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Parental Intelligence - Issue 51
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Bob Collier
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Jul 20, 2003 09:31 PDT
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-------------------PARENTAL INTELLIGENCE------------------
20 July 2003
Issue 51
Bob Collier, Editor mailto:quauss-@hotmail.com
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Welcome to Parental Intelligence!
"The world's No.1 email newsletter for thinking parents"
Lots of thinking practice this week! :)
Firstly this week, The Candlelight Project sheds a little
more light on the cult of biopsychiatry. A definite cause
for concern, in my not so humble opinion! We ALL need to
know more about it.
That's followed by my guest article - 'unschooler' Mary Gold
discusses the positive things that can happen "If You Give A
Kid A Nintendo..." (My son Patrick will love this one!).
Finally, Doug Bench of Science for Success explores the
subject of our self-image and explains why it's vitally
important for us to understand what it is and how it works.
If you haven't signed up yet for Doug's "7 Mini-Science
Lessons for Maxi-Success" email course - heck, what are you
waiting for? It's educational and it's free! :D
As always, thanks for reading. I know this week's issue may
seem as if it doesn't have much to do with parenting, but,
believe me, it truly does.
A bumper issue next week, when Parental Intelligence
celebrates its 1st birthday! :D YEEEEE-HAH!!
Until then, be happy, be successful and, most of all, be who
you are!
Bob
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"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can
do." - John Wooten
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************************************************************
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For more information about this exciting event, please visit
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************************************************************
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THE CANDLELIGHT PROJECT
If you're not up to speed with The Candlelight Project, you
can find out more about it by reading read Issues 49 and 50
of Parental Intelligence. Please go to:
http://www.topica.com/lists/pintel/read
and/or grab yourself a copy of The Parental Intelligence
Report on 'ADHD' by sending a blank email to:
pire-@getresponse.com
This week, I take a look at what I believe is the "One
Wrong Idea" behind the pseudo-science of biopsychiatry.
I discovered the concept of the "One Wrong Idea" in an
article I read by a bloke called Frederick Mann. It's about
how elaborate and internally consistent belief systems can
be constructed from a single erroneous perception, and I've
come to suspect that that's what's happened in the case of
biopsychiatry.
Before I talk about how I think the concept of the "One
Wrong Idea" applies to biopsychiatry, I'd like you to first
consider the ideas presented here by Canadian naturopath Dr.
Julie Pegg in her article "Mind-body Healing":
Mind-body Healing
by Julie Pegg ND, RPC
(Published in Insight Health magazine, October/November 1997
and Personal Success magazine, February 1999)
Many people separate the mind from the body but they are
really one and the same. We think of our minds as being in
our heads and our bodies beginning from the neck down.
Therefore, when we get sick, we think that it has to do only
with our body but not with our emotional state. We could not
be further from the truth.
· Research on stress and the location of the emotions
Many of us have heard about the negative effects of stress.
For years now, scientists have been speaking about how
stress lowers immunity and depletes our adrenal glands
eventually resulting in illness. "Stress" is a general term
for an emotional and physical response to an event. Thus,
the mind-body research around stress is really applicable to
any emotion. Other research indicates that emotions are felt
in every cell of our bodies. Thus, when you are sad, the
sadness is felt everywhere - in your heart, in your lungs,
in your intestines... throughout your body. The same goes
for other emotions such as anger, grief and joy.
· Suppressing your feelings makes you sick
Many sources indicate that it is not the feeling of emotions
that result in illness but rather the NOT feeling of
emotions. In short, suppressing your feelings makes you sick.
So, it is not the anger that makes us sick and gives us
headaches and abdominal pains but rather, the not expressing
the anger that does.
A lot of people are really uncomfortable with their
feelings. The pain of this can be very overwhelming at
times. Many of us have been brought up in homes where our
feelings were not honoured and thus we now don't honour them
in ourselves. When an emotion comes up, we'll talk ourselves
out of it, distract ourselves with overwork, exercise, etc.
