Conversion Disorder Myths

I remember years ago when I went through this condition in 1991.  I had no idea what was going on and in the early days, the doctors didn't understand either.  It wasn't until a brave neurologist suspected Conversion Disorder or that my life had experienced so much, that things began to look up.

It would be some time before I realized that "Conversion Disorder" was the condition I had.  In those days, there was no internet to look things up and so instead of focusing on what "Conversion Disorder" was by definition, my doctors started helping me integrate myself back into life and reclaim all my physical and mental abilities that I could.

Even in the early days, I had no clue what was behind what had happened to me.  In fact, the details that came into view later, did not fully form until a good year after I was paralyzed.  Yes, I knew I had experienced a lot of "stress" in life, but I did not realize that this stress was much more involved then I knew in the moment.

Minimizing what I had been through which I believe is a very strong trait of those who suffer with Conversion Disorder, kept me from seeing the whole picture.  I mean, if it would have come into plain view at that moment, I doubt I could have kept myself alive.  I'm not going into details here.  You can read more about that in my book.

There are many myths that people are told which are nothing more than myths in my view.  There are many in the healing world that believe these myths.  These myths hold people back when trying to heal from Conversion Disorder.

As a way to begin helping others find their way back, I've written about Conversion Disorder on another website called Somatosync.  There is one article I published recently, called "10 Myths Of Conversion Disorder" that you can check out.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

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Feeling Alive Or Numb

We all have those moments in life where things just get to be too much.  We become overwhelmed by experiences, stress, and past trauma to the point where we go numb.  I doubt any human can experience life without going through at some point or dealing with it at various times of their life.

Feeling Alive or Numb is an article that I wrote for a local healing magazine called "Natural Awakenings" and I have put this online so you can read what was written for the publication.  I have put this article up on my sister website, Somatosync.com

There are many ways we numb our body and most of us humans are numb to some degree in our day.  While we may not want to believe that is true, it really is.  In fact, if you felt 100% of everything in your day, you would never make it through your day.  So, in many ways we are oblivious to what is going on until something wakes us up.

While numbing can be difficult and take us down, there is a way to come out of numbing.  I'll let you read the article on Somatosync for more information.

Article:  Feeling Alive Or Numb

 

You may also want to read the article on some of The Ways We Numb The Body.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

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Truth We Believe In

Far too many times, we come across all that makes up our truth we believe in.  Whether it is a product, cure, device, or belief system, we latch on and embrace things which may or may not add up.  Often times, it is just nearly impossible to tell on what is truth.

Truth is repeatable.  If it can't be repeatable, then something is not clearly understood or defined.  It is okay if we can't fully define truth at this point.  The search for truth is the promising part of all we know.

Often the fast talkers are the ones that convince us to spend many of our hard earned dollars on products that will solve all our problems.  They are very good at doing this, but in the end their words may be nothing more than a foundation built on quick sand.

I cannot tell you what truth is or what product, cure, device, or belief system is absolutely correct.  This is for each one of us to figure out.  Yes, some try to do this, but if you gulp down their kool-aid, you may wake up one day to realize you're drinking flavored sugar water.

In order to help bring this out for discussion, I wrote an article on Somatosync.com to help give some guidance for determining what is truth and what may not be 100% truth.

Go and check out the Somatosync site for the 15 Ways To Not Get Taken and see if you have any that you can add to this.  It is not that I have all the answers.

I'm just like everyone else, in that I'm trying to sort through everything that gets blasted into our conscious thought every day. The truth we believe in varies, but lets not allow it to become the only fact we understand.  Instead, let us use it to discover deeper truth for our life and humanity.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 1/26/16 by Don Shetterly

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Video On Mind And Body Syncing

This YouTube video is about Don Shetterly giving a recent seminar for Somatosync.  The title of this seminar is Syncing The Mind And Body.  It is about 32 minutes long.

The video is about finding ways to get the mind and body back in balance as we deal with stress.  This was given before the holidays and it touches on how the holiday stress affects all of us.  Regardless, stress is a silent stalker that can really keep us from syncing the mind and body.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 11/14/15 by Don Shetterly

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Writing Heals Trauma

Writing exercises are one of the ways that I have helped heal trauma that I've been through in my life.  In this blog post on Somatosync.com, I have shared a way that has been taught to me to help deal with stuck energy that is in our body from the trauma, abuse, or painful experiences.

There are undoubtedly many ways to help heal from trauma, but writing has helped me.  It can  be very powerful and effective.  Sometimes all we need is a little nudge to move beyond that which is holding us back.

Blog Post Article:  Writing Moves Stuck Energy Of Trauma

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Blog Post And Images (c) 1/12/16 by Don Shetterly

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Feeling Alive Or Numb In Natural Awakenings

My article just got published in Natural Awakenings for Orlando Florida.  The title of it is called Feeling Alive or Numb?  It is rather a lengthy article, but I tried to pack as much into it as I could.  Click on the image to the right to go to the article.

