#98: Lessons learned from 10 years of Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism
Happy Friday!
It's been 10 years since I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism. 10 years of taking two little white pills every single day in an effort to regulate what my body can no longer.
Those 10 years have been filled with a full 10 years of life: finishing a masters degree, cycling around a country or two, self-publishing a smattering of books, teaching English to refugees, writing and producing an hour-long play, turning that into a radio series or two.
But every day, throughout it all, I've been taking those two little white pills. There is nothing I've done more consistently, so I think it's fair to say I have some experience in this field.
As part of the festival of celebrations surrounding my decade of disease, I wrote a 2,500 word article that summarises all the lessons that I wish I'd somehow learned 10 years ago.
It's summed up in a couple of sentences that I think can apply to almost any condition:
Ultimately, our treatment is only a small part of living with Hashimoto's. Far more significant is what we choose to do with whatever life remains.
>> Read the rest of the post on davidcharles.info.
We recently heard from the BBC that Foiled did really well, ratings wise. So a massive thank you to everyone involved - and to everyone who listened and laughed and shared.
Thank you, team!
Now On: The Viktor Frankl 5-a-day Book Club!
Membership Criteria: Read 5 pages a day of Man's Search for Meaning to complete the whole darn text in only 28 days.
Today is Day 24 and I'll be rattling through the last 4 days in time for next Friday, the anniversary of the day Viktor Frankl was incarcerated in a Nazi concentration camp.
Catch up on the past 23 days online.
Day 24
Today's pages (p125-131) address the logotherapeutic treatment of anticipatory anxiety, the excessive anxiety we all sometimes feel in anticipation of a particular event or circumstance.
Viktor Frankl observes that 'anticipatory anxiety ... produces precisely that of which the patient is afraid'. When one is particularly anxious about blushing when faced with a large crowd, one is more prone to blushing in that situation.
According to Frankl, anticipatory anxiety can take two forms: 'hyper-intention' and 'hyper-reflection'.
Hyper-intention is the act of forcing oneself to desire something excessively. The more one tries to force orgasm (to use Frankl's example), the less likely orgasm becomes.
Hyper-reflection is an excess of attention, focussing too hard on the wrong object, and causes similar results. In this example, paying too much attention to oneself rather than one's sexual partner also makes one's own orgasm less likely.
The logotherapeutic solution to anticipatory anxiety is what Frankl calls 'paradoxical intention': simply trying to do the opposite to what one desires.
The person anxious about reaching orgasm should try their very best not to orgasm - to demonstrate, in fact, how far from orgasm they are. The person anxious about sleeplessness should not try to sleep, but rather try their very best to stay awake. Paradoxically, sleep will come.
'This procedure consists of a reversal of the patient's attitude, inasmuch as his fear is replaced by a paradoxical wish. ... Such a procedure, however, must make use of the specifically human capacity for self-detachment inherent in a sense of humour.'
Perhaps this is why logotherapy appeals to me!
Looking at oneself with a healthy sense of humour helps the patient 'put himself at a distance from his own neurosis'. Frankl quotes Gordon W Allport: 'The neurotic who learns to laugh at himself may be on the way to self-management, perhaps to cure.'
Although paradoxical intention is a short-term therapeutic device, its effects can be long-term, even permanent. It works because it breaks the neurotic cycle of reinforcement because when we try to fight our anxieties, we often increase their power to disturb us.
'On the other hand, as soon as the patient stops fighting his obsessions and instead tries to ridicule them by dealing with them in an ironical way - by applying paradoxical intention - the vicious circle is cut, the symptom diminishes and finally atrophies.'
However, these cures do not address the reason why the symptoms of anticipatory anxiety arose in the first place. Frankl believes these neuroses grow from an 'existential vacuum' and so a final cure is not possible 'except by the patient's orientation toward his specific vocation and mission in life'.
But that's for next time!
---
We continue next week...
p.s. Who noticed that I've been misspelling Viktor's name for the past 6 months?
>> INPUT
[TV SITCOM] Tourist Trap (BBC Wales). Improvised, mockumentary featuring Foiled producer Tom Price. #busheating
[NEWSLETTER] Future Crunch is a must-subscribe science newsletter. It's full of gems like this: Geneticists in Chicago have used CRISPR to create cocaine-proof mice. The aim is to eventually help people suffering from addiction (and of course, it solves the problem of thousands of coke-crazed mice flooding the city every Saturday throwing sick shapes on tiny dance floors and talking really fast about how amazing cheese tastes). And every month they donate money to tech charities around the world. Awesome.
[POSITIVE NEWS] What went right? July-September 2018 A round up from Positive News,including: A record-high 75 per cent of Americans believe immigration is a good thing for the US, a poll revealed in July.
[NATURE] What Happens When We Reconnect with Nature by Kristophe Green and Dacher Keltner (Berkeley University Greater Good programme) A run down of the scientific studies looking at how nature can help increase positive emotions, feelings of awe, prosocial behaviour and improve our mental and physical health. Not bad for a hike.
[PSYCHEDELICS] Entheogenic Africa: Exploring the Realms of the Ancestors by Darren Springer. On Tuesday I went to a workshop given by Darren Springer and it was an absolute triumph. He's a fabulous presenter and full of enthusiasm for his subject: mushrooms.
OUTPUT >>
The Victor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 22 (September)
Not-Gandhi was wrong: you already ARE the change (September)
The First Stile (September)
The Victor Frankl 5-a-Day Book Cult: Day 21 (September)
...COMING UP...
Next week is Green GB Week, and I'm going to a panel discussion about The Paris Agreement. Knowledge is power (but not in the sense of keeping-the-lights-on power).
Coming up with more plot ideas for the pitching of Series 3 of Foiled. Suggestions welcome!
Have a great weekend!
Much love,
- dc
CREDITS
David Charles wrote this. David is co-writer of BBC Radio sitcom Foiled, does copywriting for The Bike Project and is pretty much always available for work. davidcharles.info // @dcisbusy
Heartwood by Robert Macfarlane.