It is unusual to find someone nowadays who has not been touched in some way by mental illness. Mental illness is woven within the very fabric of our society. The rates of anxiety and depression are at an all time high . We are at a very interesting phase in world history and the rapid changes in the global scenario and unpredictability of life itself is driving more and more people away from their comfort zone, to a place where they have to face their inner demons. Every day we see and hear of tragedies and traumas which are too terrible to comprehend. Many more people are just plain unhappy and feeling stuck in their particular situation. And more and more people are turning to therapists and healers to help them find solutions. Many people gain the ability to reflect and change through the help of their therapists. But how about the people who do not benefit despite years of therapy? Some go through an endless revolving door of mental health, in and out of psychiatrists’ and psychologists’ offices. Let’s examine a few situations when therapy seems to fall short:

1. People who have experienced a traumatic and life-threatening event in their lives which gets stuck in their head like a broken record. They re-experience the event repeatedly, despite years of therapy.
2. Developmental trauma while growing up often leaves people with deep symptoms like nightmares, flashbacks, mood instability, chronic sense of dread and low self-worth, which tend to persist despite several years of therapy.
3. Yet many more people have core negative schema revolving around themes of inadequacy and perfectionism which conventional therapy can only make a small dent in.
4. Many people who have experienced grief and loss, especially if it is unexpected and untimely, struggle to come to terms with the loss and the void in their lives despite the best of conventional therapy.
5. A significant proportion of addictions stem from an attempt to self-medicate or numb one’s feelings, resulting in a vicious cycle of depression and substance abuse, which fuel each other.

These are just a few examples, but the truth is that many more conditions tend to respond only partially to conventional therapy and often people end up living lives of quiet desperation or helplessness, believing that change is not possible.

It is time to abandon our nihilistic viewpoint about mental illness and its treatment. Decades of research has shown that change is possible and our conventional ideas about our brains and minds needs to be revamped. Change and healing come after we realise that we are much more than our physical bodies and brains. An understanding of our quantum multidimensional nature helps us heal the disconnect that we feel from the universe. In the next issue, we will discuss a range of techniques which have the potential to reverse years of suffering and allow people to experience peak mental health.

Want to know more? Watch out for the release of The Quantum Psychiatrist: From Zero to Zen using evidence-based solutions beyond medications and therapy.