Monday, August 29, 2011

BM on the Move tip of the Day

This Monday put school safety first: Review the rules for buses, bicycles, and pedestrian crossings. Teach them how to stay calm in an emergency.

Sleep more soundly at night by taking a walk a few hours before you go to bed.

Skip the super-size promotions.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Firmada declaración para la promoción y prevención de la salud cardiovascular

Firmada declaración para la promoción y prevención de la salud cardiovascular

La Fundación Venezolana del Corazón con el firme propósito de seguir incentivando la salud en el país y específicamente en el estado Aragua, en la mañana de ayer firmaron la Declaración de Principios para la Promoción y Prevención de la Salud Cardiovascular, en las instalaciones de la Cámara de Comercio, debido a que esta presenta la primera causa de muerte en los venezolanos, según cifras que manejan los especialistas en la materia.

Con relación a este tema, el doctor Igor Morr explicó que en los países en vías de desarrollo se están incrementando los problemas cardiovasculares contrario a los desarrollados que han disminuido, lo cual escapa del manejo de los médicos, por lo que buscan atacar de manera mancomunada este problema que afecta a un gran número de venezolanos.

Además, señaló que este es un problema del colectivo, por lo que la mencionada fundación está haciéndole un llamado a todas las fuerzas vivas de la región aragüeña, donde se están proponiendo algunas metas para accionarlas durante los próximos 10 años.

Es de destacar, que esta firma tiene algunos principios los cuales buscan disminuir las cifras de morbilidad de los casos cardiovasculares que están en ascenso, debido a que 3 personas de cada 10 son hipertensos, donde existe una mortalidad de 25 mil personas al año por esta causa, que supera las guerras y otras causas.

"Nosotros no podemos resolver el problema, el Estado intenta hacerlo pero tampoco puede y por eso tenemos que acudir a todas las comunidades", destacó Morr. También destacó que dentro de estos principios están buscando seguir incentivando a que las personas participen en los programas que durante todo el año efectúa la Fundación como lo son el día mundial de no fumar, el día de la diabetes, el día mundial de la hipertensión arterial, soy activo sin excusas, pálpate tu pulso, un día con tu corazón, cantinas saludables en las escuelas, foro taller "emprendiendo hacia el éxito y la salud cardiovascular" y el día mundial del corazón que se está por celebrar.

Luis Rondón, miembro de la Federación, informó que partiendo de la organización social donde fomentan la disciplina, el interés colectivo, el respeto, han querido ir más allá y así conseguir un gran número de personas que sean multiplicadores de la información que quieren dar con respecto a mejorar las condiciones físicas y de la salud.

Dicha declaración de principios está fundamentada en los lineamientos internacionales de la Federación Mundial del Corazón, al igual que la Sociedad Venezolana de Cardiología, que busca generar un compromiso en torno a los programas que se están efectuando para tal fin.

Este grupo de especialistas de la salud están convencidos que mientras más personas se sumen en esta lucha pueden lograr sus objetivos, ya que las enfermedades cardiovasculares diezman los sectores de la población en su mayoría personas que están en su etapa productiva.

"Con esto lo que buscamos es mejorar la calidad de vida, pero haciendo hincapié en la promoción, porque estas enfermedades se relacionan con factores de riesgo que están presente en los malos hábitos alimenticios, costumbres, adicciones, entre otras", destacó Rondón.

En esta firma estuvieron presentes los representantes de la Fundación Venezolana del Corazón, la Cámara de Comercio, Sociedad Venezolana de Cardiología, Fundaproceca, Colegio de Médicos, diversas clínicas e instituciones educativas.

KARLA TRIMARCHI | el siglo

BM on the Move tip of the Day

Skip the free chips with your sandwich or sub order.

www.americaonthemove.org!

BM on the Move tip of the Day

Skim the fat off soups, stews, and sauces before serving.

www.americaonthemove.org!

Monday, August 22, 2011

BM on the Move tip of the Day

This Monday get the facts: Ask a doctor or nurse which tests you need for your age, lifestyle, and medical history. While there, ask for your BMI.

www.americaonthemove.org!

Teach your kids some healthy habits - The West Australian

Teach your kids some healthy habits



Maya Anderson, The West Australian
August 5, 2011, 11:45 am

The electronic era we live in might have parents believing that the days of children playing outside for hours on end are gone - but they don't have to be.

According to the Heart Foundation's director of cardiovascular health, Trevor Shilton, parents should encourage their children to get outside more.

"There is nothing inherent in our children that makes them sedentary," he said. "It is the environment and restrictions put in place by adults that is the problem.

"If a child goes outside, they will naturally find a stick, leaf, bug or friend and they will play. Likewise, if a child is sat in front of a screen, they are seldom less active or more socially disengaged."

The Heart Foundation's senior manager of physical activity and healthy weight, Clover Maitland, said that most children were not active enough.

"The Australian physical activity guidelines for children and young people recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day; and no more than two hours a day using electronic media for entertainment, especially during daylight hours," she said.

Parents could pass on healthy habits to their children by being good role models, said Ms Maitland.

"Be physically active yourself and switch off the TV and other electronic equipment," she said.

"Also monitor electronic media. Make children's bedrooms a screen-free zone and put rules in place to limit electronic media use.

"Support your child to participate in organised sport and recreation, walk or ride to school, and get outdoors during daylight hours."

She added that physical activity for children should be fun, social and help kids to learn and develop skills.

"Informal outdoor play and family activities, such as going to the park, bush walks or bike rides, are good ways to be active," she said.

"By trying a range of recreation activities, including traditional sports and other recreation activities, there is more chance of finding something your child enjoys.