· We don't feel it, we control it.
It takes an awful lot of energy to control our emotions. I
often use the analogy of a volcano to describe this process.
Imagine that a given emotion was like a volcano trying to
erupt on you. A volcano has a lot of force and energy. In
order to keep it down deep inside of you (suppression of the
emotion) it takes a huge amount of counter-energy to push it
down and hold it there inside of you. This is exhausting! It
leaves you in a state of continual depletion. And the worst
part about it is that it DOES come out. Not emotionally, but
physically. It will speak through the body. Think of it as
the volcanic energy needing somewhere to go. If it is
stopped from coming out at the top (ie emotionally) it will
come out somewhere else. It's just too big to keep down.
· How to heal
Because our minds and bodies are one and the same, without
addressing both aspects, full healing will not take place.
We all know this intuitively. We have all the answers within
us. We just need to learn to trust ourselves again. We are
complete beings. We need our healing to be complete as well.
Copyright © 1997, Julie Pegg ND, RPC
Reprinted with permission.
Dr. Julie Pegg ND, RPC ©
Registered Counsellor, Naturopathic Doctor
http://www.juliepeggnd.com/
Here are a few more examples of the connection between mind
and body:
"... whenever an emotion, such as fear or anger is
triggered, a network of brain areas referred to as the
limbic system (also called the emotional brain) generates a
pattern of outputs, which cause a biologic response in the
body. These responses are programmed, much like a computer
program and expressed via the MindBodySpirit Communication
systems of the central nervous system, the autonomic nervous
system, and the neuropeptide chemical messenger systems.
Facial expressions are an example of the expression of
emotion in the body. All human beings produce similar
expressions associated with emotions, such as fear, anger,
and sadness. Other examples are tightening of the muscles
associated with fear and slumping of the shoulders with
sadness."
The Emotional Brain
http://www.parkviewpub.com/parksub/n5.html#pg0066
"There are many scientific experiments that demonstrate
clearly that mental phenomena affect physiological
phenomena. ... immune cells react to your internal dialogue,
and that is one discovery in the field of medicine that
emerged only in the past few decades. It's called
psychoneuroimmunology.
... It has been estimated that the average human thinks
about sixty thousand thoughts a day. We are bundles of
conditioned reflexes that are triggered by people and
circumstances into predictable outcomes of behaviour and
also predictable biochemical reflexes."
- Deepak Chopra, M.D., and Leon Nacson, "How to Live in a
World of Infinite Possibilities" (Rider, 1998), pp.46-47
"There are fascinating studies which show us that ageing is
not a fixed phenomenon. Really, we all know it isn't. We all
know people who seem 'old before their time', or sprightly
older people who defy the ravages of time. But strictly
controlled studies have demonstrated this very clearly. One
of the most interesting studies was done at Harvard by Ellen
Langer, a psychologist. In the mid-1980s, she advertised in
a Boston newspaper for people over the age of 75 to
participate in an experiment. These people were taken to a
retreat where the environment was created to replicate that
in 1959. The furniture was from this time, they watched
movies from that period, and even the news from that period
was provided. The reading material provided was from 1959 -
there were 'Life' magazines, and so on. So all the sensory
stimuli replicated those in the 1950s.
The hypothesis was that the same sensory stimulation might
create the same flux of neurotransmitters and hormones as
the original experience. This was based on the simple
observation that we do get physical responses from
imagination: if you imagine that you are eating a lemon,
you'll get a flow of saliva in your mouth. And have you ever
recalled an embarrassing or stressful past experience? If
so, you will know that you get a surge of adrenaline through
your system, or that you feel your heart pounding faster.
The results in this experiment were remarkable. Within a
week, several of the biomarkers that were studied had
reversed. People regained flexibility in their fingers, had
improved eyesight and so on. Because they were younger in
1959, and they were receiving the same mental information
that they had at that time, their bodies responded
accordingly."
