Response To Documentary "Heal"

Heal is a documentary film directed by Kelly Noonan Gores and produced by Adam Schomer which takes viewers on "a scientific and spiritual journey where we discover that our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions have a huge impact on our health and our ability to heal." This Netflix-featured documentary about the mind-body connection seeks to shed light on the "powerful connection between the human psyche and physical health" by gathering insight from leading scientists, mental health providers, and spiritual teachers. They also follow the healing journey of individuals who seek out holistic treatment interventions for different medical conditions. The most notable story was that of Elizabeth, a survivor of stage 4 cancer. As a therapist with a particular interest in the mind-body connection and holistic treatment interventions, I found this movie to be quite enlightening and applicable. 

The movie begins with a quote that provides a perfect introduction to the profound interaction between mind and body. "We hold onto our emotions and develop density in our bodies". What is meant here is that stress and unprocessed emotions have been found to cause inflammation and blockages in the body. Further, inflammation in the body is found to be the root cause of most illnesses. This quote essentially encapsulates the idea that our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions affect our health. The film does not stop there. Next, we find out how we came to this conclusion and what this information means to us. To do this the film goes all the way back to 1925 when the field of quantum physics was discovered. This discovery caused scientists and other professionals in the field to begin challenging the beliefs that were currently held about illness and treatment. This mostly included the belief that our body is simply a physical entity comparable to a machine that malfunctions randomly and requires physical maintenance to repair. Quantum physics exposed the idea that inside all of our bodies are tiny atoms of energy that are constantly vibrating and are movable. Further, it set in motion the idea that our thoughts also create powerful energy and that energy forces can alter things in the physical realm such as what is going on inside of our bodies. Hence the idea was created that our thoughts could potentially affect our physical bodies' condition. 

Next, the movie delves deeper into scientific research which helps support these claims. The first includes some coverage of the strength and significance of the placebo effect. During this segment, an organic chemist reports his experience of testing drugs for a large pharmaceutical company and his amazement when he often witnessed comparable results for true medications and the sugar pill placebo for a variety of illnesses. This realization opens up further exploration surrounding the need for medication that produces such harmful side effects when oftentimes harmless placebos are creating the same effect. It also makes relevant the idea that medications treat only the symptoms of the illness and not the root cause which is often emotional. The film clarifies that they are not disputing the use of medication for physical trauma but questioning its use for other illnesses which are caused by stress. Here we also learn about the field of epigenetics. Epigenetics is the study of biological mechanisms that can switch genes on or off and the idea that environmental stimuli such as socialization, food, the physical environment, and sleep can cause genes to be turned off or turned on. To take this discovery a step further the film covers how our minds tell our cells what the environment is and therefore how to function, again highlighting how our thoughts influence the physical body in a directly correlated way. 

To drop back into the effect of stress on the body the movie explores the basics of the autonomic nervous system. Most clinicians are familiar with the fight or flight response which is often closely tied to diagnoses like PTSD. The movie reviews the historical need for the fight or flight response and then fast forwards to the effects of the fight or flight response being over-utilized in today's society. When the sympathetic nervous system or our fight or flight reaction is activated our bodies release cortisol (stress hormone), adrenaline, and norepinephrine (stress hormone). The body only has limited supplies of these neurotransmitters and when they run out the body begins to "borrow" from other entities of the body such as the gut, the elimination system, and the immune system in order to keep up with the need.  This in turn weakens these systems and causes our bodies to become increasingly acidic and inflamed. When we see clients who have internalized traumatic events, especially in childhood or have poor attachment styles we almost always see a more sensitive and over-utilized stress response system. 

Now that we are informed about these processes what can we do with this information? The encouraging message of the film is that all hope is not lost. In fact, many of the solutions are readily available but often less utilized than those under the medical model. The very beginning of the movie notes that, given the right conditions, the body can heal itself and this fact is so clearly illustrated throughout the film in the success stories of Elizabeth, a stage 4 cancer survivor, and Anita, a Lymphoma survivor. A multitude of these interventions was discussed and demonstrated in the film such as meditation, emotional freedom technique, and utilizing sound waves to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. Other modalities mentioned included inner child healing, scared anger work, reiki, cranial sacral therapy, and breathwork. Along with an exploration of the effect of a healthy diet, particularly plant-based, the film also explores the great healing properties of visualization and gratitude. The practice of visualization and gratitude are both associated with the energetic power of our thoughts on the body. All of these treatment modalities seek to heal the body’s energy by moving and unblocking negative energy and relaxing the stress response system. Meditation, for instance, has been found to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system which is our "rest and digest" system by relaxing our stress response system. Not only that, it has been found to increase the secretion of oxytocin which is referred to as the "love hormone" and endorphins from the pituitary gland as well. Lastly, regular meditation has been found to raise our IGA levels which are our body's primary defense against bacteria and viruses. 