"Skateboarding, dancing, bike riding and walking the dog are all popular informal activities for kids."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/lifestyle/a/-/lifestyle/9967723/teach-your-kids-some-healthy-habits/

BM on the Move tip of the Day

Share your dessert with someone else.

www.americaonthemove.org!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

El papel del agua en el cuerpo

LA FUNCION DEL AGUA EN EL CUERPO (*)

El agua ayuda a casi todas las funciones del cuerpo humano. Considerando que nuestros cuerpos son casi 2/3 agua, entender el rol importante del agua en el cuerpo puede ser una fuente de salud. A continuación mencionamos algunas de las cosas que el agua hace en nuestro cuerpo:

  • El cerebro es 75% agua / Una deshidratación moderada puede causar dolor de cabeza y mareo.
  • Se necesita agua para exhalar
  • El agua regula la temperatura del cuerpo
  • El agua transporta nutrientes y oxígeno a todas las células en el cuerpo
  • La sangre es 92% agua
  • El agua humedece el oxígeno para respirar
  • El agua protege y amortigua órganos vitales
  • El agua ayuda a convertir los alimentos en energía
  • El agua ayuda al cuerpo a absorber los nutrientes
  • El agua se deshace de los desperdicios
  • Los huesos son 22% agua
  • Los músculos son 75% agua
  • El agua amortigua las articulaciones

Lo que hace el agua (**)

Seguramente ha escuchado en muchas ocasiones que el agua es la mejor cosa para beber si quiere vivir saludable. Pero ¿Sabía por qué?

  • El agua compone la mayoría de las células de nuestro cuerpo.
  • El agua es la parte más grande de nuestros sistemas sanguíneo y linfático, transportando alimento y oxígeno a las células y desechando intrusos y desperdicios.
  • El agua limpia nuestros riñones de substancias tóxicas.
  • El agua balancea nuestros electrolitos, que nos ayudan a controlar la presión sanguínea.
  • El agua humedece nuestros ojos, boca y pasajes nasales.
  • El agua mantiene al cuerpo fresco cuando hace calor y aislado cuando hace frío.
  • El agua actúa como un amortiguador para los órganos del cuerpo.
  • El agua provee de los minerales que nuestro cuerpo necesita tales como manganeso, magnesio, cobalto y cobre.
Beber agua suficiente puede...

Mejorar su salud total y su bienestar.

Porque el agua es importante en muchas funciones del cuerpo, tener suficiente agua en nuestro organismo es un factor clave para tener salud y mantenerse saludable.
  • El agua ayuda a mantener el volumen de sangre, el cual ayuda a mantener su energía.
  • Una apropiada hidratación mejora su concentración y tiempo de reacción, especialmente durante los ejercicios.
  • El agua aumenta el número de calorías que quema durante las actividades diarias.
  • El agua diluye y dispersa las medicinas, permitiéndoles actuar más rápida y efectivamente.
  • El agua evita el malestar estomacal causado por medicinas concentradas.

Ayudar a protegerse contra una gran variedad de enfermedades.
Algunos estudios citados por la Asociación Dietética Americana muestran vínculos entre un alto consumo de agua y la reducción del riesgo de padecer:

  • resfriados
  • cálculos en los riñones
  • cáncer de mama
  • cáncer de colon
  • cáncer del tracto urinario

Mejorar su apariencia.
El agua llega por último a la piel; si su cuerpo no obtiene suficiente agua, su piel sentirá los efectos más que cualquier otro órgano. El agua hidrata la piel, dejándola:

  • más tersa
  • más pulida
  • más suave
  • más libre de arrugas

Ayudar a perder peso.
Muchos de nosotros confundimos la sed con las punzadas de hambre, así que tendemos a comer bocadillos cuando realmente nuestros cuerpos están ¡sedientos! Así que mejor beba agua – le ayudará a sentirse satisfecho, aminorando su deseo de comer. Algunos estudios muestran que tomar suficiente agua puede:

  • Darle más energía durante sus ejercicios.
  • Incrementar las calorías que quema durante sus ejercicios.
  • Ayuda a que su cuerpo reduzca los depósitos de grasa.
El papel del agua en el cuerpo

BM on the Move tip of the Day

Select soft taco size (6-8 inch) flour tortillas instead of the larger burrito size tortilla.

www.americaonthemove.org!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Cortisol and Stress: How to Stay Healthy

Cortisol and Stress: How to Stay Healthy

Cortisol and Your Body

By , About.com Guide

Updated February 05, 2008

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

Prolonged high levels of cortisol can lead to heart disease and other health problems. ©iStockphoto.com

Cortisol is an important hormone in the body, secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in the following functions and more:

  • Proper glucose metabolism
  • Regulation of blood pressure
  • Insulin release for blood sugar maintanence
  • Immune function
  • Inflammatory response

Normally, it’s present in the body at higher levels in the morning, and at its lowest at night. Although stress isn’t the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it has been termed “the stress hormone” because it’s also secreted in higher levels during the body’s ‘fight or flight’response to stress, and is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body. Small increases of cortisol have some positive effects:

  • A quick burst of energy for survival reasons
  • Heightened memory functions
  • A burst of increased immunity
  • Lower sensitivity to pain
  • Helps maintain homeostasis in the body

While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal following a stressful event. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress.

Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:

  • Impaired cognitive performance
  • Suppressed thyroid function
  • Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
  • Decreased bone density
  • Decrease in muscle tissue
  • Higher blood pressure
  • Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
  • Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!

To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. You can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and you can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place. The following have been found by many to be very helpful in relaxing the body and mind, aiding the body in maintaining healthy cortisol levels:

Cortisol secretion varies among individuals. People are biologically ‘wired’ to react differently to stress. One person may secrete higher levels of cortisol than another in the same situation. Studies have also shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol. If you’re more sensitive to stress, it’s especially important for you to learn stress management techniques and maintain a low-stress lifestyle.

http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

BM on the Move tip of the Day


Select nonfat or 1% milk instead of whole milk.

www.americaonthemove.org!

