within us that can turn things around.
In my own life, health problems that I thought I would have to live with are no longer a major concern for me. I don't take medication. Yes, I still have things that crop up on me physically and mentally, but I've learned the tools that pull me back out of hell. There have been some major physical things that I thought were not something I could change and yet, I've discovered that I can really impact them and sometimes pretty quickly.
Why Does All This Matter
When you have been through childhood abuse, if you don't deal with it - it will deal with you. You may think you're getting away with it and it doesn't affect you, but sooner or later it will catch up. It will bring you front and center with it. You may still choose to deny it at that point, but if you do, things will only get worse and I think you reach the point of no return.
From what I have experienced in my own life and through the healing work that I've learned, there is a way to reclaim your physical body and mind and heal from these adverse childhood experiences. Unfortunately, we often just give lip service to this concept while ignoring the true impacts and how we can have great influence over what happens as a result.
At one time, I thought that physical ailments on the body and mind were life sentences. I shouldn't be standing here today writing what I am because everyone at one point thought my future was hopeless. I've battled the depression, anxiety, suicide, migraine headaches, ulcers, allergies, skin issues, high pulse rate and many other physical ailments. At one time, I thought that was just the way things are.
I won't tell you today that my life is perfect and free from all of these physical issues, but I now have more tools in my toolbox to help me deal with things, without turning to medical procedures, surgeries and medications. At one time, I needed some of those things, but it was because I didn't have the tools I now have.
It takes work and courage...
It takes a lot of work and courage to get to this point. It is not easy and I will never mislead anyone into thinking it is just a matter of changing one's thoughts or living by some platitude or meme. In order to begin healing, you have to go into those deep dark horror moments of life and learn how to take the power back from them.
This is not just a mental exercise, although the mind and your thoughts play a major role. This is an exercise where with time, you learn how to feel and connect to your body through the felt sense as it connects with your mind. When you understand that in order to heal your mind, you must feel in your body that which is hard to feel and is often blinded by fear.
Feeling in the body....
Feeling in the body is the most advanced way I have found to heal the adverse childhood experiences I have been through. My ACE score is very high. I've been through a lot and unless I would not have started to use Unified Therapy and the concepts behind it, I would have never made it this far. My life was crashing when I first started to understand and explore how to heal my body and mind.
Therapy and counseling helped me tremendously, but in the end, I had neglected the body part of the mind body connection. It is in the body part of my healing where I started to physically empower my life once again and heal in ways that I did not think were possible. It was not some pie-in-the-sky concept, but one that has been proven many times over on many people. It does work! You can heal!
Fear has been my constant enemy...
Fear has been my constant enemy that I have loathed and despised. It has held me back by fooling me into thinking that I can't heal and that none of my progress is real. Fear has kept me hunkering down in the corner hiding in the shadows as if that was the sum total of my life. Fear has kept me withering in life as if I had no power or worth or value.
We all have to find our way through healing and the experiences we have been through. However, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that if the body is not engaged in healing, the mind will only take you so far. Memes, platitudes, and simple healing statements may have their place, but often they get in the way of the real - down-to-earth work that we need to do.
When life takes you far enough down the trail of no return, it either gets your attention or if you continue to ignore it, you will suffer greatly. We do have the power to change our life from the inside out, but only if we allow ourselves to go through the fear and find it. Often that requires a person who truly understands the effect of trauma on the body and there are far too few that do.
For a long time, I have known about the ACE study because of Unified Therapy by Dr. Paul Canali. He uses this with his patients and helps them realize the cause-effect between trauma and their current health conditions. It is a great tool to begin helping you see the relationship of what trauma does to your current health and well-being.
Further Information
Here is a video done of an interview of some topics, but one of those is the ACE Study. It is with Jim Fazio and Dr. Paul Canali. Jim is a practitioner that has learned Unified Therapy and is having wonderful success with it on his own clients.
Final Thoughts
Where ever you are today in your life, go further - discover more and realize that there is much more potential in healing than may seem possible, feasible or even real.
I really admire Dr. Paul Canali because he has helped me understand that the body connection is where the true healing is at and without it, I would not have made it as far as I did. He doesn't just understand the concepts of healing trauma as a pioneer in this field. He knows how to implement them and see results from one patient to another.
