ANXIETY AND MENTAL ILLNESS
Shifting perspectives:
I read a study that was conducted with a troupe of monkeys many many years ago which gave me this insight. It’s useful to remember at this stage how close monkeys and humans actually are in genetic and sociopathic behaviours to us their fellow primates.
So the story goes like this - the monkey troupe had a group within the main volume that was very anxious. They hung out on the periphery both physically and in interactions.
Much like the anxious within human groups, these members we disruptive and not functioning as the whole did.
Well the humans that were conducting this study decided that they would remove the anxious members of the troupe and see what the consequences were. The results were astounding, within 12 months all of the other monkeys were dead.
What they deducted was that these hyper sensitive monkeys were playing a vital role for the group. They were using their nervous sensitivities to show the main group of the unbalanced dangers and nature of their environments and their collective behaviours.
Remembering that these nervous sensitivities in primates is also a part of our defensive system, as these elements were strained beyond capacity- anxiousness and disruption increased.
Once the anxious 8% of monkeys were removed the main troupe progressed to self destruction - the warning group had been removed and the main protagonists had been left to their own devices without any checks or balances. The ‘healthy’ annihilated themselves.
The psychological question at this stage is who was actually ill, the more nervous ( anxious) or the less. Reflect on that for a moment.
Checks and Balances, think about these words. Checking behaviours and balancing them - that was the phycological role that the anxious were performing within the collective.
How might we benefit from understanding anxious behaviour or other forms of mental illness in this way. Are these sensitive primate beings performing a check and balance for the collective, i think so.
There is no creature on Earth that mimics us more closely, and this lesson might be one of the best for us to absorb.
Were these anxious monkeys performing a vital and heroic role for the collective troupe. I believe so. At great personal cost obviously, as anyone with anxiety will attest.
To put this into context for you personally if you're suffering in this way - I would invite you to examine your own tribes or troupes, and importantly the collective culture that you inhabit and see where the anxieties arise from. Who else’s behaviour in the collective are you reacting to especially. I’ve seen very many a beautiful sensitive child, well nurtured within their own family develop strong anxiety in school. Deeper exposure to the larger volume of the tribe was enough to build tension that lead to anxiety eventually - unresolved these tensions can also manifest into other worry based patterns like eating disorders and digestive issues.
This is not about blame, it’s about understanding, illuminating, processing and healing. Limiting some of the cultural influences might be helpful too, things like fear inducing news broadcasts which actually act as a cult like indoctrination to the collective consciousness.
It’s depression inducement on rotation - thats what news broadcasts are. Is it intentional? Yes it is, with economic outcomes. Advertisers need an audience, and humans resonate to drama. Fill the news with inflammatory language and drama, and you have an audience.
People exposed to long term subtle techniques like these are more likely to have adrenal exhaustion and associated illnesses like diabetes. They are also more likely to be weakened and dependent on pharmaceuticals and fast food which keeps them firmly rooted in the consumer category. And consumption means profit.
Deeper shifting perspectives:
There is another famous story of the South American Shaman who is taken to visit a Western insane asylum. He is gobsmacked by what he encounters here. He cannot reconcile that treatment of these people who would be honoured within his own culture. He understood the role of anxious monkeys to a tee.
His was a superior understanding.
With anxious patients - I explore these issues whilst allowing the body to let go of patterns of holding to the stories involved. It is very important to offer strengthening to the natural defensive aspects of the mind/body relationship via the outer layers of the body. That is the nervous system, Bladder channel and Gallbladder/Triple heater channel especially. Also via the Gut channel and their associated relationships.
We may not have the direct influence to shift societal group energies yet to the degree to alleviate anxiety within its members. However we can strengthen these souls so that they can continue to perform the great roles of resistance to collective ills that they were destined to play.
As a footnote, it is clear that these dynamics are not the only cause of anxiety nor deeper patterns of mental suffering. Certainly trauma plays a significant role, however trauma still occurs within these group dynamics, with each person a pebble in the pond sending ripples outward.
Michael Ross - Energy Practitioner
Therapy Gold Coast. Occupational therapy Gold Coast.
Mental Health Gold Coast, Mental Health Brisbane, Mental Health Sydney, Mental Health Melbourne.
Online therapy.
