Friday 27 November 2009

Hallucinations



In a reply to a commenter who says she hasn't been able to see anything "in this life with a painful connection", Sean writes: "Yes, not all trauma is from our childhood. Sometimes its from adulthood or the peri-natal stage, and sometimes it certainly looks like the traumas are more related to karmic issues, past lives, etc..."

I've heard people maintain they weren't traumatized many times before. Most often in order to defend the medical model: "I haven't been traumatized. So, consequently, I must suffer from a chemical imbalance in my brain." In this case, it's not a chemical imbalance, it's karma from some past life. I'm sure, I don't believe in the chemical imbalance bs. I'm not quite sure whether to believe in past lives, karma and stuff. What I'm sure I do believe in is that there's a lot in this life that is traumatizing, while we don't recognize it as traumatizing. Like being human in an inhumane world, for instance. Whether someone is able to cope with that challenge without having to ask for help, or not, depends on a number of often rather subtle, individual distinctions in their life experiences. Distinctions that often are overlooked.

7 comments:

WillSpirit said...

Hi Marian--
For some reason I haven't stopped by for a while. But I want to thank you for the video about hallucinations. It made me understand my past experiences as part of a general phenomenon experienced by many. I wish I'd heard this positive, upbeat message back when the hospital psychiatrists were flushing 'God' out of my head with chemicals. It would have been nice to live with that bliss a bit longer, and learn a bit more, rather than being hammered back to 'the real world,' and left to pick up the pieces after discharge.

Teddy said...

Is the brain the only organ in the human body that is immune from any kind of "chemical imbalance"?

Marian said...

Teddy: No, I don't think so. I've never heard of a "chemical imbalance" of the heart, for instance.

But, really, what's the brain got to do with the human mind, soul, or spirit?

Anonymous said...

The brain has quite a bit to do with the mind. Marian :
That's why drugs that affect the brain organ affect the human mind and personality (often negatively, but there is a cause and effect). Heart disease is a chemical imbalance of the heart - a chemical imbalance that can lead to heart attack, stroke, death, etc. So, again, is the brain really the only organ that cannot have a chemical imbalance?

Marian said...

Anonymous: A chemical imbalance of the heart? Sorry, haven't heard of that anywhere.

The brain isn't the mind, soul or spirit. Well, unless you think it is. I certainly don't.

Anonymous said...

Marian - Then what is the "mind'? Soul/spirit, fair enough, that's a personal non-scientific belief. But the mind, the place that processes thought and decisions, that's factually in the brain. Where are your facts to dispute that concept? Google "heart disease chemical imbalance" and you'll find plenty to prove that heart disease is 100% a chemical imbalance - what else is it?

Marian said...

Teddy: You said it yourself: the mind is in the brain. It is located in the brain, but it is not the brain.

If you want to know more about my point of view, read the blog. If you want science, check out the side bar. If you want an argument, go here.