- Deepak Chopra, M.D., and Leon Nacson, "How to Live in a
World of Infinite Possibilities" (Rider, 1998), pp.59-60
This example is from the book I used as my 'parenting guide'
after my daughter was born in 1985:
"Folk phrases expressing feelings in body terms are
literally true." ... "People who are "on their toes", that
is, alert and striving, tend to have their body weight far
forward on their feet. People who do not "lose their heads",
that is, who strive to stay calm, rational, and in control,
tend to have tight neck muscles." ... "The widespread,
accurate use of these body phrases is an indication of the
unaware understanding we have of the relation between the
emotional and the body levels. This relation is not
mysterious. It is obvious. Most people know the connection.
They simply do not realize that they know."
- Will Schutz, PhD., "Profound Simplicity" (Bantam Books,
1979), p.22
Frankly, I could continue listing examples of the reality of
the mind-body connection for the next several hours - but,
I think you probably already understand what this is all
about.
Holism.
Holism is defined by the 2002 edition of The Penguin English
Dictionary as "a view of the universe, and especially living
nature, as being composed of interacting wholes that are
more than simply the sum of their parts".
Here's what Will Schutz says about holism:
"One principle that is widely known and sparsely believed,
is the principle that each one of us is a unified, integral
organism. I am an organism who manifests through thinking,
feeling, sensing and moving and who has a spiritual aspect.
These are not unrelated functions. My feelings influence my
thinking, my sensitivity to sensations influences my
movement. Illness, too, is a manifestation of my whole
being. I have integrity both in the sense of being whole and
in the sense of being truthful."
- Will Schutz, PhD., "Profound Simplicity" (Bantam Books,
1979), p.17
So, how does all of this relate to biopsychiatry? I'll tell
you.
While I've been exploring the subject of 'ADHD' throughout
this year, I've often wondered what it is exactly that the
proponents of 'ADHD' believe that I don't. When they look at
the same evidence concerning the nature, development and
behaviour of children as I do, what is it that causes them
to interpret that evidence completely differently to the way
I interpret it?
As I mentioned last week, I was on holiday in Queensland
recently. While I was there, I picked up a book to read and,
in that book, I just happened to discover the answer to my
question.
The book is called 'The MindBody Prescription' and it was
written in 1998 by John E. Sarno, M.D., a Professor of
Clinical Rehabilitation Medicine at the New York University
School of Medicine.
In 'The MindBody Prescription', Dr. Sarno explains "how
emotions including guilt, anxiety, depression, and low self-
esteem can stimulate the brain to manufacture physical
symptoms including fibromyalgia, repetitive strain injuries,
migraine headaches, hay fever, colitis, ulcers, and even
acne."
Dr. Sarno specializes in treating people for back pains
which he believes are caused by repressed anger. Outside of
his personal experiences and particular methodology, there
was nothing especially new about his book. Its underlying
philosophy was entirely in accordance with everything I've
learned and experienced myself over the past 25 years.
However, what caught my eye, when reading the book, was that
it mentioned the 'DSM-IV'.
Now, if you've read The Parental Intelligence Report on
'ADHD', you'll know about the DSM-IV (and what some people
think of it!), but, if you don't know, the DSM-IV - often
referred to as the 'bible' of psychiatry - is a book of
descriptions, those descriptions being allegedly the
symptoms of 'mental illnesses'. This 'bible' (a very apt
term for it, in my opinion) was produced by the American
Psychiatric Association, a body that seems to have appointed
itself the 'judge and jury' of what constitutes 'normal'
behaviour and what doesn't. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'll
look at that some other time.
Anyway, in The MindBody Prescription, Dr. Sarno remarks upon
the fact that the DSM-IV does not include the use of the
word 'psychosomatic'.
'Psychosomatic' means "the production of physical symptoms
or disorders by mental processes or psychological factors
such as stress". It doesn't mean that an illness is
imaginary or 'all in the mind', as many people seem to
believe - it means that the physical illness is an 'effect'
of a mental 'cause'.
