There is no such thing as disease

[Fido]

Originally Posted by hamletswords

Rado, this theory has the advantage and disadvantage of not being disprovable or provable, respectively.

House would not approve. Then again, House self-administered LSD for a migrane in one episode (you'll have to forgive me, I spent the last week watching all 4.5 seasons- great show, by the way). He did it based on a medically based theory of how it would interact with his spinal chord, though, not just "because".

The brain is a tricky thing. I have no doubt in my mind that with the perfect amount of self-thought control, anyone with any condition can "feel" fine. Despite how one feels on drugs or under the influence of thought control (self-administered or otherwise), how you "feel" is not necessarily a reliable measure of how healthy your body actually is.

Anecdote: a few years ago, I broke my left leg right at my knee. At 26, I was diagnosed with extreme arthritis, and it hurt terribly to walk anywhere and movement was limited. I tried all the pain meds and physical therapies, to no avail.

Then I saw a pain management specialist at the hospital. This guy used to be a psychologist and now spent his time working with chronic pain victims, with a twist- he never used drugs. He worked with how they thought. He "prescribed" me the book "Feeling Good" and after reading the book and a couple sessions with him, the pain was manageable. Today, my leg is doing much better than it should be doing.

It takes some practice, but eventually I learned to focus on other things besides the pain.

I'll describe one of the sessions:

He was telling me how he tries to live in the moment, and one of the ways he tries to do this by trying to enjoy colors. He tries to see each color as if he were seeing it for the first time, and experience that sensation fully.

He then said, "Like, that chair next to you. That shade of blue. I really like that shade of blue." He then stared at the chair. I waited for him to stop, but he didn't. I looked at the chair. It was kind of a cool shade of blue. I looked back at the guy- he was still staring at it. I looked back at the chair. Yes, definately a cool shade of blue. I looked at it for a little and then back at him. He blinked, and then changed the subject.

It was very unorthodox, and he had told me earlier had OCD and was probably on amps, but what he did really helped. He showed me that I have the choice to just shut everything out and focus on what I want to for as long as I want to.

It's all about choice. It's harder to exercise choice if you're sick, but it is possible. That doesn't mean you won't be sick. It just won't really matter as much to you that you're sick.

If you have not had your fill of the poison of pain, then wait. Real pain that is chronic and unending is a form of madness, and even those who find relief in meditation, contemplation or medication will find their minds in that dark pool without respite. To think well is impossible, and to think at all is a miracle, and to think clearly is beyond belief. Sometimes, to endure is all that can be asked of a person.

I saw one of my brothers in law at the point of death, and I will always regret not wrapping that little shrunken fellow up and putting him in a wheel chair and bringing him out into the sunshine of the courtyard to die. And I had to tell his parents what a compliment he was to them, that in pain, dieing, with everything shutting down, that he was still polite, and still tried to maintain the little dignity he had left as a human being. Life is an enormous thing, and no person should be well who does not feel blessed. And we should celebrate what ever hope helps people to pull through great suffering and adversity. And we should consider the devils among us who willingly inflict pain, or stand by while others suffer pain without sympathy, hearing them beg God for death without even giving them relief.

[hamletswords]

If you have not had your fill of the poison of pain, then wait. Real pain that is chronic and unending is a form of madness, and even those who find relief in meditation, contemplation or medication will find their minds in that dark pool without respite. To think well is impossible, and to think at all is a miracle, and to think clearly is beyond belief. Sometimes, to endure is all that can be asked of a person.

&

Life is an enormous thing, and no person should be well who does not feel blessed.

Forgive me, but one could read into these quotes paired like this and derive a kind of "you deserve it" attitude. I doubt you mean it that way, because obviously you didn't feel like your brother in law deserved to be unwell.

Also, if you're speaking from personal experience, your writing comes off as insightful and well-organized, so, according to your criteria of being unable to think clearly, you don't have The Big Hurt.

But the second quote reminds me of something a vague Internet acquaintance told me a few days ago. I was talking about how I had driven my life into the ground again and again through drug addiction fueled by bi-polar (and alternatingly bi-polar fueled by drugs), and I feel like there's not much I can do at this point.

He said, "Well, you can try to save the little bit of life you still have."

That goes along with what you said in the second quote. Both quotes are true.

[socrato]

I see what you are saying about a disease but for example, a social anxiety disorder or a generalized anxiety disorder or in fact almost any type of disorder, wouldn't that be considered a disease? Essentially people who have these disorders cannot help having them because they have something wrong with their brain. Such as an over active amygdala.

[Fido]

Originally Posted by socrato

I see what you are saying about a disease but for example, a social anxiety disorder or a generalized anxiety disorder or in fact almost any type of disorder, wouldn't that be considered a disease? Essentially people who have these disorders cannot help having them because they have something wrong with their brain. Such as an over active amygdala.

I would say to be aware of your words. Disease is literally Dis-Ease. Just as acute is a-cut. If it is upsetting, it is disease, and people in olden time saw in the dis ease of the person the cause of illness.