I wrote this as an exploration. This isn’t a final statement on the matter, but rather food for thought and possible research.
The Second Arrow
After doing the Gupta brain retraining program for a year, I took a free mindfulness course online. It gave me some added insight I needed to express my experience.
In the parable of the Second Arrow, a person is shot by one arrow. The physical pain from that arrow causes suffering. But if the person is shot by a second arrow, the suffering is increased. In life, the first arrow is something that happens to someone: injury, illness, loss or other difficulties. But the second arrow is more about the person’s reaction, such as anger, fear, or regreti.
I like this parable of the 2 arrows because it helps explain some things better. The stresses of life can worsen illness, but blaming the stress doesn’t necessarily address the first arrow. Mindfulness and brain retraining help more with the second arrow.
Those with ME/CFS and related illnesses are struck by the first arrow of their illness. But then the second arrow is often attitudes from the culture we live in that become internalized. For example, the person keeps pushing themselves to keep going, even until their health completely caves in. Or they are told that their illness is somehow their fault. That they are just being lazy. That their thoughts must be keeping them stuck in the illness, or that their thoughts caused the illness to begin with. The person learns to hide, to overcompensate, or to beat themselves up over not being able to meet expectations.
For example, a person might lose sleep over the stresses that the illnesses cause, in addition to the physical symptoms from the illness itself. Which makes pain and other symptoms worse. Which leaves the person more tired. Which can turn into a vicious cycle of suffering and of symptoms worsening each other. There are differences between the modern scientific viewii and Ashok Gupta’s explanationiii.
Comparison
I used the Gupta program in this comparison since I did it for a year.
I have read studies in which both ME and POTS have been found to be as disabling, if not more so, than chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. So I’ll use “heart disease” to substitute for “ME and related illnesses” in this comparison.
Let’s say a person with “heart disease” does the Gupta program. Relaxation exercises help reduce the stress in their lives. Mindfulness helps increase their gratitude for what is good in their lives and increases their peace and awareness. Healing from past traumas helps reduce their stress levels, thus freeing up their energy for their body to heal their heart better. Learning to pace themselves and to slow down puts less stress on their heart. Picturing themselves as being healthy inspires them to watch their nutrition and to choose more wisely among the many activities of life.
However, saying that since they’re getting good results from this program, that therefore this means that trauma and stress are the underlying cause of heart disease would be foolish. Saying that all the science and research out there only support their views would also be going too far. There are physical causes of heart disease that science has found that need to be studied and understood.
Saying that they should only use the Gupta program and ignore all the other data out there while doing this program would help them ignore the debates, misinformation, and battling philosophies. But it has the potential of also ignoring science and treatments that are good and helpful.
Saying to themselves that they no longer have this label of heart disease when they show improvement has the potential of causing harm by causing them to stop the medicines, treatments and cautions that their other health professionals recommend.
Switching back to using “ME and other illnesses” instead of “heart disease.” There are errors in logic here, but the potential for good. Healing from past trauma, relaxation, and working towards better health are useful, but not the ultimate answer for it all.
Brain retraining and mindfulness have their uses. More knowledge and treatments are also needed. As well as greater research of brain retraining and of the science behind ME and similar illnesses.
i“The Second Arrow and the Psychology of Suffering”, by Senthilkumar Rajalingam, behaviorfacts.com/the-second-arrow-and-the-psychology-of-suffering
ii https://me-pedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_MEpedia
iii Gupta Program. https://guptaprogram.com/
