THE MEANING OF EMOTION
by Dr. Heather Herington, ND, DHANP
You walk past a woman, hair askew, muttering to herself. A man looks at the woman fearfully, steps out of her way. The woman’s muttering becomes louder. You too look away.
You’d think by the way we act that mental illness is contagious. It scares us, causes us shame and embarrassment, and makes us ridicule, reject and finally isolate a person as if he/she has an infectious disease. Perhaps we do this because deep down we know that not one of us is immune.
What is mental illness? What is the cause? Is mental illness caused by genetics, poor coping skills, poor social skills? A reaction to a dysfunctional family? Is there anything positive about the experience? Is there a chance of growth and discovery? Is our anxiety, depression or even paranoia simply trying to give us a deeper message?
Nutritional medicine, in both allopathic and naturopathic circles, points to biochemical imbalances in the brain, nutrient deficiencies or toxicity as the cause of much mental distress. This is true, but it isn’t the whole picture. Sometimes, no matter what a person eats or takes in as nutritional supplementation, he or she still struggles with profound psychological issues.
“Spiritual emergency” is a term used by psychiatrist Stanislav Grof and “psychospiritual overwhelm” is a term coined by psychiatrist Peter Breggin to describe the state of mental illness. Both phrases take the mystery out of the diagnosis–whatever it is–by describing a process. It connotes an experience, not a stigmatized label that can last a lifetime.
A Personal Experience
Think about how you feel when you think of the mentally ill, of people diagnosed with a psychosis. Do you feel empathy, anxiety, judgment? Have you ever thought about how you would like to be treated if it happened to you?
Being overwhelmed or encumbered by life’s events is something we can all relate to. We feel anxious, sad, frightened, depressed or frustrated at certain times. Our centre drops like a yo-yo that has lost its swing. When nothing can be found to offer relief, we spiral down and down until drugs are offered. Maybe hospitalization. Talk therapy if we are lucky. When all else fails, electro-convulsive shock therapy is suggested.
Liz Thor-Larsen, editor of The Bulletin, the newsletter of the Vancouver Richmond Mental Health Network suggests, “Psychosis is a temporary response, not a life-long condition, similar to a runny nose when we have a cold.” If this is true, what can we do to empower those undergoing mental distress?
Unravel the Cause
Just as we learn to read the signs of an impending cold, we can learn to interpret the deeper cause and meaning of psychological overwhelm. By taking time to explore our feelings instead of reacting to them, we can make headway.
Feelings in themselves are nothing to fear. Rather, they are something to celebrate if we see them as guideposts to a deeper truth. We don’t want to deny them; they are there for a reason. They may be a message to us that something is not right. By deciphering them early on we have the chance to negate their snowballing effect.
It’s important to remember that no matter how filled with emotion a person is, the body-mind is always doing its best to regain equilibrium. But often we need prodding to grapple with uncomfortable feelings, to get to their root.
I’ve known several people who have committed suicide because of being wrapped tightly in deep emotion, unable to dig themselves out. Deep emotion is not something we understand well in this society. It is reserved for poets and artists.
Parents of people diagnosed 25 mentally ill often say “she was too sensitive” or “she gets so emotional” as if either of these qualities was a bad thing. However, the mind, not only that of a sensitive child or adult, thrives on rhythm, imagination and metaphors. Our subconscious feeds on dreams to create, to problem solve, to come to terms with what is in the waking world. And feelings, often metaphors of a deeper truth, can lead us to greater awareness.
Navigate Feelings
Tracking, a process developed by psychologist Dr Vern Woolf (see holodynamics.com), is an extraordinary and relatively simple way to unravel the meaning of emotion. It uses our imagination and our senses–sight, sound, colour, texture and smell–to navigate, to understand the positive intent of uncomfortable feelings. It can be used to make sense of the “voices” heard in schizophrenia.
Creative approaches, such as music, art, visualization or tracking channel emotion and our senses into a realm we can understand. Not only do they take the pressure off of a potentially explosive and disempowering personal experience, but they can also be used to discover our own uniqueness. They enable us to know ourselves in ways we never thought possible and ultimately, to make us stronger in what is often an alienating and stress-inducing world.
YEAST INFECTIONS
by Dr. Heather Herington, ND, DHANP
Ah, Candida albicans, the little critters. The bane of a woman’s (and a man’s) sex life. As good a reason for not having sex as the proverbial headache.
These one-celled yeasts, as many women can attest, cause an irritating vaginal discharge accompanied by redness and swelling that can result in an almost unbearable itching. (For some women this clear or cheesy discharge is merely annoying.) And yet candida (albicans and relatives) are normal inhabitants of a healthy vagina. It’s their home; we can’t evict them, and we wouldn’t want to.
