The Cumulative Impacts Mode of Suffering in the Modern World
The Cumulative Impacts Mode of Suffering in the Modern World
The Slings and Arrows of Misfortune in our Era
Illustrated by a semi-autobiographical example.
A stress filled life. A fear fuelled existence. An addiction to adrenaline. Anxious thoughts, going round and round. The tightening of shoulders. Constrictions around the neck. Body-mind signals being mangled. Panic on the ascendant. Stomach muscles cramp. The gut upset. The bowels also burn, irritated.
The modern workplace. The mountains of work to be done. Bodies static. Fixed in physiologically wrong shapes. For far too long. Posture is not the priority. The hunching of backs. Back to neck pain. A pinch-point. Too much congestion in the carotid tunnel. Too much strain on the jugular superhighways passing through. Nutrient and nerve traffic on the gut-brain axis disrupted.
The daily diet. The junk food. The processed chemicals. The gluten and lactose. The sweet, sweet sugar. Feeding the stomach’s stress symptoms. But the body’s needs are unsatisfied. Nourishment for anxieties and depression. Not fuel for brain’s proper functions. Stressful living feeding back to food. The comfort eating. See a serpent swallow its own tail?
A gut unbalanced. Too much sweet, sweet sugar. Too much yeast. Too many man-made chemicals. The tale of the H. Pylori and the Candida. Not enough vital minerals. Amino acids never in abundance. A famine of natural nutrients. An infection. Bad bacteria on the rise. The excessive anti-biotics. The good bacteria dying. More mal-absorption of already negligible nutrients.
Allergens in the air. Toxins in the water. Poison in the ground. The impossible plants made real. Effects unknown. Outcomes unobserved, unproven. The Great Experiment of the human race. The Natural World overflows with Un-naturals. New environments external to our evolution. The immune system put to the test. Straining whole systems of body’s biology. Permanent pressures to survive in this self-made chemical storm.
The penultimate blow: another to the neck. An injury on the kinetic chain. The foot. The knee. The hip. The back. The shoulder. The neck itself. The jaw. Anywhere’ll do. Posture collapses. Permanent panic stations of damaged carotid bodies. A bona fide Bottle-Neck. More disruption to brain’s nutritional flow. Neurons mis-fire. Cells begin to die. No escape for their excesses and excreta. Toxins build and build. The grey matter perishes. The stressful cycle turns more vicious. A plethora of physical pain. More anx. More mental anguish.
The nail in the coffin is now hammered home! Healthcare and biological sciences systems centred on ultra-specialism. The myopic focus. The short sighted thinking. The Whole Picture unseen. This panoramic perspective not taken. Neuros only seeing the neurodegeneration. Announce “it’s brain disease!!!”. Musclo-skeletal experts eye-up the injury. They maintain “but the brain rot is unrelated”. Scientists focussed on latest pet theory. “Ah ha! Its all in the gut!” is the soup de jour.
Systemic syndromes misdiagnosed as definite disease.
Its a tragedy-comedy in the final act.
A series of unfortunate events.
The chronic illnesses of our age.
Your post could be the lyrics set to a very ominous tune. A song of medical industrial complex professionals pragmatically misdiagnosising the true causes of disease. How healthy and happy could we be outside the corporate grind.
I managed to start seeing this stuff, clearly for first time, back in 2013 following initial diagnosis of raised BP. Research into systemic routes of inflammation (metabolic syndrome) led me to conclude that I should ignore the GP, who suggested I ignore my research and take BP pills, although she may have given a nod to lifestyle changes “but most people don’t adhere to them.”
I did. Starting with diet, first calorie counting, then paleo. Continued researching. Discovered wholesale food industry abuses. Already suspected Pharma. Radical removal of processed foodstuffs and other toxins from entire house. Replaced with ecological/ natural options, cleaning agents etc.
Next: exercise. Began walking. Hiking. Began to experience temporarily lift to depression. Over next decade continued hiking and tweaking diet towards ketogenic lifestyle. Began to eliminate foodstuffs that contributed to onset ofndepressive episodes. Sugars of course. Grains. Zero confectionary, (other than 90% dark chocolate)
Began to experience sufficient freedom to begin to identify psychological roots of lifelong depression (fairly well disguised / controlled / repressed for first half of life). Gentle reformation of practical approach to life. Lots of (learning how to authentically) rest.
After all these cultural, social and psychological negotiations, seeing through the abuses of last three years came naturally, though deeply shocking, as breadth and depth of it became clear. I’ve starting to articulate my perspective of it on a Substack. (Link via profile) with intention to explore routes towards regeneration.
Keep on keeping on.