Why is there no use of the word 'psychosomatic' in the
DSM-IV? According to Dr. Sarno, it's because the American
Psychiatric Association believes that there is no connection
between emotions and illness.
That the mind and the body are separate entities.
And the most interesting thing I've discovered about all
this is that psychiatry has, it seems, steadfastly
maintained that idea of the separateness of mind and body
for over a hundred years with no hard scientific evidence
to support it, while scientific discoveries that refute
the idea, in any case, have continued to proliferate and
accumulate.
I wonder what the DSM-IV says about such irrational
behaviour!
More next week, when I'll be taking a look at the
similarities between biopsychiatry and paleontology, and -
speaking of dinosaurs - at what I call the "Loch Ness
Monster Argument"!
In the meantime, for more information on the truth about
'ADHD', please visit:
ADHD Fraud
http://www.adhdfraud.org/
Death From Ritalin
http://www.ritalindeath.com/
A.S.P.I.R.E.
http://www.aspire.us/
Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses
(Download a free copy of "A Colt of a Booklet" while you're
there!)
http://www.wildestcolts.com/
Citizens Commission on Human Rights
http://www.cchr.org/
See you next week on the Candlelight Trail!
------------------------------------------------------------
LIVING FREE
HOW TO BEAT THE SYSTEM - AND GROW RICH
by Phil Gosling - "Britain's most successful author
no-one's ever heard of".
Read Part One AND Part Two of this totally revised and
updated Millennium Edition of one of the best-selling
educational courses of the early 1990s ABSOLUTELY FREE.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Please visit:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=74710
------------------------------------------------------------
If You Give A Kid A Nintendo...
by Mary Gold
"But he'll just play video games all day! He'll never DO
anything!" How many times have I heard that statement? The
conversation usually begins innocently enough. "Joey is
begging for a Nintendo, but I don't know..." We talk awhile
about what game systems are in my house. We dance around the
subject of prices or system capabilities. We question the
accuracy of the game ratings. Then the real question makes
itself known. The frantic question. The big roadblock to
unschooling question. "But won't he just play all day?" My
answer is always the same, a definite maybe. But not
forever. And it's never just about the playing.
So, what to really expect?
Well, if you give a kid a Nintendo, he is going to want to
play it, maybe non-stop for awhile. There is a mission, an
objective, a puzzle to solve and he's hooked. But at some
point he will realize that he has gone as far as he can go
on his own, and so the search begins. The first stop will
probably be the game manual. Since the manuals are written
on an adult level, he is going to ask you for some help with
unfamiliar words Once he has skimmed through the manual, and
talked with some more knowledgeable friends, he will realize
that he can do much better with some cheat codes. Time to go
online. He will have to do a search and read through pages
of results in order to find just the right site. Be prepared
to answer questions about the internet, search engines, and
maybe even Boolean logic during this process. You don't
remember anything about Boolean logic? Don't worry, there
won't be a test. (hint: Should this ever really come up, it
has to do with the mathematical logic used in internet
searches.)
Once he gets to the game site, he will quickly find out that
it also contains pages of facts about the game, a back story
to the plot, a history of each of the characters, and places
to get books and magazines with even more information. He
momentarily forgets about the cheat codes. "Hey Mom...!" You
take him to the store to pick out the best magazine he can
find. After annoying the store owner by thumbing through
each one, he finally makes his decision. You head home,
where he proceeds to read away the remaining hours of the
afternoon. There are lots of great tips in there. Plus ads
for new games! "Hey Mom...!" You explain to him the
realities of a real, working family budget, so he starts
figuring out how he is possibly going to save $59.99. You
will, of course, point out the existence of sales tax and
how it works. He will redo those numbers.
