Biochemistry and Cognition

On the topic of giving psychoactive drugs as therapeutic agents in a healthcare system that needs some serious help....

What if therapists take psychedelics with their patients? Could this act help break down the barriers between the two and dissolve the social constructs that label the patient as mad or sick?  As labels suddenly lose their power, what is left is two humans with their own legitimate inner landscapes to share.

The idea raises a lot of questions about mental illness.

One resounding characteristic of most mental illness is isolation. The feeling of being stuck in a head space to which the outside world cannot relate.  The experience of connection, whether it is mediated by a drug, could help alleviate the feeling of being alone.  Feeling less sick and alienated could be quite healing for patients.  Whether or not tripping with a psychotherapy patient is an accessible option, the concept of breaking down barriers that divide can surely be extracted from this. 

If LSD allow users to be in "solidarity with the universe" as explained by scientist Aldous Huxley, than it could be one of many tools used to mend broken communities and welcome in outcasts.  Likewise, during Ayehuasca ceremonies, community supports the shifting of consciousness that allows individuals to access parts of themselves that are dormant and/or find a new way of seeing.  

Shifting to the topic of ecstasy as a therapeutic agent for PTSD recovery seems to line up with philosophy of EMDR.  Both attempt to retrain the nervous system to experience memories in new different way.  In the case of ecstasy, the patent is transforming the physiological experience of a once excruciatingly uncomfortable memory into a positive one.  The British Journal The Lancet Psychiatry describes studies using 2 guides to a patient that takes ecstasy after their third therapy session.  By inducing a feeling of wellbeing and safety, the drug helps patents unpack painful memories and move forward with their healing process.

Cell Biology and Radioactivity

Nostalgic for a time that I that was never part of....

Sitting in class last week, I imagined 1,000 giant storage tanks at the Fukushima, filled with radioactive water.  The water is meant to keep the plant cool by neutralize the intense heat emitting from plant.  The unnatural collision of atomic particles creates a profound amount of energy that humans can capitalize on to live lives that are unsuitable to the planet. The outcome is a boat load of reliable-ish power, the byproduct is radioactive ions and too much heat.  This is the cost of sustaining the modern lifestyle that most of us take for granted without batting an eye.

 This parallels the use of plastics in the modern world.  A product created in a lab, combining chemicals that would not coexist in nature.  The chemical reaction once done cannot be undone.  Recycling does not rid us of the unsurmountable pile up of plastics on this planet, taking over or earths most precious resrouces.  We see the massive island of plastic in the middle of the pacific. But the unsustainable aspect of this practice is hard for us to conceptualize fully, because truly living on and with the land would look completely different then life in the developed world. Still there is a yearning for something different.  We actively limit our plastic intake, but are you going to accept an injection at a doctors office that was not sealed in plastic, I think not.

Still I cannot resist taking advantage of the privileges we have of modern medicine, technology and the capacity to fly across the world in a day.  This is the world that we know.  But it is not without the knowledge that we are banking on borrowed time.  The tiny ripples that mark the human footprint are not ripples at all.  They are massive breakers with a voracious undercurrent.  Fukushima brought an incredible amount of energy to the surrounding communities, but a 9.0 earthquake made a good idea into a disaster.  The radioactive particles did not cease to exist, the just diffused themselves through the ocean until the numbers were declared "safe."

There is no fool proof damn.  It always has the capacity to break and cause widespread suffering.  Nature cannot be defied, but modern humans are trying their damnedest.

Inside we all know where this planet is headed. If you can't see it, you're not paying attention. Our current administration is a exemplifies the combination of ignorance, self-absorption and apathy.  Where is the reverence for our natural resources? Where is the respect for those who came before us and for the generations who will be either cleaning up the mess and/or living in a world of natural disasters that we can only dream about.

Get outside.  Smell the salty air, and soft touch of a tulip.  If we don't cultivate some empathy for the planet as a living entity, then we won't have the motivation to fight against its genocide.

The Chemistry of Life

In Amie Keeleys article, a sham verteboplasty results in the alleviation of chronic back pain.  Though I find the study unethical, the results demonstrate the power of patient's intention in the healing process. Though certainly not the goal, this placebo-effected surgery in a sense tricked control patents to self-heal.  Chronic pain has major psycho-emotional effects, including the feeling that life is out of control; the nervous system in a constant state of distress. The act of grabbing the reins and taking action (even if it is a sham) can offer a sense of empowerment and hope, both of which can help to settle the mind, ease physical tension and free up the systemic energy flow.  Further, hope seems to have a higher vibrational quality than despondency and a shift from one to the other might add momentum to the healing process.

This reminds me of my post from physics class last year. I will share an excerpt:

"The vibrations of bodies seem to heighten in states of optimal health and well-being.  Bruce Tainio created a frequency monitor in 1992 while at Eastern University in Washington and determined that the healthy human body ranged from 62Hz-72Hz, dropping significantly when the immune system is down.  Similarly David Hawkins discusses the changes in bodily vibrations in the presence of different emotional states, moving up the scale from shame to unconditional love.  Within this range of 12 emotional states and their corresponding vibrational frequencies, we start to see a correlation between health and positivity based on logarithmic calibrations.  This is further supported Dr. Masaru Emoto's demonstration of water molecules reacting to music and emotionally loaded phrases, helping our western minds to visualize the impact of factors like like vibration and energy."
http://livinginthesystems.blogspot.com

Tying the concept of healing intent, movement and empowerment into Chinese medicine, I turn my attention to the the liver spirit. The "hun" is deeply connected to aspiration and requires the smooth flow of qi to attain its goals.  When unable to move in an aspired direction, there is stagnation, irritability and depression.  Likened to the concept of potential energy vs. kinetic energy, we see that each of us has potential to act.  The inability to mobilize internal drive due to obstacles like chronic pain, will certainly have adversary effects over time.  Since pain is often caused by a lack of movement, sometimes with emotional roots, a connection can be made here. If patents experienced significant pain relief from a surgery that did not actually take place, it is possible that the movement of the hun, inspired by the perceived experience of 'taking action' could have participated in the results of this study.  Just a thought....