Panic Attacks & Cerebellar-Vestibular Dysfunction (What?)

You know, I get so tired of hearing people say they want to lick a mind variance – my stigma busting term for "mental illness" - on their own. Now, I suppose that means no therapist, no psychiatrist, no meds, no intervention of any kind. And, of course, when these folks fall prey to their symptoms they label themselves as some sort of weak runt.

Ever heard, or made, any of these comments…
"I can handle this thing on my own."
"Shoot, all I gotta’ do is toughen up and I’ll get this handled."
"I don’t need to see a shrink."
"Using meds is a crutch."
"If I can’t beat this on my own, what kind of man/woman am I?"
"All I gotta’ do is pull up the old bootstraps."

Why all this striving for some sort of warped badge of courage? Why all the bravado? Wake up, folks. Would you be thinking and saying the same thing if you were diagnosed with diabetes? I don’t think so. And given the fact that diabetes and mind variances have deep biological roots, how ‘bout I offer this little piece of reality. Whether or not one - or society - wants to admit it, the reason most mind variance sufferers want to handle things on their own is because our culture gives no credibility to any malady that could potentially be mental or emotional in nature.

Hence, we’re conditioned to believe if an illness has no easily identifiable relationship with what a misguided society traditionally believes qualifies for the definition of being "sick," it must be something "in one’s head." That being the case, it’s simply something you need to "get over," "deal with;" or something upon which you must just "pull yourself together." It’s all just so cruel, ignorant, and frustrating.

Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a great patriot, educator, writer, and humanitarian. He was also a physician and fascinated with the causes of, and cures for, what he called "madness" and "diseases of the mind." Rush acknowledged these diseases of the mind were a huge mystery to the age; however he believed they were no different than any other disease of the body in terms of principles of cause and course.

Rush considered Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind his greatest literary work. This book, published in 1812, would become the standard American guide for mental illness. As a result, Dr. Benjamin Rush would later be known as, indeed, the "Father of American Psychiatry."

Come on folks - this man was on to the truth some 200 years ago. Please see what you’re experiencing for what it truly is. Tune in to reality and you’ll be amazed at what you’ll accomplish. Please don’t step into the denial trap. You’ll never get out.

Panic! ...and Poetic Justice
Panic attack education and recovery eworkbook