-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
nervous system
coma
psychospiritual approaches
metaphors and correlations
Comatose persons are wakeful human beings going through one more meaningful step in their process of individuation. They resemble mythical heroes, figures who journey through the outermost gates of reality seeking information in the unknown reaches to return with a divine message. Many of these patients venture to the heights and depths to find some degree of ecstasy, prophetic insight, and self-knowledge. (Mindell, 1989, p. 5)
The kinds of feelings and thoughts we have about the comatose person strongly affect him. A medical attitude toward the person's experiences and the belief that they are due to pathologies can affect his reactions and even make him comatose again. To use certain terms (such as ill, psychotic, deranged, comatose, or drugged) can be considered an aggressive act which cuts people off from their experiences. A phenomenological approach accepts the comatose state and allows the signals descriptive of this state to unfold into a process. (Mindell, 1989, p. 69-70)
In a comatose state, people usually do not experience much pain because they do not identify with their normal bodies. Coming out of the coma, they feel pain again as they resume their old identities. Pain indicates a need to integrate the pain- maker. The pain creator is a part of our psychology we need, and if we do not pick it up consciously, it hurts us. (Mindell, 1989, p. 72)
When we come out of a coma, we retrieve our old personalities as well as our old bodies. Thus old symptoms may reoccur. The coma can be the solution to symptoms because during a coma, the individual is able to unconsciously identify with the process behind the dream or symptom. Yet a coma is not a complete solution because the process happens so unconsciously that integration is extremely difficult. People who come back from comas too early, without processing their experiences in depth, will seek a way to return to the comatose state. (Mindell, 1989, p. 75-6)
Fear; escaping something or someone. (Hay, 1984, p. 160)
NDE (near death experience): NDEers experience some or all of these events: a sense of being dead, peace and painlessness even during a "painful" experience, bodily separation, entering a dark region or tunnel, rising rapidly into the heavens, meeting deceased friends and relatives who are bathed in light, encountering a Supreme Being, reviewing one's life, and feeling a reluctance to return to the world of the living. (Moody, 1988, p. 2)
Chinese psychophysiology:
Heart ~ Xin houses the Shen (Spirit) and reveals itself through the brightness in the eyes; governs Fire; rules the Xue (Blood) and its vessels and directs the circulation; opens into the tongue and controls speech; and relates to the integration of the organs and the personality.
» Healthy expressions are warmth, vitality, excitement, inner peace, love, and joy.
» Heart Xu (Deficiency) signs include sadness; absence of laughter; depression; fear; anxiety; shortness of breath (Seem, p. 28); cold feeling in the chest and limbs; palpitations; cold sweat; inability to speak; memory failure; nocturnal emissions; and restless sleep.
» The Heart is the Emperor of the bodily realm so that when the Heart is disturbed all the other organs will be disrupted.
Pericardium ~ Xin Bao is the Minister who protects the Heart, the Emperor, and maintains the order of the Heart energy; and as such may be adversely affected by emotional stresses internally or invasion of Heat externally. The Pericardium is said to be the origin of joy and sadness.
» Healthy expressions are joy, happiness, and healthy relationships.
» Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with confusion, delirium, nervousness, and psychosis.
» Mental signs of Pericardium channel disorders include depression, sexual perversion, aversions, and phobias. (Seem, p. 28)
Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); reflects emotional harmony and movement; opens into the eyes; and expresses itself in the nervous system.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement.
» Liver Xu (Deficiency) signs include impotence; frigidity; pain in thighs, pelvic region, and throat; ready tendency to "the blahs" (Seem, p. 28); timidity; depression; irritability; vertigo; pruritus; dry skin and/or tendons; asthma; aching at the waist; hernia; and difficulty raising head up and down.
» Liver Wind derives from Liver Yin Xu (Deficiency) and/or Liver Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) and their subsequent inability to embrace the Yang, and can manifest as joint stiffness, dizziness, tremor, paralysis, convulsions, and neurological problems.
therapies
processing the trance:
(1) Connect with the comatose person. Sit near the person, and when he exhales, speak gently and slowly, in the rhythm of his breathing, near his ear. Affirm that your are really with him, and that you will touch his arm in a moment, as a way of being with him. Gently touch the person's arm as he inhales and relax your touch as he exhales; Continue, following the rate and strength of the breathing. You press on inhalation because you are matching his breathing energy with your strength. Speak unobtrusively and gently, yet close to his ear when he exhales. Speaking and touching him at the same rate effectively communicates in his language that you are where he is. The way you relate is more important than what you say.