When he tires of playing around with his finances, he might
remember there was something totally terrific he just had to
tell you about his game. He will tell you for what seems
like the fiftieth time that day about another character,
another plot line, all the villains, how they differ from
the heroes, what level he is on and how he got there. He
will cover it all, in detail, and you will never again doubt
his verbal skills. He might also recall a similar character
in a story you read together last year. This will lead to a
cool discussion comparing the different storytelling
techniques found in various types of media.
If he's a doodler, he may try to capture all of those great
characters on paper. One day you will notice that he has
filled an entire notebook with his attempts at drawing
Pokemon, Mario, Dragonball Z, and Zelda. You will be amazed
when you find that there is actually a book called How to
Draw Nintendo Characters.
Suddenly, he remembers those cheat codes! Back he goes to
the web site to start reading all over again. When he finds
just the right codes, he'll have to write them down so he
can bring them back to his game. When the codes don't work,
he'll go back and realize he copied something backwards.
"Geez, Mom..." He will comment to you on the importance of
accuracy. When he's back at the site, he'll notice that
there are also some cheat codes available for his computer
game. He'll want to try those out too. Oops, did he spell
"infinite power" wrong? Spelling turns out to be very
important in his real world of gaming.
At this point, he will realize he is still not sure what the
cheat codes do or when to use them, so he will start
experimenting. He will try all the variables until he
figures out just the right combination to get the best
results. Obviously he will now have to use the phone. His
friends will need to be informed of this critical piece of
information. Oh and maybe a quick email to his cousin in
New York and his grandfather in Florida. This is big news
after all. He is on his way to beating the game!
Of course, he is now so stoked that his thoughts will start
racing back to that new game. A new challenge. A new puzzle
to solve. A new world to conquer! He may start checking eBay
to see if he can bid on some of those games for cheaper than
the $59.99 list price. He will have to read around, though,
to figure out how eBay actually works. Be prepared to
explain auctions and bids and such to him. On and on he
goes, comparison shopping around different stores, online
sites and used game shops. Just how cheaply can he score
that new game? And, oh no, it requires an expansion pack.
More research, and more figuring on how to squirrel up just
a little bit more money.
While all of this is going on, he may also be exchanging
ideas with friends, gaming online with more experienced
players, joining a local gaming club, developing an interest
in Japanese anime, attempting to program his own game or
creating an entirely new world while story boarding a game
plot. I know, because I've seen all of these things happen
in my house and the houses of countless other game
enthusiasts.
So, what to expect when you give a kid a Nintendo? Expect
imagination and interest and excitement and passion. Expect
a virtual unit study, disguised in a video game box. But
please don't tell your child he's been practicing reading,
writing, spelling and math. Don't let on that he has been
exploring art, economics and cultural studies. Let's keep
this our little secret. He thinks he has just been playing.
Copyright © Mary Gold, 2002
Read more articles about the 'unschooling' experience at
unschooling.com
http://www.unschooling.com/
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"You cannot teach a person anything; you can only help him
find it within himself." - Galileo Gallilei
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DOUG BENCH'S BRAIN STUFF
Our self-image is an accumulation of all thoughts, attitudes
and opinions we have perceived and stored about ourselves
since childhood. It is the subconscious picture that we have
been recording for years. This picture controls how we think
and how we perform.
Once we vividly imagine an experience, it is recorded in our
subconscious and we are stuck with it until we make a
conscious choice to displace it. If you choose to make a
change in your self-image, you can use self-talk and
visualization to create a new picture that will produce the
changes that you desire!! All meaningful change and all
lasting change starts FIRST in mind or imagination and THEN
works its way outward into reality. Every statement we make
has an effect on our subconscious, so we have to be careful
about what you say about YOU. Other people can hand you
THEIR OPINIONS about you, but what YOU THINK about you is
what determines your self-image.
THE SUBCONSCIOUS DOESN'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. The impact of
building a positive self-image is powerful, because our
self-image is stored in the subconscious as reality! Our
subconscious believes the information it stores is true
WHETHER IT IS TRUE OR NOT! If someone calls you stupid, it
makes an original recording on your subconscious. Every time
you replay that experience, as to your subconscious, it is
happening all over again because your subconscious does not
know the difference between real or imagined experience!