I am so happy that the editor of this local publication knows how important this topic is and to have given me the opportunity to write it.  I am thankful beyond words for the support of this publisher.

Numbing is something we all do in life.  It is our go to device when life becomes overwhelming or as we struggle to make sense of it.  There are many ways we numb ourselves and while you may think it is everyone else that does this, we only need to stop and look at our own lives.

Most of us live in a numbing state of mind and we don't even know it.  It is such an unconscious state of mind for us to be in.  It happens right in our very own mind and body without any recognition we give to it.

I could go on about numbing, but I'll let you read the article in the Natural Awakenings publication.  It starts on page 17 and continues on for a few pages.

You can also read more about the ways we numb on my site, Somatosync.com .

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Blog Post And Images (c) 1/1/16 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Healing Your Body By Observing

Have you ever stopped and when you did, things looked differently?  It is the same in the body.  When we stop and observe the body, we allow healing to take place in ways we can hardly imagine.

Just that moment of observing what is going on in the body can give you an experience of healing.  It can be more simple than you think, but more profound with possibilities than we are consciously aware of in our life.

Often in our day, we are unconscious and while that helps us get through the day, we need to take moments of pause, or we begin to lose touch with reality in our life.  We lose our internal awareness because of the daily build up of stress or traumatic moments.

To read more, check out a recently published article on Somatosync.com called Healing By Observing Your Body.  It has some simple exercises to help get you in touch with your body through the mind body connection.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 12/15/15 by Don Shetterly

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Starting My Unlimited Abundance Journey

So here it goes!  Rev those engines up and let's being on this newly created road to my unlimited abundance journey.  Yep, if you saw the blog posts recently, I attend the Free Webinar put on by Christie Marie Sheldon of Unlimited Abundance.  Not only that, but I actually signed up for it.

From time to time, I'll highlight things on this blog about my journey over the next twelve months, but for the most part, any main updates will become part of my Somatoysnc webiste.  If you want to follow along there, just go to "My Abundance Journey" and keep up-to-date. I'll hopefully be adding updates frequently there.

I did create a video on YouTube about where I am before this journey starts.  I have no idea how much will change in the next 12 months as a result.  While we were encouraged to do this as part of the program, I wanted to have a before and after video.  I want to see proof in my own life.

Sum Total Of All That I Am

Today is not the sum total of all that I am, because tomorrow allows me the possibility to be more than I am today.  

 (Don Shetterly, Somatosync)

Ways We Numb The Body Quote

Often when we are numb to the body, it is not out of consciousness, but an unconscious pattern that has engulfed us.  

(Quote from Somatosync on the Ways We Numb The Body)

What Is The Mind Body

Mind Body is so over used these days and essentially everyone using it fails to fully understand it.  The mind body connection is a deep awareness and consciousness that truly connects or syncs with the body (soma).  We have a logical side in our life that is extremely important when it comes to healing, but in all forms of diseases, health conditions and illnesses, there is a component that can only be found in the body.  If the body connection is not activated and released, healing is often short termed or ineffective at best. - What Is The Mind Body (Somatosync.com)

Autonomic Scream Therapy

While I did not even begin to think that the events that transpired that day were going to take place, I'm still shocked and amazed at the body.  It is unbelievable to me just what the body does to protect us and how it plays this out when we allow ourselves to go deep into healing.

The reason I refer to it as Autonomic Scream Therapy is that it comes from the autonomic nervous system and it was scream therapy.  However, in this case I did not force the scream out.  It happened automatically and there was no way to stop it.  I could not have controlled it if I wanted to because it just happened.

There was a strong visceral and guttural connection to my mind and body which ended up being very powerful.  However, instead of writing about it here, I'll just refer you to the blog post I wrote titled Autonomic Scream Therapy on the Somatosync website.

Going Into The Bad Places Of Healing

Sometimes it is very difficult to go in and truly heal.  We want to escape the bad parts and just focus on the good parts of healing.  It is human nature to do this.

Unfortunately, in order to truly heal, one must embrace the bad parts as an observer and allow themselves to wander into this space.  It is where true healing takes place.

Please visit my blog post on the Somatosync.com website for further discussion on this topic.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 5/11/15 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Shifting Focus

Anyone who has been following this blog for sometimes knows that it isn't as active as it once was.  At one time I was writing blog posts 7 days a week.  Now my schedule doesn't always allow that or if I get the time, my mind is tired and I really can't focus on putting the words together for it.

I enjoy writing and I enjoy writing for this blog.  Its meant a lot to me and has helped me process so many things, events and experiences in life.  While I probably won't ever stop writing here, just don't expect to see the frequency with what it once was.

