The Fragility of Health

A friend of mine, an excellent Primary Care Physician, told me about a patient that he seen, off and on, for ten years--a young man, strong, healthy, athletic. But after a flu-like illness 6-months ago, he developed a persistent cough and a slight decrease in stamina.  My friend listened to the young man's heart and heard a loud heart murmur.  An ECG was abnormal.  A consulting cardiologist  ordered a test that showed an aneurysm about to burst.  The patient was airlifted by helicopter to a cardiac surgery team at a regional hospital. The young man went from a vigorous life to an ordinary flu like infection to a nagging cough, to finding himself in a helicopter facing imminent heart surgery.  How vulnerable we all are to illness, no matter how old or young, how robust or frail. All of us would do well to thank God for the health we have today for we know not what tomorrow will bring. A cliche perhaps, but a cliche worth pondering. 

Meaningless Conflicts

Many successful people have a "neurotic" personality. The characteristics are:

• Take on more and more tasks
• Have a difficult time saying "no"
• Strive to please others
• Base their self-worth on the opinion of others

Many unsuccessul people have a personality disorder characterized by:

• Failure to assume responsibility for their own welfare
• Blame others for their problems
• Make excuses for their inappropriate behavior
• Don't think they have a problem 
• Instead they think someone who is trying to help them or put limits on them has the problem

"Neurotics" respond to those with personality problems by:

• Geting frustrated with the personality disordered individual
• Tending to blame themselves for failures of the personality disorder
• Try harder and harder to correct the behavior of the personality disordered
• Rescue the personality disordered over and over again
• Get sick, anxious, depressed, agitated, and worried while the personality disordered enjoys life as long as the "neurotic" lets them alone

This neurotic-personality disorder conflict is most often found in dysfuctional parent-child relationships.

When the "neurotic" allows the personality disordered to wallow in his/her own irresponsible behavior--flunk out of school, pay for their own room and board, buy their gasoline and pay for automobile care, go to jail--more socially appropriate behavior may develop. He or she may stop drinking or using drugs, study and complete school work, find more responsible friends, and get a job. They might even turn into a "neurotic."

Solving Problems Gives Life Meaning

Scott Peck's book, The Road Less Traveled, deals primarily with personal responsibility. The book’s opening sentence, "Life is difficult," introduces the theme that each day we face a series of challenges.  

Solving problems gives life meaning by enabling us to grow mentally and spiritually.

 As we grow in discipline and love, our empathy grows and our thoughts become broader--we begin to think critically, we make up our own minds about events, people, and ideas.  Without growth, we tend to define our worldview too narrowly becoming judgmental, narrowminded, inflexible, fearful, and dependent.

Avoiding problems produces emotional illness.  Since all of us tend to avoid the uncomfortable feelings engendered by problem solving, all of us to a greater of lesser degree lack complete emotional health.  All of us benefit from learning the value of facing our problems directly and experiencing the pain of solving problems.  
Constructive problem solving consists of four characteristics: delaying gratification--doing the most difficult things first, accepting responsibility by avoiding blaming and excuse making, telling the truth even when the truth causes us to suffer, and avoiding enmeshment by taking the risk of facing difficult tasks without being rescued by others.

The Meaning of Suffering: Growing From Adversity

Problems, trials, adversities, and challenges are a part of life. We can’t avoid them. Most of us encountered challenges when we moved from elementary school, to middle school, and on to high school. Perhaps we had a difficult teacher or administrator. Peer pressure may have reduced us to tears. Or a particularly difficult class stressed us. A move to a new city, state, or country may have devastated us. Perhaps we were cut from the basketball team or didn’t get the part we wanted in the school play.

It is easy to get caught up in the self-pity, why me, unfairness of life trap. Some dropped out of school when they felt the challenges were too great. Or they may have quit the basketball team. Others responded angrily to adversity causing increasing conflicts. Still others used drugs or alcohol as an escape from problems.

Those who endured and overcame the challenges they faced became successful adults, productive citizens, and nurturing parents. When they reached adulthood the experience of overcoming stressful events enabled them to meet new adverisites such as job stress, financial worries, relationship challenges. Here are some of the ideas and traits successful children learn and develop:

• Children who thrive realize that life presents challenges. A parent, a teacher, or a coach has taught them that adversities enable a person to demonstrate the emotional toughness they otherwise may never have discovered. As the football coach says, “It’s not how many times you get knocked down that counts. It’s how many times you get back up.”
• Successful children (and adults) get over the self-pity trap by replacing self-defeating and unproductive thoughts with positive thoughts: I can do it. I am developing successful habits. If they did it so can I. Courage is doing something even when I am afraid of it. I like challenges. This makes me stronger. I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. 
• Effective children learn to cope with problems by developing a sense of responsibility—doing homework on time, cleaning their room, obeying their parents. They don’t make excuses. They don’t blame others.
• Fortunate children cultivate a support system of family and friends. Parents can share those difficulties they survived as a child. They can give a little push that gives confidence to a child. Parents encourage. Instead of rescuing their child, they let their child suffer school problems and peer pressure so the child will grow into a resilient adult. Friends too can give support. Older siblings can share their secrets of surviving.
• Prayer and scripture study can bolster confidence by revealing God’s unconditional love.
• Inspirational stories can encourage persistence and endurance. For example, basketball great Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team when he was in the 10^th grade. He kept practicing and now he is a living legend

When we respond positively and constructively to adversity, we develop strength, courage, and self-confidence that enables us to deal with the increasing challenges we face throughout life. We can overcome the problems--the suffering--that life brings.

Resiliency

Those who bounce back from tragic events have the following traits:

• Flexibility
• Ability to adopt to new circumstances quickly
• Thrive in constant change
• Have confidence they will rebound from a stressful event
• Have the ability to create "good luck" out of circumstances others may consider "bad luck"
• Have empathy--can see things from another person's point of view

Fruits of the Spirit Imperiled

We are moving to Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, 1700 Kraft Dr. Suite 1375, Blacksburg, VA 24060. As you know moving presents multiple stressors. I won't bore you with the details, but it-was-one-of-those-days-where-everything-that-could-go-wrong-went-wrong. By the end of the day I was anxious, frustrated, irritated, agitated, and everything-elsetated.
Tonight we had Bible study at our home. Guess what it was on? Yes--the Fruits of the Spirit:

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Faithfulness
• Gentleness
• Self-control

The Bible study reminded me that the Holy Spirit is always present to guide us, direct us, comfort us, and help us. Nothing is impossible with God. Everything will workout the way he has planned. The  Holy Spirit will give us those fruits if we just wait on the Lord to unfold his plan. 

What Is Neuropsychiatry?

Neuropsychiatry links psychiatric symptoms to brain-body function as the following examples indicate:

• ·      Psychiatric Disorder—Dysfunction in brain structures & brain neurocircuits
• ·      Depressive Disorder—Limbic-cortical dysregulation
• ·      Obsessive Compulsive Disorder—Frontal-subcortical circuitry, right caudate dysfunction
• ·      Schizophrenia—NMDA receptor activation in the prefrontal cortex
• ·      Bipolar Disorder—Prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala dysfunction

Medication, neurosurgery, brain stimulators, or structural implants are chosen based on the dysfunction in the brain structures and brain neurocircuits.