I made a commitment in my last post to continue to blog more regularly - why? Well, I enjoy it. I also think its good for me, as it makes me write, and reflect! And I miss it when I don't do it. Three (four?) reasons right there...
So anyway, I have been sick and staying home for the last five days so have been watching some TV...
I have been appreciating the ABC TV documentary The War that Changed us, about the First World War. (Thanks Philip Adams for alerting me to this on Twitter.) Its content is mainly derived from letters and diaries, as well as historical reenactments of real events, which provide very personal stories of the horrors of WW1, including Gallipoli, trench warfare, and the unfathomable levels of death and injuries, both physical and emotional.Its very moving, and the singing is amazing. It brings the emotions to the fore so effectively.Hard to believe so many men volunteered to go to war. Unthinkable now, its only a small minority who would choose to go...
Australian Story this week featured a young man who caught a rare and hard to treat form of TB overseas, and had to spend many months in isolation, just like the days before antibiotics. He started making You Tube videos about his illness, often involving rapping. Which is kind of similar to how art therapy was developed by Adrian Hill, when he was recovering from TB in a Sanatorium in the 1930's in Britain. The inherent need to be creative (when sick or bored).
Creating a verbal narrative is also supposed to help us to heal from trauma. I went to the Childhood Trauma conference in Melbourne last month, hosted by the Australian Childhood Foundation. Big international stars like Dan Hughes, Pat Ogden, Dan Siegel, Allan Schore and Kim Golding were there. I particularly enjoyed the animated Dan Hughes, and Pat Ogden, who talks about Sensori-motor Psychotherapy.
Interpersonal neurobiology is so interesting, and so affirming of right brain therapies like expressive (arts) therapies. Needless to say, I have a few books on order since the conference. Last week I went to a two day workshop on the Social Brain, by Dr Pieter Roussow. Its the second workshop of his I have attended in the last few months. Its starting to make a lot of sense, although I struggle with the science.
Oven G/Love
The neurobiology of mental illness is a new science; its not been generally integrated into psychology or psychiatry yet, and so, unsurprisingly, it was not mentioned on the Insight program. According to neuropsychotherapist Dr Pieter Rossouw, all mental illness probably stems from unhelpful 'avoid patterns', created through interaction withe our environment, rather than 'chemical imbalances in the brain', AKA the soup theory of neurobiology.
The brain gets stuck in a neural loop, based on avoidance of unpleasantness and pain. In neurobiological terms, the rituals and behaviours in OCD sufferers stem from, and then reinforce, neurological patterns that build up over time - neurons that fire together, wire together - which is why it can often get worse without help. Like depression and other forms of anxiety.
Hopefully, this explanation kind of makes sense. Meanwhile, as I said, I have been off sick from work with the flu. In my cotton woolly mental stupor I have been sewing (see counted cross stitch above - will eventually be a rabbit in a dress) and visiting Shiny Happy World for quilting tutorials. I wish Shiny Happy World really existed. Its such a cool website. I learnt a new stitch on my sewing machine today, from one of the tutes. The stitch with small and large zigzags, like a stat chart or a heart monitor! Great for applique.
thats me done for today.
more later