Every time we replay it we record it as REAL over and over
again - as if happening anew again and again!! I am stupid!!
I am STUPID!! As these accumulate, they bring about patterns
of belief! We have not been victimized by the thoughts of
others, but WE have repeated them and WE have MADE them, by
repetition, a part of our "belief system"!! Thereafter we
will act out these beliefs. Thus we live a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
Your self-image controls how you perform. You always act
like you see yourself. You cannot act otherwise!! You may
try to act otherwise, but you will have to work very hard to
override your subconscious picture of reality! How to change
this?? Change your self-image. How? It starts with self-
talk. Never: "That's the way I am" "I'll never have any
money" "I'll never lose weight". CHANGE TO "That's NOT the
way I am!" "That's not the way things happen to me!" "The
next time I will change this".
Our subconscious always makes sure our image of reality comes
true!! It works to keep us from going insane. We first,
therefore, need to listen to our self-talk - what are we
saying? And then first change our self-talk and self-image
BEFORE we change or take ACTION!! Seeing is not believing!!
Believing is SEEING!! Be an unrealistic goal setter. Our
brain (and us) does not behave in accordance with the truth,
but in accordance with the truth as you perceive it to be!
When you buy (or look for after deciding) a new car like
none you've had before, you start seeing that car everywhere
now!! WHY? Because your brain has just 'learned' that it's
now important to you. It now has value for you! THEREFORE,
you CAN apply this to whatever goal you give value and make
important to you! As soon as you know what you are looking
for. The information will become apparent to you: your
subconscious will work overtime to find it and satisfy you!!
Your subconscious will achieve anything that you believe!
Visualization is applied imagination. Visualization is the
process of taking a thought and keeping it long enough so
that the mental picture we create evokes an emotional
response. The emotion causes conviction and conviction
causes reality!
THOUGHT PLUS EMOTION CREATES CONVICTION...AND CONVICTION
CREATES REALITY!!
Learn the SCIENCE of PERMANENT Self-Motivation. So you
don't have to go back again and again and again, and spend
more and more and more money for a short term fix!
Scientific facts do not lie and do not fail, and neither
will you! Guaranteed!
*** 7 Mini-Science Lessons for Maxi-Success ***
This Course is FREE, and a great starting point for you to
run toward the Science of Permanent Self-Motivation.
Subscribe to the 7 Mini-Science Lessons for Maxi-Success
course and to Doug Bench's free Neuroscience Self-Motivation
News at his Science for Success website:
http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=69141
AUDIO has been added to Science for Success website!
Doug Bench has added Audio examples of nearly all of his
Systems and Tools to his website.
Go check it out now! Everywhere that you see the
Green 'Play' Button, you can hear a helpful sample of that
Tool.
http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=69141
------------------------------------------------------------
PROJECTS OF INTEREST
The Parenting Project
http://www.parentingproject.org/
The Natural Child Project
http://www.naturalchild.org/
Project HappyChild
http://www.happychild.org.uk/
Project Renaissance
http://www.winwenger.com/
------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you've enjoyed this issue of Parental Intelligence!
Issue 52 will be published on 27 July 2003
PLEASE MENTION PARENTAL INTELLIGENCE TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS
WHO HAVE CHILDREN - THEY'LL THANK YOU FOR IT!
Do you have any comments or suggestions? Would you
like to contribute an article?
mailto:quauss-@hotmail.com
Please include the words "Parental Intelligence" in the
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Copyright (c) 2003, Bob Collier except where indicated
otherwise.
Published by:
Bob Collier
3 Goldie Place
Kambah
CANBERRA
ACT 2902
Australia
mailto:quauss-@hotmail.com
Have a happy and successful day!
------------------------------------------------------------
"Who is this bloke?" Find out more about the publisher of
Parental Intelligence by sending a blank email to:
bobco-@getresponse.com
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