My podcast this week is called, Stories from Wonderland: Strange and Unexpected Events that Changed My Perspective on Psychiatry. In this podcast, I share some unusual experiences that shaped the way I understand psychiatry.
To underscore just how strange my life as a holistic psychiatrist can be, I've had some supernatural experiences the past few weeks working on my patients' spiritual health. To put it candidly, I've been trying to clear some unhelpful spiritual attachments from my patients' lives.
Read on for more details on how well I did, and be sure to check out the new podcast teaser for Wednesday's podcast.
Have an amazing week!
Spiritual Influences on the Mind
Can cognition be hijacked by other spiritual forces?
I encountered demons before I became a holistic psychiatrist. I wrote about one of my experiences in the article, Angels, Demons, a Boy, and a Psychiatrist. It was one of the most spiritually educational experiences of my life. Afterward, my awareness of the spirit world moved from faith to knowledge.
However, the invisible gets easily forgotten over time. Even experiences with demons end up gathering dust on the shelf.
Recently, I had to take another look at those experiences for the sake of two patients. I had tried everything to help them, but they were still stuck. Strangely, both patients had the same first name. One couldn't lower his medications due to chronic insomnia. The other can't get out of bed due to sheer despair.
Finally, after trying everything, I suggested to J.V. that we try to help him heal spiritually. He had a horrible experience with LSD that started his unremitting struggles with insomnia.
I mentioned a book called Return from Tomorrow by George G. Ritchie that described spiritual beings with addictions can sometimes dive into the spiritual space of another individual and attach to their life. George Ritchie eventually became Dr. Ritchie, a psychiatrist who specialized in treating addictions.
When I tried to do the energy work to clear any unwanted spiritual attachments to J.V., I was a little rusty and cavalier about it, probably because I didn't really believe there were any spirits to dislodge.
However, as I tried to do the clearing, I lost my train of thought completely and ended up mumbling something incoherent that included my daughter's name. It jolted me back into the moment.
What had just happened? Where had my thoughts gone? Why couldn't I speak or think coherently for a moment there? I remembered that I had this exact thing happen when I tried to dislodge an unwanted spirit from another patient many years ago.
Feeling a bit chagrined for being hijacked a second time, I started again with renewed determination. This time, the energy work began with an intention for divine spiritual protection and support.
I also made a point to help any spiritual attachments have a safe and healing place to go. I assumed that the last thing a wandering, lost soul would want is to be homeless. The process went smoothly. At least, I could talk properly during the energy work.
When I worked with J.G., I was already warmed up from my experiences with J.V. The process went well without me losing my train of thought, which is always a good sign.
After our session, his mother thanked me because she always believed that her son's mental health had been plagued by negative spiritual entities. J.G. had a long history of substance abuse and emotional abuse that may have created more opportunities for these attachments to occur.
Both J.G. and J.V. were very open to my suggestion that we work on their spiritual attachments. They both intuitively felt that their mental health was affected at a spiritual level.
There is so much that we don't understand about the connection between spirituality and mental health. I hope that by sharing these experiences, we can destigmatize efforts to help those who are ill due to spiritual issues.
Have a wonderful week!
The Holistic Psychiatrist Podcast (Ep. 21):
Stories from Wonderland: Strange and Unexpected Events
that Changed My Perspective on Psychiatry
Check out the teaser for the new episode out tomorrow!
Changing a conventional psychiatrist’s mindset takes more than theories or written words, it takes real experiences that shock and reeducate.
In this podcast, I share stories from my personal life and work that changed my opinions about what works and what doesn’t, and ultimately, why I chose functional and energy medicine as additional tools in my toolbox. Listen to strange, unexpected, and poignant stories that blow one's mind and make one whole at the same time.
Click here for the full episode available on Wednesday.
Be sure to subscribe!