Healing Bipolar Disorder: meditation or gong?

[Captain Mar-Vell]

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Edited July 21, 2016 by Captain Mar-Vell

[Michael Sternbach]

Hi Michael, I want to just jump in here about the pills, because I think that in some cases they are really beneficial and valuable.

For my condition, if I hadn't had anti psychotics, the first few years would have been much worse than they were (it was already bad enough).   It took me about five years of being on the pills and when I was confident enough, i was able to quit them.  There was a horrible withdrawal for months, but in the long run, I'm thankful that I had those pills to keep my mind in order when I was too messed up to handle it on my own.

Having said that, it is distressing that doctors prescribe pill even for minor problems like normal sadness, grief, and anxiety that could be dealt with in other ways.   I'm also very disturbed at the level to which young boys are given stimulants in order to help them study, it is as if we want to raise a generation of meth heads.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are time when these medications are very useful to people, so I hope you won't discount them altogether.  I have some friends who would be in the hospital or on the street if it weren't for being medicated. 

 

What do you think?

 

Yes, I agree that there are cases in which the application of such medications is helpful. Even the psychiatrist I collaborated with prescribed them sometimes. This should be reserved for the really serious cases though, and dosage and length of application should be not exceed what is necessary. Many of those substances suppress the sufferer's creative faculties that would be highly beneficial to them.

 

I have a rather practical attitude in such matters though: Use what is at hand in a given case in order to best stabilize and support the patient.

 

My suggestions are of a more fundamental nature: Psychiatry and psychology should much more take Man's innate spiritual nature into account, and study how to activate its properties for true healing to take place, by activating them using the appropriate methods, which include the vibrational remedies I mentioned above.

 

Chemical medicines would then naturally need to be used less and less (just like lobotomies and electro shocks are no longer in vogue), and psychotherapy would quite change, along with all of medicine as well as other areas of human endeavours.

 

This is the development that is hoped to happen during the coming decades and centuries.

[Jah2075]

Thanks to everyone for all your very informative responses...you've given me plenty to think about and act on...

[Spotless]

Qi Gong may indeed be very helpful to one with BP.

 

In many of the typical exercises the energies of the head are moved regularly from one side to the other. Energy channels all over the head are regularly stimulated and natural channels are exercised and invigorated.

 

When doing the exercises wherein you turn your head from one side to the other - make an effort to really turn it fully to each side.

 

Breath into the lower dan Tien.

 

Most forms appear fairly good from what I see - but most students do not put in much time in practice.

 

Most helpful to your needs will be movement forms and not "still" focus.

 

Utilize the whole teaching and do not pick and choose just what you like - but if it is a teaching that has a focus primarily of intense standing meditation - modify at least that aspect or look at another Qi gong tradition with more movement.

 

it is not that you need more Qi or "better" Qi in your head - it is about subtle consistent intermixing and movement - Qi gong does this extraordinarily well. It will also help to break up patterns where you are hard on yourself and dress yourself down.

 

Integration with the heart and throat with a base in the lower dan Tien will emerge and the side channelsalong the back of the ears will stimulate a great deal of helpful progress.

 

All the best to you!

[Jim D.]

Bi-Polar Disorder is a Biomedical Condition that can only be treated and controled with medication. There may be co-morbid  conditions also found on Axis I e.g. Anxiety, that may respond to Chi Gong and meditation. But I would recommend this intervention as a tiertiary acciilary treatment objective.

 

If you have knowledge of  2016 Pharmacology Monograph(s) or Cognitive/Behavioral  Monograph(s) citing that Chi Gong and/or meditaion heals Bi-Polar Disorder, I would like the link.

 

JD

[liminal_luke]

Bi-Polar Disorder is a Biomedical Condition that can only be treated and controled with medication.

 

I´m skeptical about the above statement.  Double-blind studies proving the scientific efficacy of this or that nature remedy may not exist (who would finance them?), but everyday people cure themselves of supposedly incurable diseases with herbs, essential oils, shamanic ritual... the list goes on.  Pharmaceutical drugs may well be part of the answer in a given case, but how could a person, no matter how psychiatrically versed, possibly know that nothing else would help?

[Spotless]

I can think of a number of doctors that attained Awakening who previously thought along the lines of the impossibility of energetic cures and the possible efficacy of such things as prayer and psychic good will - thinking of these as purely "placebo" pleasanties and societal sedatives.

 

And in certain cases such as seizures and several other conditions and diseases I personally am fully aware and certain beyond doubt that Western Medical is completely hobbled by its own myopic condition in this regard.

 

There are few tools in Western Medical pharmacopeia the effects of which cannot be done otherwise and often much much better.

But - they are certainly excellent at some things - and sometimes it is because of time constraints and sometimes it is because the odds of getting a patient - particularly a Western patient - to actually follow a more rigorous self involvement - makes trying generally a tiresome folly.

 

We are still as a human race - even on the front line of Awakening and Mindfulness - more myopic in our limiting beliefs than Western Medical is in its beliefs of chemical redemption. Within its very contained reality Western Medical has supreme belief and sees no bounds (and so within its box it has complete confidence). Those aspiring to a non-dual awareness and even those who have attained it and are in an Enlightening state - few experience a fraction of what is possible to them though they have attained an expansion a thousand fold from the prior.

[Jim D.]