The final powerful takeaway which I will share in this review includes a list of the 9 most common strategies utilized by those who have made miraculous medical recoveries or "radical remissions" gathered by a researcher named Kelly Turner. Kelly has interviewed over a thousand people from around the globe who have made such recoveries. These cases were all categorized as terminal by doctors. My hope is that this insight and these strategies may help clinicians to enhance their work with clients suffering from both physical and mental/emotional ailments. The list is as follows:

-Radically change diet

-Taking control of your health

-Following your intuition

-Using herbs and supplements

-Releasing suppressed emotions

-Increasing positive emotions

-Embracing social support

-Deepening your spiritual connection

-Have a strong reason for living

References: 

Noonan Gores, K., & Schomer, A. (2017).  Heal. Beverly Hills, CA: Elevative Entertainment.

www.healdocumentary.com

Adolescent Development: The Good, the Bad, the Confusing

Ever wonder what is going on in the head of an adolescent when puberty strikes and they seem to have lost their minds? As a parent, you might feel as though it is a full moon every day. You wonder if you’ve lost the child you once knew forever. This article will help clarify some of the internal processes which contribute to the irrational, moody, and downright strange behavior we see in adolescents. 

Adolescence ushers in a stage of further development of the psyche the end goal being the attainment of the experience of “true reality”. True reality is the reality that adults experience which is a more informed flexible and well-rounded view of ourselves and the world around us. On the way to this fully developed psyche and attainment of “true reality” adolescents first develop what is referred to as a “new morality”. This can entail a loss of innocence and the view of adults as all good and all-knowing. Additionally, during this process adolescents may develop rage and harsh judgment of both adults and authority figures. The way adolescents separate from their parental figures is through a rebellious stage marked with anger and even hatred. The alternative, which is separating from an object that you consciously love and rely on for life, might be too painful. This process is needed in order to solidify an adult self. Concurrently teens become overcome with rage. This is because they come to believe that things should be just. Further, they believe that they should act and be treated like adults and that their intentions should be heard and understood by others, a privilege which they are often not afforded. 

Now that we understand where our teens are coming from we can take a look at why they look so crazy doing it. The reason for this is all wrapped up in development. At this time teens are seeking desperately to get their intentions and opinions heard and understood. At the same time, they have not yet developed the capacity to fully see the perspectives of others. You may notice many adolescents writing in journals or expressing their thoughts through writing. This is a clear illustration of where the teens are at in terms of their development. At this stage, teens lack the capacity to express their thoughts verbally. I know I often utilized a journal, personal blog, or social media page to make known my most thoughtful quotes, beliefs, and statuses. 

Knowledge of teen relationships and their link to adolescent development is also helpful. Potentially more today than in any other period of time adolescents and teens are exploring the idea of homosexual feelings. Adolescents are dwelling on their sexuality often and early today. 

Relationships in adolescence serve a developmental function much different from the function of relationship-seeking in adults. Teens utilize relationships to fill a variety of needs. These include being treated as equals to adults, being heard, and being understood. Friendships are also important in fulfilling the adolescents’ needs of being seen and accepted. Successfully having this need met sets the stage for the adult self to become further solidified. 

Problems arise when teens do not get the acceptance they so desperately need. This can lead to a “paranoid impasse”. With this teens may end up joining groups that are counter-anything (religion, education, politics, American, etc.). Counter-cultures can serve as the means of attaining the community, acceptance, and platform for voicing their opinions. When teens are 

unable to separate from their parents they start to utilize internal defenses such as introjection and projection. Counter-culture groups then often become a substitute for the normal enemy status that the parent would take on. Their views towards the anti-groups can often take on a paranoid quality. Again, this is all in service of the consolidation of the adult identity. 

