Modern afflictions & possibilities

I read recently that 80% of "diseases" presented to doctors are "psychosomatic." That means that they are generated in the mind. Does that mean we are a nation of hypochondriacs? Emphatically, no! (By the way, I've also heard that 13% are "yiatrogenic" which means the doctor caused them and another percent are "nosocomic" which means that you got them while you were in the hospital.) These aren't random statistics that I picked up on some wacky Internet site -- they are statistics I was presented with in textbooks when I was teaching Health classes at Tucson College.

So then what percentage does that leave that are actually caused by something you are attacked by bacterially? Very, very little. Let me tell you that our billions upon billions of health care dollars spent every year (aside from cosmetic treatments) are because of a basic misunderstanding of what causes disease. We don't need a healthcare plan, we need real education that addresses some very fundamental things. I want to see a day come very soon where the only surgeons and hospitals out there are for those who want cosmetic enhancements (or to fix broken bones) -- extreme, heroic measures, not everyday diseases. (Argue that one with me all you want -- I'll give you an explanation for anything you want to shoot my way.)

So, what on earth does this have to do with Exorcism? Okay, I learned one thing myself on the MindCast Friday night. When Goat was talking about exorcism having been performed on Mother Teresa because she was being so demonically troubled in her dreams -- I learned then that Catholics do recognize demonic harrassment although they may not call it that. Obviously, Mother Teresa was not "possessed" in the manner by which I define possession -- in other words she had not invited an entity within. However, she was obviously being harrassed by a demonic presence in her dreams, something perhaps from her daily interactions with others. The "cure" was still apparently labeled as exorcism; I begin to understand,then, that their view of exorcism is the same as the Protestant "deliverance" or Shamanic "extraction." The idea that a troubling spirit entity is present and needs to be shown the way out whether "exorcised," "delivered" or "extracted." All one and the same.

My assertion at the beginning of this blog is that the majority of disease out there is brought on by the mind -- whether from inside or outside. The connotation of "hypochondriac" that seems to plague our society is that they make up diseases to get attention. That's not really accurate. Hypochondria is when a person focuses all their negative mental energies on their physical state, so, for instance, every new disease that they read about, they are sure is afflicting them. That's not what I'm talking about when I mention psychosomatic disease.

The fact is that psychological and emotional issues can go so deep that they begin to manifest themselves physically in ones body. Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it is actually healthier if someone thinks they are being afflicted by demons and that the name of Jesus can cure it. Lots simpler and cheaper than going to the doctor and having thousands of dollars worth of tests run only to have the doctor say, "I don't know what it is, but I'm going to prescribe hundreds of dollars of meds that will treat your symptoms." Because doctors are focused on treatments of symptoms rather than prevention or getting at causes. But then we also know people who are spending thousands of dollars on psychotherapy and getting worse and worse as well. It's like the blind leading the blind.

So now, I'm in the middle of two subjects -- modern medicine and exorcism. Let me finish my soap box on modern medicine, then I'll segue into what all that has to do with exorcism. 

The fact is our Newtonian scientific mindset has gone awry in our societal understanding of disease. Yes, people are living longer now that we've discovered that bacteria causes disease and we've "cleaned up our act" so to speak. Unfortunately, our scientific mindset makes us think that there is some bacterial or chemical cause to every disease and that modern medicine should be able to cure it. But when 80% of disease is affected in the mind -- we need to be looking at something else.

The fact is that there are hundreds of ways of effecting healing. And modern medicine is only one of them. But insurance only pays for that one. Ah! I mustn't get started on that issue, too. Too many threads, but stay tuned, we'll get to that one eventually, too.

There are many holistic arts out there, many New Age and Holistic arts practitioners whose cures are more effective. First, there are alternative doctors such as naturopaths, homeopaths, there are osteopaths and chiropractors who use those healing methods as well. There is Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Next there are Energy Healing arts which get categorized as "New Age," while some are ancient healing methods and some are new methodologies using ancient mindsets. But the medical community and the Church both try to debunk these things as quackery -- the medical community for obvious reasons -- it would threaten their financial security if people learned how to heal themselves. The Church because they (and I'm obviously painting a broad stroke here when I say "The Church" because not all try to debunk it, but many Christian sects do) equate it with "witch doctors" and "witch medicine."

Let me give you some concrete examples: would you rather pay $100 to have the doctor irrigate your ears, or $33 to have your ears candeled? And another $33 can give you an Indian Head Massage which will relieve headaches, tension, sinus problems. So for $66 you've done something that will open up several different blockages and raise your immune level, or for $100 you've gotten rid of your ear wax.

My favorite example is from when I broke my elbow several years ago. I went to the doctor. They x-rayed my elbow, put me in a sling and sent me home telling me I had just sprained my elbow. They called me back three days later to tell me that a radiologist had looked at my x-ray, and that it was, indeed, broken -- would I come back so they could put me in a cast? Then whenever I saw my doctor for follow-ups, he was so busy -- in 2 months, I saw him twice, for about 2 minutes each time. Thus, when my cast came off, lo and behold, my elbow was frozen. I couldn't straighten my arm. "But physical therapy will rectify this, right?" "No," he said, "you'll likely have to have surgery to fix it." He shrugged. I politely excused myself from his presence and shouted something unprintable in my mind all the way back to my car.

I called my acupuncturist. She fixed it, set it to rights completely, in just three sessions. I have full range of motion in my elbow and zero pain. And NO surgery.

Are you getting my drift here? Okay, granted, we're not talking about spiritual/psychoemotional afflictions. But since I don't want you to say TL;DR (too long; didn't read), I'm going to end this here, and we'll take those up in the next entry. But again, Shakespeare said it best -- "There are more things in this life than are dreamt of in your philosophy."