Monday, August 15, 2011

BM on the Move tip of the Day

This Monday go fish: And get your fill of low-cal, low-fat protein with key nutrients like Omega-3's. Grill a salmon steak or add a filet to a vegetable shish kabob.

www.americaonthemove.org!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Heart disease

Heart disease

There are many different problems of the heart and circulatory system. They are often interrelated, but each has its own name. Here’s a list of the key conditions and what they mean.

Angina. Pain felt in the chest due to insufficient blood supply to the heart, generally as the result of arteriosclerosis of the coronary arteries, usually experienced during exercise or stress.

Arrhythmia. A disruption of the regular rhythmic beating of the heart. Arrhythmia can occur in a healthy heart and be of minimal consequence. It also may indicate a serious problem and lead to heart disease, stroke or sudden cardiac death.

Atherosclerosis. A process in which the blood vessels narrow and harden through build-up of plaque in the walls of arteries. Plaque is made up of deposits of fats, cholesterol and other substances. Plaque formations can reduce or close off the blood’s flow through an artery. When a plaque formation becomes inflamed and unstable, it may rupture, setting loose a blood clot that can narrow the artery or completely block it. When that blockage occurs in a coronary artery (the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart itself), it can cause a heart attack. When it occurs in a carotid artery (the main arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain), it can cause a stroke. If the blockage remains in the peripheral arteries, it can cause pain, changes in skin color, sores or ulcers, or difficulty walking. Total loss of circulation to the legs and feet can cause gangrene and loss of a limb.

Cardiomyopathy. A disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn’t work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes, including viral infection. Primary cardiomyopathy cannot be attributed to a specific cause, such as high blood pressure, heart valve disease, artery diseases, or congenital heart defects. Secondary cardiomyopathy is due to specific causes. It is often associated with diseases involving other organs as well as the heart. There are three main types of cardiomyopathy: dilated; hypertrophic; and restrictive.

Congestive heart failure. Develops when the heart’s pumping ability diminishes due to blockages or restriction of blood flow. With heart failure, the weakened heart can’t supply the cells with enough blood. This results in fatigue and shortness of breath. Everyday activities such as walking, climbing stairs, or carrying groceries can become very difficult.

Coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD refers to atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, which supply the heart muscle with blood.

Carotid artery disease. Atherosclerosis in the arteries that supply blood to the brain.

Endocarditis. Infection of the heart’s inner lining (endocardium) and valves. Bacterial endocarditis occurs when bacteria in the bloodstream (bacteremia) lodge on abnormal heart valves or other damaged heart tissue. This can occur during dental and periodontal surgical procedures.

Heart attack (coronary thrombosis, myocardial infarction [MI]). When the heart muscle, or myocardium, stops functioning due to loss of blood flow, nutrients, or electric signal.

High blood pressure/hypertension. Your heart pumps blood in a loop through the body: out through the arteries, back through the veins. Blood pressure is the force in the arteries when the heart beats (systolic pressure) and when the heart is at rest (diastolic pressure) measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Blood pressure is driven in large part by the openness and elasticity of the blood vessels, which can be negatively affected by atherosclerosis, hormonal imbalance, and nerve signals from the brain. Besides being a measure of poor cardiovascular health, high blood pressure forces your heart and arteries to work harder, and your major organs are affected. You can live for a long time with no signs of high blood pressure, until the whole system begins to collapse under the workload. High blood pressure directly increases the risk of coronary heart disease (which leads to heart attack), stroke, heart failure and kidney failure, especially when combined with other risk factors. For a comprehensive discussion, see our article on hypertension in women. For guidelines on blood pressure levels and advice on self-testing, see our article on blood pressure readings. We also highly recommend the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypertension, by Mark Houston, MD.

Hypercholesterolemia/hyperlipidemia are the terms used to describe chronic high levels of cholesterol in the blood, largely exacerbated by diet. Small fat deposits beneath the skin can signal hypercholesterolemia. Familial hypercholesterolemia is a rare genetically inherited disorder that causes severe high cholesterol beginning at birth and is unrelated to diet.

Mitral valve prolapse. The mitral valvel lies between the heart’s left atrium (upper, holding chamber) and left ventricle (lower, pumping chamber). The mitral valve has two flaps, or cusps. Mitral valve prolapse is when one or both valve flaps are enlarged, and some of their supporting "strings" may be too long. As a result, when the heart beats the mitral valve flaps don’t close smoothly or evenly. Instead, part of one or both flaps collapses. This sometimes lets a small amount of blood leak backward through the valve and may cause a heart murmur. Mitral valve prolapse is also known as click-murmur syndrome, Barlow’s syndrome, balloon mitral valve, and floppy valve syndrome.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD). Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs when arteries outside the heart and brain become blocked. The most common cause of PAD is atherosclerosis, a hardening and narrowing of the arteries due to fatty buildups. PAD is most common in the arteries in the pelvis and legs.

Stroke. Affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. Strokes occur when blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to the brain are either blocked by a clot (thrombosis or embolism) or burst. When that happens, part of the brain can’t get the blood (and oxygen) it needs, so it starts to die. Most strokes are caused by thrombosis or embolism; these are called ischemic strokes. Ruptured blood vessels cause hemorrhagic or bleeding strokes.

