329 Comments
⭠ Return to thread

Absolutely. A lot of mental illness is truly physical in nature, like the anxiety nervosa that Freud coined/ invented as a term with the onset of massive global electrification with the telegraph:

https://romanshapoval.substack.com/p/hysteria

Expand full comment

No doubt there are physical components, and anxieties of different kinds and degrees, but we shouldn't rob humans of our greatest gift/curse: Agency. We have quite a bit of Free Will.

I have experienced trauma and have not ever quite overcome it. That said, in every instance where things went sideways for me, the one common thread, the theme, the leit motif in every single instance... was ME.

Do I drink because my body craves denial or because I choose to deny?

*nods vigorously* Yup.

Expand full comment

Precisely this.

Go too far down the mindset of "our environment has made us sick" and it's virtually indistinguishable from "COVID gave everyone brain damage". Both extremes strip people of agency and create unnecessary alarmism.

Expand full comment

All mental illness is physical. What do you think is going on in the brain? It’s not imagination. It’s fucked up hormonal, endocrine, and metabolic pathways.

Expand full comment

I agree that it's ultimately physical. What is going on in the brain is neurological pathways that were probably set in place long ago, likely in the womb, by hormonal, endocrine, and metabolic pathways that were unfortunately fucked up back then.

Expand full comment

Agreed. I was being gentle (: Are you aware of how wireless radiation can exacerbate autism?

Expand full comment

Yes, and so can food allergies. You should see what happens when I get milk by accident.

Expand full comment

Is that raw milk, or pasteurized?

Expand full comment

All milk, I was born with a casein allergy. I blame Agent Orange. They told my daddy it was safe and effective. Well, it *was* effective…

Expand full comment

So sorry to hear that. Have you heard of the GAPS protocol?

Expand full comment

Hey there-- totally agree. (liminalluke)

Expand full comment