My interest is shifting to areas of neuroscience and helping people recover physically and mentally from somatic trauma.  I went through the paralysis of a Conversion Disorder and because of that, I see through the lens of life differently than most.  I love learning more about how the mind works and how we all process experiences and events that have come our way.  I feel like there is so much more to our biological mind than what anyone is currently aware of in this world.

Anyone Understand Conversion Disorder?

Day after day, I see searches on a subject near and dear to my heart that proves too many talking voices on the internet is not a good thing.  So many write the same thing about what conversion disorder is that makes me wonder if these people are just trying to hear themselves speak.  I'm serious here that this is a disgrace to the human existence.  People either need to wake up and show that they understand this or sit down in the cheap seats and listen to those that do.

If you are offended by what I write, I do not apologize for this.  If you are offended by that, again I do not apologize for this.  There are so many people reaching out for help and wondering does anyone understand conversion disorder.  What do they get in return?  A bunch of repeated and regurgitated gobbledygook that says nothing, does nothing and shoves them deeper into a world of confusion and despair.  Shame on all those that propagate this on in the name of hearing themselves speak.  If you are one of them, shame on you!

Conversion disorder is a serious condition and when someone is in this, it is hard enough to get an accurate diagnosis, let alone be told that diagnosis.  When you suffer from this, your entire world falls apart and you learn that there is not one thing you can trust in the world.  You cannot trust others to stand by your side that have been with you all your life and you cannot trust your body that it will function from one moment to the next.  Your life becomes a living hell of helplessness and uncertainty.

Each day that you live in this fog of despair and you wonder if you will make it, no one understands you and the medical establishment often fails miserably because of their own inadequacies.  Each day you live in this horror and torment, you wonder if the next minute will hold something you will not be able to deal with in your day, or will it be something that you can not guess what it might be from minute to minute.  The symptoms change, and the exhaustion comes as a friend but yet, no one seems to have answers.

Mind Body Interface of Conversion Disorder

Somatosync.com/Radio
Healing Conversion Disorder
Dr. Paul Canali Interview

Recently, I wrapped up an interview with Dr. Paul Canali of Evolutionary Healing.  In the interview, we discussed how to heal Conversion Disorder in regards to the mind body interface.

If you are suffering from Conversion Disorder or know someone that does, this 33 minute interview is well worth your time to listen to it.  Even if you don't suffer from Conversion Disorder, the information applies to every human on the planet.

When I went through the major episode with Conversion Disorder in 1991, there were really no resources and no one to talk to.  The internet wasn't really in existence like it is today and so I was forced to find my own way through this ordeal.  None of it was easy and I know first hand just how difficult it is to come through this.  However, I knew there was some way out of the hell my body and life was shoved into and I never gave up in trying to find the help I needed.

It took me many years to finally move to a place and meet someone that could truly help me heal from Conversion Disorder.  When I went to him, the big physical symptoms had pretty much gone away like the paralysis, but I had plenty of other physical realities to deal with in my life.  On top of that, I had just lost my mom to a car accident which set off a cascade of events in my life.

Triggered By Sounds

Have you ever been triggered by sounds?  If you have suffered any type of trauma, I am sure you know completely what I am talking about.  The following article I published on Somatosync.com is my account of one trigger that has plagued me for most of my life.  I could never figure this out for the longest time and then suddenly, the lights went on in my brain.  While I make this sound easy and simple, it has been a process that has been anything but this.  I'm just relieved that the picture of the trigger is now one that I can vividly see and comprehend, regardless of how difficult the memories are.

To read Triggered By Sounds, click this link.

What Does Unified Therapy Do For Me?

What Does Unified Therapy
Do For Me?

A friend of mine emailed me to ask me just how Dr. Canali helps me in the sessions of bodywork that I get from him.  This is an account of a recent session I had with him in March 2012.  While it is difficult to completely describe everything that happens in a session, the results are amazing.

I'm not a person that runs away from going deep within and working on deep healing.  I believe the conversion disorder and paralysis I experience in 1991 is a very powerful motivator.  I desire to get to know more about myself and find the innermost part of my mind body that I am able to discover.  For me, it is about fully reclaiming every part of my body, not just settling for what is.

The account of this session is actually posted on my other website called Somatosync.com.  To read the blog post, click this link.

Somatosync is still under construction.  Slowly, but surely I am working on it and hope to be adding a lot more information and resources soon.

Harmless Traumatization

Even if you think some event in your life is a harmless traumatization, you may be fooling yourself. Trauma can happen in moments where we don't really see it. In a blog post I wrote for Somatosync.com, I detail such a moment in our cats.

Of course, it is not only the cats we should be concerned with, but our lives as humans. Our orange cat in this story, is just an example of how we do become affected by harmless traumatization.

I hope you will check out my sister website called Somatosync.com. It is still under construction, but there is much more planned for it.

To check out the blog post, click this link.