Another danger in the teenage years is the development of depression. Teenagers may wrestle with their new awareness of the discrepancy between their current real selves and their idealized selves. Teens’ focus often shifts to idealism which can look like “obsessions” to certain celebrities, political parties, etc. They can also exhibit disillusioned idealistic thinking about how the world should function; schools should be run, etc. This discrepancy alone can cause a period of self-hatred, lack of motivation, and hopelessness. Further, when teens are pushed towards perfection by their family and through cultural messages the disparity between that ideal and their reality can also become too much to bear and can lead to depression. Yearnings for idealism can also show up in dangerous and violent ways such as violent protests, self-harm, and other defiant acts. Teens may start to conceptualize concepts like long-term planning, compromising and reasonability needed to view the reality of the discrepancy effectively; however, their grasp is tenuous, to say the least. 

For therapists treating adolescents, it is important to be aware that clients will often try to create and re-create a dynamic in which the therapist is a powerful, persecuting object and the teen is in the position of needing to rail against. These dynamics must be processed and shut down right away to ensure a productive working alliance. Some ways to keep this at bay are by helping the client process their initial suspiciousness towards you as the therapist in an open and honest way and to keep questions objective at the beginning of treatment until an initial alliance is formed. As you move forward with teens keeping an environment of genuineness and openness will help set the stage for an environment where clients can process even pre-oedipal issues which might come up including feelings of shame, humiliation, and anxiety which are so commonly present in teens today. 

ACE Scores and Asthma

From a review of the recent literature available studying the connection between ACE scores and asthma I have come to find that there is a significant connection between reports of difficult childhoods events and the prevalence of asthma. First developed in the 1990's the ACE test is a survey designed to measure different types of abuse, neglect, and other hallmarks of a rough childhood. NPR's Laura Starecheski reports that, "according to the Adverse Childhood Experiences study, the rougher your childhood, the higher your score is likely to be and the higher your risk for later health problems". There are 10 types of childhood trauma measured in the ACE test. Five are related to personal issues such as physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect. Five are related to other family members such as growing up with an alcoholic parent, a mother who’s a victim of domestic violence, a family member in jail, a family member diagnosed with a mental illness, or experience the divorce or parents or death of a parent. In my research I found a number of interesting connections and limitations  within the current body of research and studies that have been conducted over the past couple of years. Each one of the three studies I looked at found that increases in ACE scores accounted for a higher likelihood of asthma in the participants. Most of the articles had similar hypotheses for why this was but all the studies indicated a need for further research on the topic.

Two of the most discussed and hypothesized reasons for this were as follows. The first was because psychosocial stressors have been found to deregulate the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis which then secretes higher levels of cortisol and catecholamines than normal. Because of this over secretion  there is then a lack of cortisol that is needed to protect the body from inflammation.  Such deregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis can cause the axis to become deregulated and cause either chronic under or over activity of the system. The second was because stress has been show through scientific research to increase airway inflammation  making those with high stress more susceptible to conditions like asthma and other pulmonary disorders. The reason that high stress increases airway inflammation is because such stress and the over secretion of cortisol and catecholamines causes immune cells to be altered in their expression and activities.

Some of the most interesting findings were from one study that found that children 5 years old and younger who were exposed to at least 3 ACES had increased odds of reporting asthma by 5x, compared to those with none. This finding was much higher than that of older children indicating that exposure to ACEs at a younger age is more harmful and correlated to asthma than exposure at an older age. Also, one study found that a shocking 25% of children studied with exposure to at least 5 ACES reported having asthma. Further, another study pointed out that the harmful effects of psychosocial stress can be transgenerational and found that children born to mothers who experienced extreme stress during their pregnancy had 1.71 times the odds of having asthma later in life. Another interesting point that most studies spoke about briefly was a high correlation between higher ACE scores and smoking in participants. Most of the studies I read also indicated a higher correlations between ACE score and asthma and other COPDs for women than or men. 

Each of one of these studies indicated a number of limitations to their studies and called for further research to be done. For instance, all three of the studies I read were self-report, which made them susceptible to under or over reporting. Also, most of the studies were not able to rule out confounding such as living conditions, allergen exposures, etc. which could contribute to asthma. Next, most of the studies could not identify timing of ACE exposures compared to the asthma diagnoses reported, meaning that the asthma diagnosis could have occurred before the time of the ACE exposure. A final major limitation of these studies were that they did not include institutionalized or hospitalized patients as well as people without landline telephones. 

Resources

Cunningham, T. J., Ford, E. S., Croft, J. B., Merrick, M. T., Rolle, I. V., & Giles, W. H. (2014). Sex-specific relationships between adverse childhood experiences and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in five states. International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, 9, 1033–1043.

Remigio-Baker, R. A., Hayes, D. K., & Reyes-Salvail, F. (2015). Adverse Childhood Events Are Related to the Prevalence of Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder Among Adult Women In Hawaii. Lung, 193(6), 885–891.

