How a text message triggered off IBS

Cathy’s story

It was in mid-August that Cathy started getting IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Like many people, she’d experience painful IBS symptoms of chronic constipation and bloating followed by diarrhea. As a holistic therapist and fan of natural healing, Cathy had tried several approaches to overcoming the issue, including dietary changes and releasing stress around her forthcoming exams. While her symptoms improved, she was unable to stop the IBS recurring. The situation had been going on for almost 10 months when Cathy attended a Meta Medicine Introductory course, and received a startling revelation.
 

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is estimated to affect up to 1 in 5 of us at some point in our lives. It is classified by modern medicine as a functional disorder, because there are no apparent physiological causes. Interestingly, even conventional medicine has acknowledged the link between the onset of IBS and stress, and the fact that IBS often flares up during stressful periods. But until now, the specific cause and meaning of IBS has remained a mystery.
 

Meta Medicine is a system for pinpointing the root cause of any illness. It is a biopsychosocial system, which means it integrates what’s happening at every level: mind, body, spirit and our interaction with the social environment. Meta Medicine is at the forefront of integrative medicine: it goes beyond all current mind-body approaches by giving us the specific and bio-logical meaning of any health issue.

Meta Medicine explains how all illnesses, with the exception of poisoning and accidents, begin with an emotional shock. For a shock to cause an emergency dis-ease programme, it must be unexpected, dramatic, highly emotional and isolative. In the moment, the individual has no way of mentally dealing with the unexpected event, so the body takes over.

To identify the specific shock that causes IBS, we need to look at the biological function of the colon. The digestive tract’s primary task is to process food. In today’s society, filled with media, hi-tech communication and constant contact, it’s not just food that we’re taking in, it’s also information. Just like food, information needs to be accepted, assimilated and utilised or rejected.

Just imagine for a moment that you eat, see or hear something rotten. Your body will either attempt to digest it or eliminate it. If it’s totally indigestible, how you eliminate it will depend how far through the digestive tract it’s travelled. If Cathy had read the text message and refused to accept it, she may have got gastric reflux. However, she took it in and attempted to get on with the party (and for a time, her marriage). The problem was, she was unable to let go of the ‘chunk’ of information and the anger she felt.

All illnesses follow a 2-phase pattern, it’s just more obvious with IBS than with other health issues. The two phases represent the body’s way of dealing with the shock, then rebalancing. After a shock, we go into the 1^st phase, a state of sympathetic stress. This is characterised by:

• Fight-or-flight reactions

• Stress and tension

• Compulsive thinking about the event

• Sleeplessness

• Reduced appetite

• Cold hands and feet

And in the case of IBS, constipation. The ‘chunk’ of information is stuck within the system, so cells in the colon increase and produce more gastric juices. Why? To enable us to digest the chunk.

When we resolve the anger, and digest the event, we enter the 2^nd phase, a state of parasympathetic regeneration. In the 2^nd phase, we tend to experience:

• Tiredness

• Increased appetite

• Reduced thinking

• Warm hands and feet

With IBS, this is the diarrhea phase. Water builds up in the colon, to enable the elimination of the chunk, resulting in diarrhea. The extra cells which have built up in the 1^st phase are released, so that by the end of the two phases (a dis-ease cycle), the body has returned to normal functioning.

In the moment of shock, the unconscious mind records everything. Many people who have had serious accidents recall the feeling of everything slowing down. What’s actually happening is that the mind is speeding up, recording all circumstances of the event, in every sense: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic (feeling), olfactory (smell) and gustatory (taste). From a survival perspective, this is crucial. By remembering all the details, you have an in-built warning system to avoid the situation in future.

A Meta Medicine diagnosis reveals the root cause, two phases and triggers for a specific health issue. It also highlights clients’ underlying emotional patterns. This in itself can be hugely empowering – for the first time, the client really understands why they have a particular illness, and knows what needs to change, thus enabling natural healing.

There are three aspects to therapy following Meta Medicine diagnosis:

Whatever modalities you use, Meta Medicine provides you with a biopsychosocial framework for understanding your clients’ health issues. With Irritable Bowel Syndrome, by knowing that the cause is an indigestible anger, and understanding how the two phases work, you can help your clients to identify the initial shock, what triggers off the same feeling, and what they need to overcome to regain wellness. Your therapies can be applied within this framework, providing a deeper understanding for clients and enhancing your service immeasurably.

Meta Medicine gives us the answers to many puzzling questions including:

• Why do we get ill when we do?

• How does stress cause ill health?

• What are the emotional root causes of specific health issues, such as cancer, arthritis, heart disease, diabetes and asthma?

• How do viruses and bacteria actually help us?

• How can I use Meta Medicine to help clients overcome their health issues?

If you’re interested in finding out more about META-Medicine:

• Sign up for our newsletter

• Find out about our events, talks and courses

• Read more articles

• Register for a free 15-minute discussion of your health issue