Our Personal Program is a great place to start

The Personal Program promotes natural hormonal balance with nutritional supplements, our exclusive endocrine support formula, dietary and lifestyle guidance, and optional phone consultations with our Nurse–Educators. It is a convenient, at-home version of what we recommend to all our patients at the clinic.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to call us toll-free at 1-800-214-3484. We're here to listen and help.

http://www.womentowomen.com/heartdiseaseandstroke/cardiovasculardiseases.aspx

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Health and Wellness Quotes

"The work of the doctor will, in the future, be ever more that of an educator, and ever less that of a man who treats ailments." Lord Horder

BM on the Move tip of the Day

Choose corn tortillas over flour to save on calories.

www.americaonthemove.org!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Thursday, August 4, 2011

BM on the Move tip of the Day

Savor your favorite food sparingly-there's no need to deny yourself when you monitor serving size.

www.americaonthemove.org!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

BM on the Move tip of the Day

Save money on single serving packs by making your own. Divide larger packages into single servings at home.

www.americaonthemove.org!

America On the Move

Becoming More Physically Active
July 2011

Bring on the Heat with Summertime Exercise

Imagine what it feels like to step outside on a hot and humid day, with the air heavy and sticky on your skin. Now imagine lacing up your tennis shoes and going for a run on that hot and humid day. What does it feel like? And how does the warm outdoor temperature affect your body and overall physical performance? The temperature of your exercise environment can elevate your heart rate and make it more difficult to breathe—possibly having a negative impact on your exercise ability. Humans are “homeotherms,” meaning that our body temperature is regulated to remain close to a set point of 98.6°F or 37°C. Our bodies constantly try to maintain control over our core temperature, keeping it close to its set point in order to avoid potentially life threatening situations like heat stroke, exhaustion, fatigue, or dehydration. When exercising in a warmer climate, your body naturally produces heat and takes heat from the external environment and transfers it to your body1. To safely exercise in the heat, it is important to adapt your body and maintain hydration.

To adapt your body, expose yourself to hot and humid environments regularly to allow your body’s sweat response to catch up with the rest of your body’s systems. To avoid over-exerting yourself when exercising in the heat, gradually increase activity intensity and duration.

When you are at rest, or not exercising, your body normally balances hydration by initiating a thirst response that informs your brain and body to drink fluids. During exercise however, this thirst response may not be sufficient. A fluid loss of 1-2% of body weight is necessary before your body will initiate a thirst response, therefore making it necessary to understand and respond to your fluid needs2,3.

Begin a workout fully hydrated. In fact, before exercise, hydrate slightly more than normal to optimize your body’s ability to control its temperature and maintain cardiac output, or the rate of blood pumping from the heart. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, you should drink 500 milliliters of fluid two hours before exercise to ensure adequate hydration and to void any excess fluid3.

The body has a natural mechanism in place for cooling itself—sweating. Though it is useful for cooling the body, sweating also causes a loss of fluids and sodium that are necessary to maintain hydration. For physical activity that lasts more than one hour, you should consume fluids during the workout3. The salt that is lost through sweat should be replaced with a sodium-containing beverage to adequately rehydrate. Ideally, the rehydration beverage will also contain carbohydrate, such as low fat chocolate milk or a sports drink, because the combination will increase fluid retention while replacing muscle glycogen stores that have been depleted as a result of exercise.

A good indicator of hydration status is urine color. Light yellow-colored urine (similar to lemonade) is more indicative of adequate hydration, whereas darker yellow urine (similar to apple juice) generally indicates the need to drink more fluids.

A final piece of advice about exercising in warm temperatures is to try and do so in shaded areas as much as possible while wearing loose-fitting, moisture-wicking, light-colored clothes to reflect sunlight. So lace up your tennis shoes, fill up your water bottle, and enjoy the rest of summer!

1 The American Physiological Society 2008
2 Journal of Applied Physiology 2006
3 American College of Sports Medicine 2007

America On the Move

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Why must we Suffer?