The Double-Blind component of an experimental study was developed due to Experimentalist bias, and participants bias. For instance, if I am trying to prove a simple hypothesis let say sugar is an Hallucinogen. I could run an experiment and give someone a sugar pill and tell them that is a LSD  pill. They look at me, watch my expressions and will either report having an experience or not...depending on how dependent they are on me...the guy with the white coat on and all. 

 

Other critics would question my methodology and say this guy is full of it. He use one subject. The experimenter, me, wanted a certain outcome to happen, therefore it did. And the subject was told the pill they were given was LSD. I say that sugar pills are Hallcinogenic But what if I had two subjects. One was the control group that got the real deal = LSD and the other subject got the sugar pill. No one knew what kind of pill they were getting accept me.

 

Still the critics would complain about my influence over the subjects because of my facial expression and the white coat.

 

So now here comes the third blind or Double blind test. I am given two trays with two pills on them. I am told to give one pill to the control subject, and the other to the experimental subject. I have no idea who got what, so therefore, I cannot bias the outcome of the test. What this means is that the outcome is probably more reliable because they have taken me out of the equation.

 

The "They" who gave me the trays know who got what. They now say my first test's outcome was a placebo. And they would be right.

 

By the way, you have come to me with a complaint of Major Depression, Recurrent. I tell you that Depakote has proven to be very effective in matters of Mood Stabilization...and it is a controled, scheduled drug. Of course, I fan my hand over to the old shelf of herbs, oils, Dr. Feel Good books and tell you that under HIPPA, I must inform you that you're free to refuse treatment and try anything you like. You say, I could have done that to begin with, and I did. But it did not give me the relief I was looking for. Well, I say, what do you want to do? You're are still driving the bus. I's up to you now.

 

Comment: I would rather take something that has proven to be effective and reliable as evidenced by stringent trials, studies, and protocols.

 

ECT is still perscribed for unremitting Depression. I had a patient that went through 25.

 

By the way, I don't know who would finance these studies, but I am guessing the Pharmaceutical companies.

 

The change your projecting if Pharmaceuticals where elimated would be similar to the Mental Health Treatment patients endured in the Dark Ages.

 

And I would also say, that if Pharmaceutical Companies were reduced or eliminated the Herb Companies would be lobbying for first place, costs would rise to what the Pharmaceuticals are charging, and the insurance companies wouldn't pay for it...because if it is an herb they would want clinical proof that it would work.

 

Now we are back to the experimental model and who is going to finance it.

[Fate]

http://www.bipolarORwakingUP.com

 

Very useful website and series of videos. I've come to the conclusion that everyone is bipolar, every has those two poles and people that go through manic episodes simply have gone a lot farther than most on the natural Ecstasy spectrum.

 

Find something that resonates with you. If you don't watch all the videos linked above the advice that sticks with me is
"Bipolar is kind of like "I can't be me-syndrome." The manic episode breaks free of all these limiting patterns that we had thought were us and stuck ourselves in, its a very healing experience.

 

So whatever form you are drawn to, as mentioned before, choose it and stick to it. Balancing your energies each day with a dedicated practice-it goes without saying that this helps keep one grounded!

[liminal_luke]

There are few tools in Western Medical pharmacopeia the effects of which cannot be done otherwise and often much much better.

But - they are certainly excellent at some things - and sometimes it is because of time constraints and sometimes it is because the odds of getting a patient - particularly a Western patient - to actually follow a more rigorous self involvement - makes trying generally a tiresome folly.

 

 

Bingo.

 

Kelly Brogan, a psychiatrist who never ever prescribes antidepressant medication, has a new book out called A Mind of Your Own outlining her basic program for treating major depression, even difficult cases, holistically.  She´s pretty convincing and if I had major depression I´d give it a try.  It´s pretty daunting though: a complete dietary overhaul, exercise, meditation -- all things most of us know we should be doing in any case but often don´t.

 

Non-pharmaceutical interventions tend to ask a lot of us.  Kelly Brogan has reportedly had lots of success but there are no weekends staying up late on the couch watching TV over pizza and beer.  How much easier to just pop a pill (or three) and call it good.

Edited June 26, 2016 by liminal_luke

[WisteriaWinds]

Bingo.

 

Kelly Brogan, a psychiatrist who never ever prescribes antidepressant medication, has a new book out called A Mind of Your Own outlining her basic program for treating major depression, even difficult cases, holistically. She´s pretty convincing and if I had major depression I´d give it a try. It´s pretty daunting though: a complete dietary overhaul, exercise, meditation -- all things most of us know we should be doing in any case but often don´t.

 

Non-pharmaceutical interventions tend to ask a lot of us. Kelly Brogan has reportedly had lots of success but there´s no weekends staying up late on the couch watching TV over pizza and beer. How much easier to just pop a pill (or three) and call it good.

Allopathic is good for emergencies. For everything else there's awareness.

[Spotless]

Allopathic is good for emergencies. For everything else there's awareness.

Regarding most heart disease - we know unequivocally that Eastern dietary methods and exercise are able to reverse arterial sclerosis and are safer and more effective than Western surgical remedies - even in advanced cases. But they simply make no one any money.

 

I reversed angina and congestion using both Eastern methods and chelation - it is gone. Eastern methods have been known for centuries and are now being touted here in the West by some doctors who are not giving any credit to the Eastern methods and knowledge base from which they were derived - such as Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's and his popular books on preventing and reversing heart disease. (I am very glad he has published his findings and the work he has done - it would have been nice if he and given at least a nod to the Eastern traditions that have prescribed exactly and prescisely what he has written about and tested)