Most comatose patients need at least 20 minutes to respond, and do so with minimal signals or feedback. Minimal cues can be seen through changes of breathing rates or eye and mouth motion in connection to your communication. These cues indicate the person is responding and you are making contact.
(2) Finding the way. Here make a statement about your intentions, something like "I am following the rate of your breathing. I want to follow everything that happens in you. What goes on outside and inside of you is important because it will show us how to proceed. It will show us the way."
This tells the person that inner processes can guide us and that what is happening is important, there is a way that can be followed. The person also gets the feeling he is not alone on the path, you will provide help, and encourages him to become aware of himself. Help him do this by suggesting something like "All you have to do is just notice what is happening. See what you are seeing, if you are seeing. Feel everything you feel. Hear the things you hear, if your are hearing. Take all the time you need, and see, hear, or feel."
(3) Pick up minimal cues. Give the person time to respond, and while you tell him to hear, feel, or see what is happening, watch for any of these minimal cues:
-auditory changes in breathing rate, depth, and sound
-movement changes in spasms, twitches, jerks, facial movements, or grimaces. Some clients suddenly move the corners of their mouth, enlarge their lips, or move their eyebrows together as if thinking. If these motions occur consistently after a stimulus, you may consider them forms of interpersonal communication (in contrast to primitive nervous reflex actions).
-eye changes, as in opening the eyes, focusing them, or directing the gaze. Eye color may also change. Some comatose persons' eyes may be open and glazed, indicating they are not looking but feeling or hearing something instead.
While waiting for a cue and following the body motions and breathing, do not just be passive, but participate by observing what is happening inside and outside yourself - changes in your breathing, temperature, or even the appearance of spontaneous visions.
The kind of response you give to a minimal cue is important and indicates you have connected to the person, he has found you. Your responses also help him to become aware of what he is doing, and help encourage him to "say" more.
Initially, the most useful response is the blank access response, one that encourages further communication, yet does not assume what the content of the communication is. A verbal blank access would be "Oh yes, that." An auditory one would be "Listen to that." A visual blank access like "Look inside and see" or "Look at the blank wall and paint a picture" can be quite effective.
Such encouraging yet empty statements can be very useful. Trying to understand the client intellectually may inhibit his expressions, which if given enough support, will clarify themselves. Being too directive may not correspond with what is happening in the person, and is not helpful. Blank statements of enthusiasm, such as "Wow!" "Yes!" or "Gosh!" are interpreted as the person needs to. If his eyes focus, try something like, "I see that, too!"; if the eyes move side to side, "I hear that, too!"; or if the eyes close, or the person relaxes or looks sleepy, experiment with, "Feeling things is important," or "Quietness is lovely". Every time you say something, be certain to also communicate the same message through your hands by gentle changes in touch.
Blank movement access: If the person moves even a little, encourage it, "Oh, what a lovely movement!", rather than direct it by assuming the content. A useful way to support movement is to gently touch the muscles where the motion originates by gently using your hand on the body to extend, contract, relax, or excite motion in the direction in which it is already going. In the case of large scale movements of arms/legs, help the limbs move or gently inhibit them from moving. If your work is on the right track, the body will respond by moving with or against you. If the limbs remain completely flaccid, you are getting no response and are off the track, in the wrong communication channel.
Breathing accesses: Pace the person's breathing for 2-3 breaths, then add another kind of breath, your own kind, with a different sound or tempo. Some respond strongly to this kind of communication by adding on new sounds, rhythms, Does.
(4) Minimal feedback. Almost everyone responds, though people on painkillers will need longer. If you have not noticed any response, go back and repeat your recommendation that the client see, feel, or hear whatever it is he's experiencing. If the eyes open and look at you, don't assume that he wants to relate to you. Do not ask questions that require an answer. If someone looks at you, then just look back. Do not speak too much or attempt to relate. Remember, he has possibly entered a coma in the first place to go within and to focus upon himself. Let him respond in the way that he wants. Accept whatever he has to give now.
"Following processes whose content is unknown is an act of faith, a belief that the individual knows and will show us the way." (Mindell, 1989, p. 60-72)
affirmation:
We surround you with safety and love.
We create a space for you to heal.
You are love. (Hay, 1984, p. 160)
process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (see process interview: psycho/neurological system)
related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
search for God
body reveals: the spirit
converting a symptom to a signal
affirmation: guidelines and precautions
process paradigm
footnotes