‘‘Why must we suffer?’ - a psychiatrist reflects’
Dr. Andrew Powell
Introduction
Philosophers and theologians have argued about the nature of
suffering since we humans developed the capacity for self-reflection, and I
dare say the collective intellect of humankind is as much exercised, and as
likely perplexed, today as it was in the time of Shankara, or Lao Tse, or the
Buddha, or Plato, or Jesus Christ or the Prophet Muhammad; for suffering is a
condition of life.
Being a doctor has brought me into contact with a great deal of
suffering, both physical and emotional. Now, reflecting on my time in general
medicine and psychiatry, and my own life this far, I would like to offer some
thoughts about the problem of suffering, what it does to our minds for good or
ill, and how we may try to work with suffering to relieve despair and bring
hope.
What is suffering?
First I had better define what I mean by the word. I am drawing a
distinction between pain and suffering in that pain is a sensation, while
suffering means to be aware of what pain signifies. It is a function of mind.
Suffering arises when we learn the meaning of loss – for instance,
never to walk again, or to live with the prospect of chronic pain, or to have to
face the ending of life, your own or that of others. Less visibly, there is the
suffering of loneliness, or alienation, or despair, and of oppression, in which
the projected future holds nothing but the desolation of the present.
The list is a long one and accompanies consciousness like a dog its
master. At the heart of this is the knowledge that once we have grasped that
birth brings with it the inevitability of death, the desire to be well carries with it,
consciously or not, the fear of falling ill, and the realisation that happiness, like
health, and everything else, is at best ephemeral.
This poignant truth is recounted in the myth of Adam and Eve and their
fall from the Garden of Eden on account of eating the fruit of the tree of
knowledge. Their trauma, (the word derives from the Greek for ‘wound’) was
to live ever after with a yearning for the paradise they could never regain. But
expulsion into the world of birth, ageing, sickness and death also meant
growing from Homo innocens to Homo sapiens.
The theme of loss informs all great art and literature. These days it also
plays an important part in our understanding of mental health and so I want to
start by looking at how the pain of loss shapes the future of every human
child.
1The ordeal of birth
Let us start at the beginning. Before birth, we now know the baby is
actively responding to the environment of the womb. There is plenty going on;
the baby is testing out the limits of its world, kicking, sucking its thumb,
listening and busy getting on with growing. Amniotic fluid cushions the baby
from impact, life is one long feed and there is warmth and the comfort of the
mother’s heartbeat.
There are occasional disturbances to the well-being of the foetus - the
highly anxious mother whose adrenaline is flooding the baby’s circulation, or
conflict in the outer world, when the baby hears raised voices and angry
exchanges, or if the mother has a fall. Despite this, most babies reach full
term in a reasonably tranquil state.
Then comes the trauma of birth, which leaves indelible traces in the
psyche of the infant. The comfort of the womb is exchanged for almost heartstopping compression as the birth process gets under way.
Paediatricians refer to foetal distress when the oxygen supply to the
baby is seriously compromised, but every baby passes through a rite of
passage in which the forces of life and death are pitted one against the other.
The terror of suffocation is only assuaged when the newly born is held in the
arms of the mother, feeling the softness of her skin, taking in her smell and
tasting the sweetness of her milk.
The psychology of early years
Imagine how a child first comes to understand the world. To begin with
the baby is at the mercy of unpredictable sensations, like being full of milk or
at other times hungry. But what begins as a jumble of sensations soon
acquires a rhythm and meaning. Hunger is relieved by crying for the mother,
so that before long the feeling states of hunger and satiation get paired. Later,
the infant matures enough to know that an absent mother has not
disappeared for ever but can be called to the cot by its crying. When it has
discovered that its needs can be periodically satisfied, it learns to let go of its
mother from time to time and be comfortable with its own inner state. The
infant is learning a lesson for life - that human relating is found in perpetual
oscillation between the states of merging and of being alone.
As the infant develops, other pairs of constructs begin to structure the
sensorial world: big and small, soft and hard, light and shade. This act of
discrimination gives to each its special, contrasting attribute. At the same time
that this perceptual complexity is growing, a parallel inner conceptual world is
evolving. The child learns to distinguish between me and not me, mine and
not mine, bad and good, and later, right and wrong, all cognitive steps that are
mirrored by an increasing complexity of feeling states.
First encounters with loss
Nature has infinite wisdom in how things should be arranged, provided
that we don’t mess it up with dogmatic and largely fashionable opinions as to
what is ‘good for the child’. In the 1940s, a fanatical paediatrician called Truby
King urged mothers never to go to their babies except for the four-hourly feed,
to teach them ‘independence’ and thereby causing untold suffering to
thousands of babies, some of whom carry the imprint of that deprivation to
this day.
2All severe privations of childhood leave their mark and an infant can
only respond to overwhelming loss in one of three ways - to take refuge in
withdrawal, to become clinging, or to learn to survive without any attachments,
a development which leads to psychopathic disorder in later life.
In contrast, the child with a healthy and confident attachment to its
mother can risk losing her for a time, not least out of sheer curiosity to explore
the world, which may be a matter of just going into the next-door room. When
something frightening happens, real or imagined, the child runs back to the
safety of its mother. Similarly, the loss of the comfort of breast milk is more
than compensated for by the excitement of tasting different foods. Childhood
at its best is a great adventure, in which the child plays the hero protagonist of
the drama. Key dramatis personae come and go, while the child holds centrestage. This confidence and security is the greatest gift that parents can give a
child.
Then comes the challenge of the wider social world. Every young
person will feel frightened at times - the fight/ flight response is built into all of
us, and where there is a serious risk to our safety, emotional as much as
physical, the barriers go up to keep out the perceived threat. We all have egodefences in place; but this is only to be expected, unlike the extreme
hypersensitivity that results from emotional insecurity.
The first day at school is etched into most people’s memories. The
child is no longer at the epicentre of the social world. But this big loss can be
managed if kindly teachers step in to help, there are friends to be made and
the lessons are fun. Then the child goes home with pride in a new
accomplishment. But it is not always such a happy occasion and school
phobia is a major problem for child psychiatry services.
So far, I have focussed on how losing what we count as safe and
familiar is built into the blueprint of life and how, in the right measure, it can be
the spur to growth. It holds true whether for that first day at school, or the
young adult brave enough to fall in love and run the risk of being jilted, or
