What is the BioPsychoSocial Connection?

Have you ever looked for evidence of the specific links between our health issues and our thoughts, feelings and behaviour? Or noticed how our environment affects our health and wellbeing? Perhaps you’ve noticed these connections with clients after your therapies.

For many centuries, Western science has been based on the duality of mind and body. This idea was proposed by the ancient Greeks, and is most commonly associated with 17^th century philosopher Rene Descartes. This dualistic belief led to a reductionist, biomechanical and biochemical model of health. According to this perspective, risk factors such as pathogens, genetics and accidents are responsible for all illness.

The biopsychosocial model takes a much broader view of health and wellbeing. It refers to the interconnection between our body (bio), mind (psycho), and environment (social). The term biopsychosocial was first coined by George Engel, a psychiatrist, in the US journal Science in 1977.

Although Engel’s idea that our biology, psychology and environment are connected challenged the existing Western models of health, research into this exciting area has grown rapidly. This research is providing us with evidence for the mind body connection – and thus providing a greater understanding of how and why natural healing and holistic medicine work.

One approach that’s taking our understanding of the mind body connection to the next level is META-Medicine. META-Medicine is a biopsychosocial model based on a detailed mind-brain-body understanding that enables us to pinpoint exactly why we get ill. META-Medicine explains the specific connection between our health issues and other aspects of our lives.

• How emotional shocks are the beginning of health issues

• How our health issues, such as eczema, back pain and thyroid problems, are intimately connected to our personality and behaviour

• How the brain is involved in every health issue

• How illness can be seen as an opportunity for increased awareness, conscious evolution and empowerment - instead of something to be avoided or feared

META-Medicine takes our understanding beyond risk factor explanations: it explains exactly why an illness begins. A single, defining moment of shock starts an emergency programme (commonly labelled an illness). For a shock to begin an emergency dis-ease process, it has to be unexpected, emotional and isolating, and leaves us feeling momentarily stunned. Common shocks include social conflicts, bad news or physical traumas.

For example, a baby may get a shock if he is suddenly and unexpectedly taken from his mother, or an employee could get a shock if her boss suddenly shouts at her, telling her she’s no good at her job.

At the moment of shock, we experience immediate changes at all levels:

• Mind: The unconscious mind records every detail of the shock taken in through the 5 senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.

• Body: The nervous system goes into fight-flight-freeze (sympathetic stress). We feel cold, lose our appetite and get an increase in stress chemicals.

• We also get an organ change, depending on the emotion we experience. In the case of the baby, if he feels separated from his mother, his epidermis (outer skin) will react.

• Social environment: Our perceptions of the environment change. We take in all the information about the event, so we have an early warning signal for future similar events.

In modern Western medical thought, the majority of illnesses are idiopathic (meaning that they cause themselves): in other words, they are meaningless. META-Medicine demonstrates that our emergency programmes are highly intelligent and meaningful. The intention is for the person to overcome the shock.

The original research that led to the findings of META-Medicine came from brain CT (Computer Tomography) scans. The doctors who made these discoveries noticed that every time a person had a specific illness, they also had a corresponding change in a particular part of the brain.

After a shock, we remain in Phase 1, the first of the body’s two modes (see diagram).

There are changes at all levels:

• Mind: We tend to obsess about what happened, and how it could have been different

• Body: We remain in sympathetic stress (fight-or-flight), with cold extremities, sleeplessness and reduced appetite. Depending on the specific organ that reacts, and which part of the brain directs it, the organ either increases in cells or function, or decreases. In the case of the epidermis, there is a cell decrease

• Social environment: The way we interact with people and how we feel about our environment will be altered

When we resolve the shock, either through a change of circumstance or internally letting go of the emotion, we go into Phase 2: regeneration. It’s during this regeneration phase that we experience most symptoms of illness, including ‘flu, colds, bronchial infections, eczema and diarrhoea. Hence the common pattern of getting ill as soon as we go on holiday - after a period of stress at work, we’re able to go into resolution and healing!

Common changes in this phase include:

• Mind: The mind becomes stiller (sometimes even fuzzy!) as we let go of obsessive thinking

• Body: We switch into the parasympathetic nervous system, which includes warmer hands and feet, increased appetite and sleepiness. The affected organ will begin to rebalance, either reducing or rebuilding to counteract the effects of the stress phase.

• Social environment: We may withdraw socially, needing to be alone and resting in order to recuperate.

As the information recorded at the time of shock is stored in the unconscious mind, experiencing similar stimuli can trigger off the dis-ease process again. Example triggers could be a certain word or tone of voice, a scent like pollen, the taste of a particular food – or commonly, re-experiencing the emotion felt at the time of shock. For example, if the child felt separated from his mother again, his eczema could flare up.

This biopsychosocial model enables us to go beyond holistic medicine by building an integrative picture of our clients’ lives. META-Medicine gives us the correlations between clients’ health issues and their emotional patterns, and enables us to uncover the social or environmental triggers affecting them.
 

This knowledge empowers both the therapist and client, because it provides a more complete understanding of the problem, and pinpoints what we need to do to heal naturally. Just like the causes, solutions need to address every level:

• Mind: Mentally and emotionally letting go, such as forgiving somebody or accepting a situation

• Body: Releasing the physical trauma can also release our emotions. Clients feeling tearful or exhausted after a bodywork session demonstrates the mind body connection

• Social environment: Changing the situations that are triggers. If the tone of the manager’s voice started the issue, changing jobs could be a resolution!

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