Starecheski, L. (2015, March 02). Take The ACE Quiz - And Learn What It Does And Doesn't Mean. Retrieved August 24, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/sections/health- shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean.

Wing, R., Gjelsvik, A., Nocera, M., & McQuaid, E. L. (2015). Association between adverse childhood experiences in the home and pediatric asthma. Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 114(5), 379-384.

EDM Gets Serious About Mental Health

As both a therapist and EDM writer the EDM community’s contribution to fighting mental health issues is near and dear to me. The curative powers of music, particularly those of EDM are well-known.  Many, including myself, describe the music as an escape, something that makes them dance and let go of all the struggles of daily life. What is less well-known is just how much some of our favorite EDM artists have suffered and continue to suffer from mental health issues. In recent years a handful of artists have gone public with their struggles to raise awareness. Others have created initiatives and found other ways to make an impact in fighting back against these issues. The genesis of this movement within the community is certainly one worth reviewing.

Many EDM fans cite Avicii’s untimely death in 2018 as a turning point within the community. After that, it became widely known that Avicii struggled with substance use issues and depression. Since that time we have seen many artists make statements about their own struggles with similar mental health and substance use issues. In response to Avicii’s death, Martin Garrix spoke out about issues that artists face on tours such as isolation and emotional and physical stress. Laidback Luke also voiced concerns about the demands put on EDM artists and their negative impact.

More artists have echoed these concerns and even taken public steps to mitigate the issue. Whethan and Alison Wonderland are just two artists who have canceled shows and made public statements about the need to care for their mental and physical health after long bouts of touring. Hardwell is an artist who quit touring for good in 2018 in order to better care for himself. Madeon is another artist who made his struggles known. In 2019 he included a note with the release of his single Be Fine explaining his struggle with depression and his fight for mental health.

There have been many notable resources and initiatives created within the community as well. In 2019 the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM), as part of a mental health initiative, released a guide for industry artists to help mitigate industry-related challenges that can lead to mental health issues. Also in 2019, the same association utilized the group Eclectic Toolbox to bring Mental Health First Aid Training to industry musicians. Artists are also getting involved. Illenium paired up with the Suicide Prevention Lifeline along with NV Concepts and Wicked Halloween in 2018 to create a campaign aimed at suicide prevention utilizing popular platforms like Instagram. This campaign raised money for the Suicide Prevention Lifeline and also encouraged fans to create short videos explaining what keeps them going and to share this with others.  Awareness is also being spread by way of documentaries. “Why We DJ-Slaves to the Rhythm” features prominent DJs such as Carl Cox, Erick Morillo, Peter Tong and more discussing the mental and physical effects of the EDM artist lifestyle. Steve Aoki also discussed similar issues in his Netflix documentary “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.”

Another contribution is that of artists who personally model and encourage healthy practices to increase mental health. Lee Burridge is a veteran DJ who consistently and publically encourages the EDM community to engage in healthy practices and to use his shows as a means of achieving meaningful connections with others. Further, he personally and professionally endorses healthy practices such as yoga, meditation, and stretching. Many of his events even open up with group yoga and meditative practices.

The mental health epidemic stretches to both EDM artists and fans alike. Fans look to artists for relief and guidance and see them as role models. This is what makes campaigns such as Illenium’s so incredibly powerful and artists’ decisions to prioritize their mental health needs so important. On the flip side, artists need to care for themselves and be cared for by the groups that manage them. AFEM is doing great work on this front. They are currently developing best practices for industry professionals to follow that are aimed at protecting the mental health of artists. A three-day wellness retreat called Remedy State has also been created to help advocate and teach wellness and self-care within the dance music industry. Many management companies and labels have also come out with individual statements over the past couple of years announcing a new emphasis on prioritizing their artist’s mental well-being.

The industry has come a long way in such a short time but there is still much distance to go. It will be interesting to follow the community and see how mental health becomes further ingrained in the EDM culture and how it will affect artists and fans alike. As a therapist, I am pleased to see concrete steps being taken to reduce senseless deaths like that of Avicii and encourage healthy practices that promote well-being. With this, I wish my PLUR community peace, love, and health and always encourage you to reach out if you are in need of support.

Suicide Prevention Lifeline- 1-800-273-8255

National Alliance on Mental Illness- https://www.nami.org/Home

Crisis Text line- text 741741 to get connected to a Crisis Counselor