when facing a life-threatening illness, or for the person whose career falls
apart but who manages to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The neurophysiology of emotion
The mind is not reducible to the brain, but it certainly can’t do without it.
Take the fight-flight response mentioned earlier. When a threat is perceived,
the brain tells the adrenal glands to release adrenaline in preparation for fight
or flight; this is accompanied by the emotions of anxiety and fear. (In fact, an
injection of adrenaline will have the same result.) Importantly, the fear may
equally be triggered by what is imagined, so that an insecure child, for
example, cannot tolerate the absence of its mother without becoming anxious
because of its fantasy of abandonment. On the other hand, circulating
endorphins, which are opioid peptides produced by the pituitary gland and
hypothalamus in the brain, induce an immediate feeling of well-being. Nature
makes us this gift in the first few hours of life, for endorphins reach peak
levels in the mother’s bloodstream during labour and are imbibed by the baby
in its first feed, enormously facilitating the bonding between them.
However, the nerve centre of emotions, so to speak, lies in a
specialised neural structure in the white matter of the brain called the limbic
system. This ‘limbic brain’ mediates the basic emotions common to all the
3mammals. For example, removal of its amygdala nucleus leads to passivity
while over-activity (as may occur in epilepsy) can cause aggression.
The brain has further evolved during the more recent evolutionary
history of the primates and the limbic system is now buried deep beneath the
neocortex, or grey matter. In the case of the human being, the neocortex has
massively expanded to form the frontal lobes, the seat of reason and
empathy.
The problem for humankind lies in the way the limbic system and the
neocortex don’t pay much attention to each other, and not infrequently are at
odds. This evolutionary birthright is a blessing or a curse, depending on what
we do with it. In the case of the well-functioning human ego, reason and
emotion are able to work together, and they serve us faithfully, enabling us to
love, to bond and, through facing the many challenges of emotional conflict, to
grow in maturity. But when the same biological legacy results in our being
ruled by our emotions, they become ruthless tyrants, dedicated to destroying
anyone or anything felt to be a threat to self-survival. Before the advent of
modern technology, this served to protect tribal and national identities but
coupled with science, the result has been disastrous. Over 100 million people
were murdered in the 20
th
century, more than in the whole previous history of
humankind.
Life without soul
Not for nothing has ‘mind, body and spirit’ become the mantra of
holistic healthcare and I now want to put the spotlight on soul. If my thesis is
correct, much of the suffering we see today is on account of denial of the soul
in a post-modern secular world, in which case treating disturbances of mind
and body without reference to soul is deeply misguided.
The use of the word soul to mean the spiritual essence in every human
being does not have to imply the survival of consciousness after bodily death,
as atheists and humanists will avow. Just as water finds its own level, people
will incline to their own deepest level of meaning, and if their existential
concerns can be comprehended within the compass and purpose of a single
lifespan, well and good. Yet many of us have a steadfast belief in the
indestructible essence we call soul that transcends the temporal bounds of
birth and death.
Unfortunately, in the Western world, there has been an intellectual
schism between materialist science and metaphysics, which has grown
steadily over three hundred years. The dominant worldview of the last century
has been that of a mechanical universe. Karl Marx called religion ‘the opium
of the masses’ and Sigmund Freud described it variously as ‘a universal
obsessional ritual, a reaction to infantile helplessness and a mass delusion.’
Despite such pronouncements, surveys have shown that well over two thirds
of the population continue to believe in God or a ‘higher being’. However, for
people who do not belong to a faith tradition, the significance of an afterlife is
dumbed down by a society that no longer cherishes any such belief and often
it is only when faced by a crisis such as life-threatening illness that these
concerns come to the fore.
4The existential void
Many people, aside from the distraction of consumerism, are left
deeply puzzled about what life is for. For those that have children, there is the
hope that the love shown them will bear fruit in the course of their lives. No
less important is the value of friendship and community, while for others there
is the wish that one’s work will contribute in some small way to the progress of
life on this planet.
However, when mental distress reaches a certain pitch, none of these
expectations can entirely sustain a person. Worse still, the crisis may follow
on the failure to make a success of one’s work or when a family is breakingup. What then is left that is worth living for?
The life instinct is a powerful inborn force and the foundation of the
human ego. Small surprise that many psychiatrists treat suicidal thinking as
the cardinal sign of depression. But is it necessarily so? It is always tempting
to pathologise the existential anguish that leads a person to ask ‘is there no
purpose to my life anymore? Am I a failure? Should I give up? What’s the
point in going on when I cannot feel love, only despair?’
In the face of such misery, mental health professionals are liable to
distance themselves from the anguish that is being expressed. This may be
understandable, but it won’t be much help to someone needing to explore his
or her spiritual resources when facing an existential crisis.
What are called for are openness, empathy and genuine interest on the
part of the psychiatrist, coupled with a wide spiritual frame of reference.
Unfortunately, unlike the general public, less than one third of psychiatrists
hold a spiritual or religious outlook. The great majority subscribe to a
physicalist worldview and this makes it all the harder to venture into the inner
world of their patients and be open to solutions that acclaim a person’s innate
spirituality.
There is a great irony here. Psychiatrists who cannot draw on their own
spiritual resources will experience far greater pressure coming from their
patients because they feel all the more obliged to provide answers. For
someone in deep distress, the psychiatrist, short of God, is where the buck
stops. However, it is unwise to be drawn into playing God. It is much better to
go with that question to the place where a person can find the answer, by
asking it of their soul. The psychiatrist will greatly help by keeping faith with
the ultimate goodness of the universe at a time when it may be utterly lost to
the patient.
Intimations of hell or heaven
I indicated earlier how no sooner is the developing ego is celebrating
its mastery over life than it is faced with intimations of its own decline. Pain,
unforeseen injury, the realisation that relationships cannot be forced,
disappointments in love, the loss of loved ones, and the certain knowledge of
ones own ageing and eventual death, compel us to relinquish the cherished
dreams of yesterday in favour of the stark truth that we do not, and cannot
have, control over much of what happens to us. It would seem that from a
perfect beginning, we are destined for a miserable end.
Everyone wants to be happy, but happiness is not a right, neither is it
something that can be bought or borrowed. If our ego defences could give