What we can do is make candida happy to live in a small (therefore beneficial) colony. Fortunately, yeasts are usually agreeable to population constraints. This lets them settle down to be good neighbours to other normal inhabitants of a healthy vagina such as Lactobacilli, a bacteria that does an excellent job in keeping the vagina in its normal state of acidity.
Keep in mind that yeast lives in harmony with other organisms until their environment is disrupted. When this happens, the vagina, being warm and moist and susceptible to a changing pH, becomes an ideal breeding ground for population overgrowth.
Lactobacilli thrive in an acidic vagina. When this changes due to drugs, diet or emotional upset, the stage is set for candida to multiply out of control and create an irritating discharge.
Population Explosion
Almost every woman has a yeast infection at least once in her life. The most common reason why the vaginal ecosystem goes awry is the use of antibiotics, birth control pills or other allopathic medications. These kill off the good bacteria as well as the bad. Other factors include a weakened immune system, increases in blood sugar levels (from poor diet, increased sugar intake, uncontrolled diabetes, pregnancy), emotional stress, hormonal changes, metal toxicity, chronic vulvar dampness, excessive douching, wearing tight-fitting or synthetic underwear and soaking in hot tubs.
Candida overgrowth can also result from stressful or repeated intercourse over a short period of time. A healthy vagina needs an environmentally friendly pH of 4 to 4.5. Yeast overgrowth begins at 5.5, and irritation is noted as the pH climbs. The pH of semen is 9, and one session of intercourse can increase pH for eight hours.
Times in a woman’s life and monthly cycle can increase the possibility of a yeast infection. During menopause, as estrogen and progesterone diminish, vaginal secretions naturally become less acidic and therefore can lead to yeast overgrowth. Before and during menses, when mucosal immunity is lowest, a woman can become more vulnerable to infection. This time also produces an increased sensitivity to blood sugar levels.
Nutritional Strategies
Treatment for yeast infections focuses on curbing the overgrowth of yeast and on creating a healthy home. To do this, first nourish the good bacteria by eating well. Keep your blood sugar levels stable by avoiding sugar, alcohol, refined or junk food, bread and high-glycemic carbohydrates such as potatoes or fruit.
Instead, eat lots of coloured vegetables to let their phytochemicals build up your immune system, and eat legumes and beans for protein and fibre. You may also want to carry around a mix of almonds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds to make sure you have something to eat every three hours. Drink lots of purified water.
Sometimes all the treatment that is needed is to eat well, be emotionally clear and take a few drops of grapefruit extract (in water by mouth a few times a day.)
Call in the Controls
Insert two acidophilus (a variety of Lactobacillus) capsules every day or every other day for two weeks. Insert as far up as you can until you touch your cervix, which feels like the end of your nose.
At night, for a few nights, vaginally insert two or three tablespoons of plain yogurt (one high in good bacteria-read the label).
Try a douche of apple cider vinegar - four tablespoons in a quart of warm water daily for two weeks. Or use tea tree oil - two to three drops in a tablespoon of yogurt and soak in tampon. Insert for seven nights.
If the infection is stubborn, use boric acid–600 milligrams in size 00 capsules (the pharmacist will do this for you). Insert one high up in vagina every day for two weeks.
If these treatments don’t work, you may have a mild bacterial infection that is creating an alkaline environment. Insert a clove of garlic (caution: peel garlic carefully. If ultra-sensitive, pierce clove with skin intact; otherwise, grease clove and insert). Insert clove before bed for five to 10 nights.
To increase your immune system, take echinacea, ginseng or goldenseal. Drink nettle tea (for increased lymph flow). Eat lots of fibre (for good bacteria) and garlic (inhibits all bad micro-organisms), along with cranberries and blueberries (for arbutin content). Yogurt or pau d’arco (beta-lapachone) salve can be applied to relieve irritation.
Avoid intercourse. Yeast infections are easily passed back and forth between partners. Make sure you say no to sex when you want to.
Don’t neglect your body and then let it speak for you. Instead feed yourself well, and take time to listen to deeper needs. To be driven to madness by yeast is a lousy way to start or finish a day.
Yoni Powder
Rosemary Gladstar’s yoni powder is a medicinal talc that can be sprinkled to keep the vulvar and vaginal area dry.
1 cup (250 ml) fine clay
1/2 cup (125 ml) cornstarch
2 Tbsp (30 ml) black walnut powder
2 Tbsp (30 ml) myrrh powder
1 Tbsp (30 ml) goldenseal root
powder (organically cultivated)
1-2 drops tea tree oil (optional)
Combine all the ingredients and mix together using a wire whisk. Spoon some into a jar with a shaker top for easy application. Store the remainder in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.
as well as in the San Fernando Valley (email info@drheatherherington.com)
