Emotional Trauma... other modalities

This is an interesting topic for sure. I think Lyme people have to be careful. Of course, being chronically ill is emotionally traumatizing. I don't see any way around that. There are methods out there, includingh psychedelics, for better long-term coping with chronic illness. There is definitely value in that. In fact, I think it was a Johns Hopkins video I watched a little while back where they were enrolling terminal cancer patients into a study where the patients took a dose of some sort of psychedelic in a safe controlled environment. The result was, even some time after the experience, most patients were not afraid to die anymore. That's freaking cool man. I mean...wow! However, and this is important, their cancer didn't magically disappear.

However, I fear those who are legit physically chronically ill could be gaslit into believing their illness is all in their head. This is dangerous in multiple ways. The person could then conclude their illness is their own fault and if they could just mentally change everything will be fine. They could stop seeking help when a treatment could help their physical condition. There is lots of bullcrap pseudopsychology out that teaches if you can just envision it then it can come to reality or if you only just thought positive thoughts then all your problems would disappear. I admit I fell for this line of thinking a few years into my illness. I told myself I was going to stop treatment, simply live healthy and get on my with life. Whatever happened I would simply handle it in my mind. This didn't work, of course, because I was I had/have a chronic physical illness. It can't be wished away.

As far as not responding to treatment, this is common. Either progress is painfully slow, creating the illusion that nothing good is happening, or treatment has plateaued and another approach is warranted. This happened to me a few years ago when I felt stuck with antibiotics. I switched to Disulfiram, and while initially herxing badly, made some good progress after a few months.

I don't know your particular situation so I can't say whether you are actively physically sick or not. I would claim that if you take a survey, such as Dr. Horowitz's MSIDS questionnaire, and you score highly then you are probably still sick.

Just wanted to add that even illnesses that have been traditionally defined as "mental", "emotionally", "psychiatric", "hysteria", etc. are now becoming seen more as psychical illnesses.....particularity around immune issues and consistent cytokine storms.

Post Edited (Lymie24) : 3/15/2022 11:53:26 AM (GMT-6)

There are definitely some people who I’ve heard say “none of the drugs and supplements worked but addressing the emotional trauma did” so I’m not sure what to make of these people

lyme guy16 said...
There are definitely some people who I’ve heard say “none of the drugs and supplements worked but addressing the emotional trauma did” so I’m not sure what to make of these people

I would say those people are correct....somewhat. I've had success with different methods to help cope with the trauma of illness. Philosophy, meditation, reading, instead of being sad on the days I feel relatively better, actually making an effort to do a positive thing. For example, on a relatively decent day, I might go to a park with my wife instead of wallowing in sorrow. These things have been important to my mental stability, however, they didn't magically cure my illness.

i have some significant experience with various psychedelics - so will pass on my thoughts on this - in case its of use to those following or reading later

but overall i would say if you are in a bad place mentally with your illness - ie lacking hope, feeling depressed or not dealing with it in a very positive way - or feeling like you have some emotional or psychological injury - psychedelics are unlikely to help - and the chances of having a severely bad experience are most certainly raised.

as well as experiencing both the most amazing positive experiences with these compounds - and also the most negative ( sometimes in the same event ) i have also researched them in some detail.

their mode of action is interesting - most, rather than turning up something in the brain, as you might expect, are actually removing or disabling parts of our brain temporarily, particularly the part of our brains we use to filter sensory input and thought processes - so what we experience becomes unfiltered input from our senses and uncensored thoughts or the removal of the learned models that we have learned and normally use to interpret the world around us - and our internal worlds - hence the new thoughts we can produce, the new appreciations for things around us and the revelations we can experience.

in fact with strong psychedelics our ability to direct our thoughts or manage what track they go down becomes lessened - hence the sensation of being taken on a journey - or "a trip"

for a lot of people - when the filters are off, and the thought censorship routines are offline - especially if they are in a negative frame of mind before the experience - the tendency is to amplify these thoughts and feelings - simply because they were the frame of mind and thoughts that were filling their consciousness before the experience.
for some this is blown away by the intensity of the experience and they can breakthrough to the other side and arrive at an entirely new perspective - often wildly more positive and helpful - which is the kind of holy grail ideal effect that is being touted.
but its unpredictable - for others they get stuck in spiralling worry and negativity and can reach some very dark places - sometimes with long lasting effects.
this is why i started with the warning that i did

a lot of people seem to know themselves well enough to know their own tendencies and make choices around psychedelics accordingly - other people not so much.

if you are going to try them - i would certainly suggest some of the steps experienced users often use:
1, use a guide - someone who has experience - but ideally is not partaking on this occasion and serves to guide and care for those who are - can keep everyone safe and reassure people who get into difficulties and can gently direct the activities conversations etc towards the more positive.
2, use known potency and provenance products - this is one of the places people often come unstuck by taking unintentionally high doses of something because the potency was not known or appreciated
i have seen people who were permanently changed by this simple mistake.
3, start low - use a known small dose ( not a guess - see above ) - get a feel for what to expect - you can always do it again and will be more likely to enjoy it or find it helpful - high doses can be some of the most extreme experiences you will ever encounter and from cold are an unnecessary risk.
4, only do so in a controlled positive environment - surrounded only by people you know and trust and free of obvious risk factors ( alcohol, dangerous objects, violence, disagreeable people etc )

micro dosing is also an interesting option - also with some studies around therapeutic effect - but using repeated or daily doses of only around 1/10 of a normal dose - so not a full on hallucinogenic experience - but a v mildly changed state of consciousness.

overall if you feel you are or maybe suffering from some deep psychological injury - i do believe it is possible for this to impact your physical health in multiple ways - absolutely - but psychedelics are at best only one possible tool to address this - and a rather unpredictable one at best.

in fact if i thought that was a possibility in my case i would be very reluctant to risk psychedelics - even more reluctant to try and do so on my own ( highly highly unpredictable results ) and would instead simply opt for talking therapy with a therapist i felt i had a good connection with - as a much more reliable and less risky way forward.

hope this is of some use

“ i have some significant experience with various psychedelics - so will pass on my thoughts on this - in case its of use to those following or reading later “

I have had a few experiences with them too - but this was during my teen years and nothing to do with Lyme and CO’s.. lol

😮

Having a high ACE score directly correlates with chronic illness.

https://youtu.be/95ovij3dsnk

https://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/

If you don't know what ACE is, then go take the questionnaire. I have an ACE of 9 and had an extremely violent childhood. I know for a fact I would not be sick with Lyme and Bartonella if I had not survived all the things I survived.

Working on my vagus nerve, therapy, TRE trauma release exercises (https://traumaprevention.com <---- this is life changing!), integrating the trauma (I have endured over 2 years of flashbacks while healing), EFT tapping, and seeing a Shaman are all things that have helped me. My LLMD recommended microdosing psychedelics, and I am familiar with it because of Gabor Mate, but I would personally never do it.

In my opinion you will not heal unless you deal with your trauma -- it basically breaks your nervous system. I was in constant fight/flight for my ENTIRE life. Once you activate the parasympathetic nervous system you will begin to heal; your body will start the healing process on its own.

Post Edited (orbitingaround) : 3/24/2022 9:24:30 AM (GMT-6)