way gracefully to the inevitability of personal loss, we could be consoled in the
5knowledge of the greater gain – to have contributed to life, the welfare of
others and even to have advanced the soul a little. But though the neocortex
provides us with the intellect needed to address the task, the limbic system
will have none of it. Reason and emotion are at odds, and the greater the
degree of neurosis, the more they battle it out; where love is lacking and the
emotions are unchecked, human beings survive by finding their place in the
pecking order, a hierarchy governed by domination and submission. The
basic need is for safety - from hunger, attack and isolation - and the
behaviours that will secure this are driven by primitive emotions; envy,
jealousy, dependency, hostility, along with all the negative attributes of the
ego - contempt, arrogance, ruthlessness, and manipulation.
How different in a loving home! There, the self, feeling itself well loved,
has love to give, and to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (Leviticus 19: 17-18,
Matthew 22:39) is a natural response, for giving to another means also to give
to oneself. This happiness that comes of giving help whether to individuals,
communities or causes, entails a paradox as found in the Gospels. ‘For he
that has, to him shall be given; and he that has not, from him shall be taken,
even that which he has.’ (Mark 4:25)
Such a statement is counter-intuitive. Surely those with the greatest
need are the most deserving? But when we look at the misery wrought by
neurosis, we find that the failure of relationships usually stems from the desire
to obtain from the other what feels to be lacking in the self. Once the
honeymoon is over the battle begins, for no one wants their energy and their
love extracted to fill the void in the other.
From the psychiatric point of view, here lies the rub. It is hard for
people who have been seriously abused, deprived or otherwise traumatised to
feel much love for themselves, and neither can they easily love anyone else.
What gets called love is in fact need, which is not about giving but taking.
The egotistical behaviour that results comes from a lack of healthy ego
development. Insecurity and poor self-esteem, not infrequently coupled with
compensatory self-inflation (narcissism) actually point to this underlying
deficit. When there is no trust in the goodness of self or other, life becomes an
obstacle course to get through by resorting to manipulation.
The future in our hands
There has been much confusion about the meaning and purpose of the
ego, for just as a knife can cut bread or kill, so the ego can be an instrument
of destruction or creation.
The passions of the ego show us what it means both to love and hate.
Where love and security are lacking, aggression is the instinctive response to
a perceived threat to the self and its possessions - just try taking a bone from
a wild dog. Yet a dog that loves its master will yield the bone, for it trusts that
loss is followed by gain – maybe getting stroked, or taken for a walk, which in
turn strengthens the bond of affection. People are not dogs but there are
some similarities! People who can love and trust others are willing to risk
being vulnerable, and to show openness and a generosity of spirit. Such
persons are far more likely to share in mutually rewarding and stable
relationships.
I don’t want to suggest that the human being is simply controlled by
punishment and reward but I am describing the difference between a fixed
6defensive pattern of behaviour and being open to new experiences. The
implications of a difference such as this will probably determine the future of
the human species. We have an evolutionary history of tribalism rooted in
fight/flight mentality based on the ego under threat, just as we see to this day
in the behaviour of insecure children. In contrast, secure, happy children show
something very different – the capacity to grow into adults who value not
competition but co-operation.
Co-operation is a sure sign of spirituality in action. There is an old story
that compares Heaven and Hell. In Hell, lost souls are seated around a large
dish of appetising food. They are obliged to use spoons with handles longer
than their arms but since no one can get their spoon to their mouth, they are
all starving. In Heaven, they must use the same spoons, but instead everyone
sets about feeding each other.
Spirituality East and West
There is a commonly held assumption that spirituality necessitates a
suppression of the ego. It is my impression that this never really works, since
the ego constantly fights back. The skill is to find a way to liberate the self
from the negative and limiting aspects of the ego.
Different religions go about this in different ways. For example, in
Buddhism, desire and attachment are regarded as the cause of suffering. The
Third Noble Truth teaches that ending desire, which leads naturally to letting
go of attachment, brings suffering to an end. But in the Judeo-Christian
tradition, the accent is on suffering and redemption. Suffering is seen to be a
necessary spiritual challenge and a profound test of faith, as recounted in the
story of Job. The most extreme challenge, the ‘dark night of the soul’, is that
of feeling abandoned by God. Jesus himself cried out on the cross, ‘Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani’, or ‘Lord, Lord, Why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew
27:46).
Although I was brought up in the Anglican Church, I have been
influenced by the spiritual traditions of both East and West. Personally, I like
to picture the influence of soul on the ego rather like a good parent dealing
with a wayward child. As the ego becomes infused with soul virtues, its
agitation subsides, it becomes more peaceful and its energy can be put to
good purpose. But such a child needs understanding, loving and forgiving, so
that reconciliation can take place, and a new start made.
It is no accident that the systematic study of mental disorder has
flourished in the West, where we have a history of fascination with the
contents of the individual psyche that began with the Renaissance. In the East
there is a more pragmatic tradition, of freeing oneself from burdensome
mental contents by purifying the heart through meditation. Consequently there
are cultural differences towards the negative aspect of the self.
The Buddhist and Hindu approach is to concentrate on right conduct
and the development of wisdom that will influence successive incarnations
according to the law of Karma. Daoists hold that all life depends on the
harmonious flow of qi. There is no such thing in itself as badness, only the
manifestation of the imbalance of yin and yang, and goodness is held to arise
naturally when the rhythms of the cosmos are understood and honoured. But
in the West, we mostly turn away from nature and struggle with our ‘demons’.
Excepting spirit release (which has not found acceptance in mainstream
7psychology), western secular spirituality seeks to find healing in bringing the
‘Shadow’ to consciousness and divesting it of its power by integrating it with
the psyche, where Christianity underlines the need for repentance, as in the
parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11-32). In stressing the importance of
repentance, Christianity and Islam are united. The Koran states that
repentance is the most noble and beloved form of obedience in the eyes of
Allah.
Suffering, individual and collective
In the title of my talk, I ask why it is we have to suffer. This is a very
western kind of question since it implies that there is an answer, rather than
suffering simply being a fact of life. Yet it is a worthwhile line of enquiry since,
from the transpersonal perspective, the soul always incarnates with an
