2. “Illnesses” Don’t Actually Exist

A second key factor that can help or hinder the resolution of any stuck state is the diagnosis itself. The medical diagnostic process often hinders clients being “at cause”, firstly by calling them “patients” (ie receivers of healing) and by labelling their clients‘ symptoms with a variety of complicated sounding names such as:

- Depression - Unipolar Depression, Manic Depression (Bipolar Disorder), Major Depression, Atypical Depression, Psychotic Depression and Dysthymia

- ME - Myalgic Encephalopathy, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome

Once diagnosed, clients change from doing a process to having a “thing”, a label that they carry around with them, rather like a new invisible friend. Unfortunately, this invisible friend came along when it wanted to and although can be quietened a little with drugs or psychotherapy, it will probably be around for ever - or at least until it wants to leave you alone.

There are obvious problems with calling a process a thing. Firstly, a process is easy to change, a “thing” isn’t. Secondly, many of my clients have used this “thing” as an excuse to hide behind or at the very least it becomes part of their identity (eg I am depressed, I have ME), further re-enforcing the problem itself by making it more real than it actually is.
Typically support associations follow this medical model – not wanting to challenge/hurt/insult their members, they typically say that it’s not their members’ creation, that they can’t resolve it, they can only learn to cope with it and reduce the symptoms a bit. For example, the ME Assocation states “Currently it is estimated that some 250,000 people in Britain are affected by this illness” – by saying people are “affected” by this “illness” puts the cause of the symptoms firmly outside the clients’ control or creation – THIS SIMPLY ISN’T TRUE!

These problems need no name, other than a set of things we are choosing (at some level) to do. These things include a set of beliefs that we are choosing that makes our brain chemistry adjust, giving us certain feelings that affect what we then do with our lives (or not) – and so the self-fulfilling and self-perpetuating cycle starts!