connection, love, meaning, and purpose), and the body’s natural intelligence and healing system will take care of the rest. This is the foundation of
The UltraMind Solution.
That’s all there is to it. Using this simple, yet comprehensive, method allows me to treat virtually
all
diseases, whether they are “in the brain” or “in the body.” And it works for one simple reason: the body and the brain are one system.
Unfortunately, common myths founded in classical psychiatry and neurology and promoted for decades by society have blinded us to the simple but profound truth Functional Medicine has unveiled.
And we must understand these myths before we can be free of them.
CHAPTER 3
THE MYTHS OF PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROLOGY
——————
...
scientists cannot see the way they see with their way of seeing.
1
—R. D. LAING
We are so used to looking at things in a certain way that we cannot see a different way of looking at the brain, behavior, and mood. As we begin to discover the nature of how the brain works and how its function is intimately connected to the rest of the core systems in the body, the medical myths that we have labored under, and that have blocked us from truly seeing the origins of problems with our mood, memory, attention, and brain health, are falling away.
Let’s review these myths and put them to rest.
The Myth of Diagnosis: If You Know the Name of Your Disease, You Know What’s Wrong with You
This myth is pervasive throughout medicine not just in psychiatry and neurology, and it is
the
single biggest obstacle to changing the way we do things and finding the answers to our health problems.
The problem is simply this—we are in the naming and blaming game in medicine. It is what we were trained to do. Find the name of the “disease,” then match the drug to the disease. You have “depression,” so you need an “antidepressant.” You are “anxious,” so you need an “antianxiety” medication. You have bipolar disease or mood swings, so you need a “mood stabilizer.”
Unfortunately, this approach or method of thinking is outdated, increasingly useless, and often dangerous. In some ways it’s even tyrannical. Once you have a label, you are put in the group of people who have the same label, and it is assumed you carry the attributes of this group.
For example, a group of psychologists, psychiatrists, and lawyers headed by Dr. David Rosenhan, a Stanford University professor of law and psychology,pretended to be hearing voices and got themselves admitted to psychiatric hospitals across the country. 2
Once they were admitted to the hospitals, they resumed acting normally. The hospital staff and physicians then viewed all their “normal behavior,” such as note taking, as “abnormal.” It was only the regular “crazy” patients who could tell them apart!
The same thing happens to you once we assign
you
a label like depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, or dementia. We throw you in the same group with everyone else who has that diagnosis and assume you all have the same problem, even if evidence is found to the contrary.
But these labels or diagnoses are just
names
we associate with a collection of symptoms. This name has
nothing
to do with
why
you have those symptoms—with the root causes of the “disease.”
Here’s another example. When you go see a psychiatrist or psychologist, you are given the label “depression” if you meet the criteria agreed upon by the psychiatric community and outlined in the classic manual of the American Psychiatric Association, the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV
(
DSM-IV
).
Here is the list of features for depression from the
DSM-IV
:
Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (In children and adolescents, this may be characterized as an irritable
The UltraMind Solution.
That’s all there is to it. Using this simple, yet comprehensive, method allows me to treat virtually
all
diseases, whether they are “in the brain” or “in the body.” And it works for one simple reason: the body and the brain are one system.
Unfortunately, common myths founded in classical psychiatry and neurology and promoted for decades by society have blinded us to the simple but profound truth Functional Medicine has unveiled.
And we must understand these myths before we can be free of them.
CHAPTER 3
THE MYTHS OF PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROLOGY
——————
...
scientists cannot see the way they see with their way of seeing.
1
—R. D. LAING
We are so used to looking at things in a certain way that we cannot see a different way of looking at the brain, behavior, and mood. As we begin to discover the nature of how the brain works and how its function is intimately connected to the rest of the core systems in the body, the medical myths that we have labored under, and that have blocked us from truly seeing the origins of problems with our mood, memory, attention, and brain health, are falling away.
Let’s review these myths and put them to rest.
The Myth of Diagnosis: If You Know the Name of Your Disease, You Know What’s Wrong with You
This myth is pervasive throughout medicine not just in psychiatry and neurology, and it is
the
single biggest obstacle to changing the way we do things and finding the answers to our health problems.
The problem is simply this—we are in the naming and blaming game in medicine. It is what we were trained to do. Find the name of the “disease,” then match the drug to the disease. You have “depression,” so you need an “antidepressant.” You are “anxious,” so you need an “antianxiety” medication. You have bipolar disease or mood swings, so you need a “mood stabilizer.”
Unfortunately, this approach or method of thinking is outdated, increasingly useless, and often dangerous. In some ways it’s even tyrannical. Once you have a label, you are put in the group of people who have the same label, and it is assumed you carry the attributes of this group.
For example, a group of psychologists, psychiatrists, and lawyers headed by Dr. David Rosenhan, a Stanford University professor of law and psychology,pretended to be hearing voices and got themselves admitted to psychiatric hospitals across the country. 2
Once they were admitted to the hospitals, they resumed acting normally. The hospital staff and physicians then viewed all their “normal behavior,” such as note taking, as “abnormal.” It was only the regular “crazy” patients who could tell them apart!
The same thing happens to you once we assign
you
a label like depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, or dementia. We throw you in the same group with everyone else who has that diagnosis and assume you all have the same problem, even if evidence is found to the contrary.
But these labels or diagnoses are just
names
we associate with a collection of symptoms. This name has
nothing
to do with
why
you have those symptoms—with the root causes of the “disease.”
Here’s another example. When you go see a psychiatrist or psychologist, you are given the label “depression” if you meet the criteria agreed upon by the psychiatric community and outlined in the classic manual of the American Psychiatric Association, the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV
(
DSM-IV
).
Here is the list of features for depression from the
DSM-IV
:
Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (In children and adolescents, this may be characterized as an irritable
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