agenda perfectly attuned to its chosen circumstances. A soul that incarnates
as a Buddhist has one agenda and the soul that incarnates as a Christian has
another. In the case of Christianity, the hope is that pain leads to gain, since it
is held that God never sets us a challenge it is not in us to overcome.
People with mental health problems are certainly among those who
have taken on lives of great suffering. Nevertheless, it is my belief that each
soul is provided with the exact requirements for the journey ahead, the
lessons to be learned, the knowledge to be gained and the opportunities that
will be needed. And yet, all this is subject to our free will, so we are
instruments of our own spiritual destiny.
It may seem callous to suggest that a person’s suffering might be in the
service of helping another awaken to the qualities of caring and concern and,
who knows, if these are two souls working out their karma from a previous life,
to make reparation. But to take the greatest exemplar in human history, by
willingly submitting to torture and execution, Jesus offered to awaken the
conscience of the world. This highlights the ambiguous status of psychiatry,
for had Pontius Pilate been in the position to order a psychiatric examination,
imagine what may have happened – no crucifixion but instead detention under
the Mental Health Act! And before we dismiss Judas Iscariot as a thoroughly
bad character, we must remember that without him, the law of the prophets
could not have been fulfilled. Is it right to condemn him? Possibly he was
entrusted with the most difficult task of all the disciples.
Indeed, from the transpersonal perspective there is no such thing as a
bad experience. The soul regards a single lifetime as we might look on one
day in the year, and each life is but a very small corner of the field of action.
Ultimately there is only the gathering in of experience, the expansion of
consciousness and, always, the opportunity for transformation.
Though karma may be rooted in the behaviour of individual souls,
collective karma is no less important. Genocide can never be condoned or
excused, but it happens, like everything else, for a purpose. The Jewish
Holocaust raised the conscience of the world by several degrees. Yet,
tragically, there has been constant genocide since that time, for example, in
Biafra, Uganda, Cambodia, Rwanda, the Balkans and Iraq. How bad does it
have to get before we learn to break the cycle of persecution? The cycle can
only be broken one way, with forgiveness. This is something not in the power
of the human ego, for forgiveness comes from a higher place.
8Why should we forgive?
People who have suffered profoundly, be it from child abuse, or rape
and torture, or severe mental illness, or spirit possession, or from genocide or
the impact of natural and man-made disasters, are faced with the need to find
forgiveness, whether of God for his allowing it, or the Devil for doing it, or
humankind for carrying it out, and this is just about the hardest thing in the
world to do. Yet without forgiveness, anger will have a deeply corrosive effect
on a person’s life. Far from letting go, that person remains trapped in hurt and
anger, and this can last a lifetime and more.
This is the pivotal point of development that confronts every individual
and equally the whole world community. How can we use the many and deep
wounds of life to help raise the consciousness of this planet to a higher level?
The workings of the limbic brain make sure we live in a state of high
emotional reactivity. Our personalities clash and compete, we jealously pair,
bond, and raise children, and each make our temporary impression on the
world. This is all to the good, otherwise we would have nothing to learn in the
classroom called life. Yet the need of the ego is always self-protective and as
long as the self is felt to be separate from, and different to, all other selves,
the fight is on.
Mainstream psychotherapy is primarily concerned with helping people
make their best adjustment to this state of affairs. In contrast, psycho-spiritual
therapy invites the soul to speak, and it tells a very different story. Since the
soul transcends the body, it does not know death, and can therefore view all
the comings and going of life with compassion and serenity. It is in the original
nature of soul to want nothing more than for the incarnated self to outgrow the
narrow concerns of the ego and become conscious of the beauty and unity of
life. From this quiet place within, we can observe ourselves being tossed
around by the drama of life with a kindly and loving eye, much as we would
watch the antics of a child. The intended lessons are plain to see, in the here
and now, and we don’t have to wait for Kingdom Come.
As a psychiatrist, I am not claiming any special knowledge of the ways
of soul. All rivers lead to the sea and I am simply speaking about the one I
know best. It is a river of tears, tears shed in anger, tears shed in sorrow and
tears shed in despair. It is, in places, a raging torrent and a river to drown in,
unless a person is prepared to swim hard! But when someone has come
through the ordeal, there is pride in having made the effort, in facing one’s
worst fears and in discovering new strength.
To stay well means to find wholeness, in other words healing, or else
one falls into the same river all over again. The ego is indifferent to healing,
since it is more occupied with things of the world like ambition and success.
But healing is the soul’s greatest desire. In a world driven by the human ego,
every human being inflicts and receives pain. Yet throughout the whole
turbulent business of growing up, the soul is flexing its muscle, in small ways
at first, showing kindness, the expression of sympathy, concern for others and
charitable acts. All this is premonitory to an occasion that, sooner or later, will
challenge every person to his or her core, and which calls on the soul to give
of its very best.
This occasion is invariably one that deeply tests a person’s capacity to
forgive. It means finding love for those that have badly hurt you. A recent book
9by Immaculee Ilibagiza,
whose family were slaughtered in the Rwandan
Holocaust, is an inspiring such account. In the midst of her terrible grief, she
came to recognise through prayer that even the killer of her family was God’s
child as much as she, and face to face she was able to forgive him.
Forgiveness is the supreme test of love. Jesus spelled it out like this:
‘Love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those that hate
you, and pray for those who treat you badly and persecute you, so that you
may be the children of your Father which is in heaven’ (Matthew 5:20). Just as
the symbol of transformation, the lotus, cannot flower without its roots in the
mud, the burgeoning soul finds an opportunity for forgiveness in every hurt
given and received.
Desirable though it may be, a person cannot always forgive, and it is
not for anyone to try to insist. What I have generally found, though, is that
people would wish, if only it were possible, one day to be able to forgive. This
is because despite the outraged ego, the soul impulse cannot be killed off.
Once we make contact with the desire to forgive, however improbable it may
seem, we are starting out on a journey of love in which we too can be
forgiven, find redemption and, at last, return to where we began - the Garden
of Eden, no longer the garden of innocence but of wisdom.
Ilibagiza, I (2006) Left to Tell Hay House Inc: Carlsbad CA
Dr. Andrew Powell’s publications on Spirituality and Mental Health can be
downloaded from the publication archive of the Website of the Spirituality and
Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists UK,
see: www.rcpsych.ac.uk/spirit
© Andrew Powell 2006
10