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Models x Mental Health

April 1st, 2024

April Fools! Just kidding.

I started to do some thinking on how to get myself out of this hole. Traditionally, western society frames mental health like this:

This assumes a lot of control for humans. And I can certainly see why there is mental health stigma. If you are depressed, it must mean you are not handling your thoughts well!

After a lot of introspection, I have found that it is more like this:

My rationale is this: can you consciously choose to be angry? Try repeating the words "be angry, be angry, be angry" in your mind.

It probably isn't working. But you can certainly your context. Imagine a situation that makes you very angry, like politics or your loved ones pissing you off. Chances are, you can probably induce anger that way.

Also in the second model, notice how all contexts go through the body first. Poor physical health is linked with poor mental health, and this is no surprise. A healthy body will signal different chemicals in response to different contexts compared to a sick body.

Imagine a lion was chasing you. Of course you'd want to pump adrenaline if you were healthy, but what if you were sick? Of course, maybe your body would want to pump some adrenaline, but not too much that it'll damage itself!

Adrenaline is not the only emotion we feel... we also feel sadness and happiness too. If I were the body, and I were extremely sick, would I spend energy creating dopamine?

Regarding why I claim emotion precedes thought, after a lot of thinking, I realized I've never had a thought void of an emotion. Even if I have a logical thought, I still "feel that I'm right." To me, thoughts are just echoes of the body's chemical composition.

Also, I always wondered why athletes seemed so relaxed and chill. Used to be I'd chalk it up to just being a "good person" with a "good work ethic," but what if it really is their physical health? That their bodies produce attractive emotions because they are in good health.

You could venture to say that people with "good personalities" choose to be athletes, rather than the other way around. But, I've noticed my personality change for the better with improving physical health and change for the worse while destroying my physical health. N=1 though.

Put simply, athletes have less chronic inflammation than regular folks.

Positive Thoughts

There are a few studies out there that claim positive thinking helps recovery from sickness.

But here's some scary food for thought. What if instead of positive thinking healing a body, it's a healthy body that creates both recovery from sickness AND positive thinking?

That the causality is backwards! That healthy bodies create positive thinking, rather than positive thinking creating healthy bodies!

Is consciousness a symptom of being? Consciousness an effect, rather than a cause?

Personal Markers of Inflammation

I wonder if the human condition has been radically changed since the 1960s. I hear people believe that the human condition has not changed since the Greeks. But after learning about the effects of sugar and the microbiome, I am almost certain that the nature of humans is radically evolving over time. We, as people, are nothing like our ancestors considering we are constantly on white powder drugs all the time.

Why are African hunter-gatherer tribes so chill and happy?

Anyway, here is a list of what inflammation does to my body, and it tends to happen all at once.

• Tight throat, high-pitched voice
• Tight shoulders
• More aching and soreness from exercise
• Eczema flare-up
• Intense mood swings
• Tiredness
• Dry mouth
• Poor posture, inability to mew
• Face rubbing/stimming out of stress
• Shallow breathing
• Diarrhea
• Saliva isn't sweet
• Stomach ache
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Dissociation/Depersonalization
• Negative thoughts and attitudes
• Preoccupation
• Lack of focus, brain fog
• Poor socialization outcomes
• Porous, rough, oily skin
• Nasal congestion and sinuses
• Dry throat
• Asthma
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• Acne
• Dry lips

Thought, the expression of emotion. Emotion, the expression of body. Body, our existence.

Compassion for Humans

The model, above, most importantly gives compassion to humans. Although it is a more deterministic approach, I cannot help but believe in a desire to help others with the model.

If you struggle with mental illness, I implore you to believe in the model for a little while. Try it out. If anything, it will give you compassion for yourself.