Years ago, they told me I would most likely never function 100% again. I proved the medical world wrong. At one point they were bringing me back to life and it was up to me from that point on to go beyond what I thought I knew so that I could truly heal.
Do you ever have one of those cartoon moments, where steam comes out your ears after reading something? Well, today was one of those days.
When I read the following quote, it made steam come out of my ears. No, I'm not going to name the source because far too many people think this way and quite frankly, they are only seeing "part" of the story.
The quote is:
Lifestyle is the cause of chronic illness and lifestyle is the only evidence-based solution for the prevention of, and recovery from, chronic illness.
In addition to the entire premise of this statement being short-sighted and downright wrong from my own experience, when you use the word "ONLY" as the foundation for your statement, you are standing on melting ice in the middle of a lake. This is one of the things that is wrong with our health care system and why people don't get better. I know the place that wrote this means well, but there is more to the picture than this "belief" about chronic illness.
Inadequate at best and harmful at worst...
I will not disagree that chronic pain often has lifestyle choices that are not healthy. However, that is like telling a person with depression, to just be happy or a person who has sleep issues, that they should just go to bed at a set time. These forms of advice and counseling and help are inadequate at best and harmful at worst. They don't assist the person and help them. They only cement the judgment and shame deeper into their consciousness.
In many of the chronic pain and chronic illness, there is something more below the surface. There is something that set the person up for the situation they are now facing. Maybe no one can see it. Maybe no one can even begin to believe it. Maybe it is something that no one is even thinking about, but it is there. I've worked with far too many people and seen evidence of what I am saying, to not be able to believe that lifestyle changes along can help every situation.
All too often we've seen people look for help that isn't there. We've seen this person or that product offering the "cure-all" for their condition. I used to work in research evaluating products for a company before we took the plunge and spent millions to find out if something worked or not. Of the products that were backed up by science and research and trials with big name companies, approximately 85% of them did not show a statistical improvement for whatever it was that we were testing.
Needless to say, these companies and even colleagues of mine would rip my research to shreds. Yes, it was meticulously done and yes, myself and other individuals reviewed it before the data was released.
I find the same thing in the health and healing communities. Some of the "products" out there make my eyes do flip-flops and the claims make me vomit. Sorry, if you're one that does not want to hear this, but from my experience, it is the truth.
Chronic conditions have deep layers...
Chronic pain and chronic illness is present for a reason. It has deep layers which I don't think we truly understand today. However, there is new pioneering work that is being done and can often reverse these conditions or have a significant impact upon them. Situations and health conditions that we thought were not treatable are now being seen that we can influence them.
Yes, lifestyle choices does make a difference, but if there are underlying situations and stresses below the surface, then you can beg someone to change all day long with little results. Heck, even the person suffering from Chronic Pain and Chronic Illness can hope something changes, but unless the underlying pressures are released, this will be nothing but a prayer.
A message from our body to our brain...
Pain is there for a reason. It is a message from our body to our brain trying to get our attention. Sometimes, maybe most of the time, it is difficult to understand how this could even be true, let alone how we can solve it. The answers are not from feel good statements, but are through interventions that takes us deep within where we feel our body. It is not where we escape it.
Here is a good video by good friend Jim Fazio as he interviews Dr. Paul Canali about Chronic Pain. Dr. Paul Canali is a pioneer in the treatment of trauma, pain, and anxiety and offers a new approach that is highly effective. This is not belief or theory, but actually applied therapy that has helped thousands of people he has worked on.
I want to push each one of us, whether we suffer from chronic conditions or we are in the healing community try to help people deal with these conditions. We cannot sit back and expect the tired and old practices that have become our paradigms to continue being ineffective in our healing modalities. We have to be more and often that starts where we least expect it to begin.
Instead of limiting your healing beliefs to lifestyle changes only, find out what makes the person tick from the inside. What is it that holds you or them back?
I used to think that Dr Canali had some special gift, but now I'm beginning to see that what he has learned resides in each one of us. It was not just him that could help others. Yes, it may take another compassionate and caring individual without judgment to walk through the healing fires with us, but healing comes from within us. Let us not look at it through simple eyes, missing the deeper moments.
Chronic pain and illness is not easy. However, there are therapies emerging that can help so much, if we allow ourselves to go check them out.
