“Carefully shaped words can reshape the lives of people” because they touch the heart, breathe into one’s spiritual nostrils, and inspire the best emotions.
In 1976, Benjamin Netanyahu’s brother Yoni was killed leading an IDF Special Forces rescue mission at Uganda’s Entebbe airport.
The Israeli Prime Minister deeply loved and deeply grieved over the murder of his brother. A verse of A.E. Housman’s poem, “Shropshire Lad,” (1896) retells to Netanyahu his brother was loved by the Soldiers he commanded on dangerous missions. They lifted their hero shoulder- high, just as the poem describes, a comforting balm over the years, soothing his terrible grief:
“The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.”
Claude Bernard (1813-1878), a French physiologist, introduced the concept of homeostasis: the body’s internal environment, or milieu intérieur, is relatively constant and physiological processes work to maintain this state. Disease disrupts this precious balance.
Walter Cannon (1871-1945) advanced the concept of homeostasis to include emotions: when encountering a stimulus, both the physiological reaction (like increased heart rate) and the emotional experience (like feeling fear), occur simultaneously and independently in the brain. Cannon, known for coining the term, “fight or flight,” also discovered a substance similar to adrenaline.
Mental and physical health depend on emotions, stress responses, impulses, and moods, which affect our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. While they can aid functioning, poor choices can harm mental health.
The impact of emotions varies by intensity, duration, frequency, and type. For example, mild anxiety before an interview can boost motivation and performance, while intense anxiety can hinder performance and lead to social avoidance.
A mentally healthy person has a reasonable sense of well-being, a realistic awareness of their abilities, processes stressors and the emotions they provoke, works productively, and contributes to the community.
“To be understood is to be immediately comforted.”
Unbiased assessments of our nation’s mental health indicate we are not good at understanding or comforting each other.
Sociologists tell us we are lonely. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., tells us we are unhealthily obese. Mega church evangelists tell us to donate more money and buy more books and food supplements they sell. High rates of abortion, homicide, and suicide tell us we no longer value life.
Ken Burns’ documentaries, speaking through scholarly historians on TV, tells us our American heroes were far from flawless. The author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, for example, died in bankruptcy.
How are we adjusting our emotions today? Many are anxious, angry, depressed, and “high,” as in drugged. We overestimate danger and underestimate our capacity to deal with it – the cause of anxiety. We are intolerant of discomfort.
Too often we are in fight vs. flight mode. We search for instant relief, failing to appreciate that even the strongest, most uncomfortable emotion is not long lasting.
A Soldier in group therapy for trauma said, “We have a limited amount of blood. When blood goes into the penis to cause an erection, we have less blood in the brain and can’t think straight!”
In 2024, more people were using cannabis (marijuana) daily than were using alcohol. Bear in mind that Alcohol Use Disorder (alcoholism) is at an all-time high. The cannabis epidemic is due in part to its legalization in some states, and the perception that life is too difficult or too meaningless without it.
Cannabis is not regulated the same way as pharmaceuticals. When a person uses cannabis, having no assurance of what may have been added, is it an act of faith, stupidity, a compulsive act too strong to resist, or all the above?
Cannabis has some clinical benefits for specific patient populations. It may help with nausea for those on chemotherapy. Some children with seizure conditions respond to cannabis-type medication such as Marinol.
Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is defined as an inability to stop using cannabis even when the drug is causing harm. Those with CUD are almost three times more likely to die than those without CUD.
According to recent research, patients with CUD are 10 times as likely to die by suicide as those in the general population. They are also more likely to die from trauma, drug poisonings, and lung cancer.
Another recent study found that “more cases of schizophrenia and psychosis in Canada have been linked to cannabis use disorder since the drug was legalized.”
The psychoactive ingredient in cannabis is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Since 1960 the THC has surged from less than 2% to 16.4% in 2022.
The negative effects of cannabis would frighten a rational person: brain development interference in young people, altered perception of time, impaired thinking, memory, and body movement, worsened mental disorders, and as mentioned above, increased likelihood of death from accidents, suicide, and lung cancer.
The 12-Steps treatment method, introduced by Alcoholic Anonymous, is the most successful therapy for Substance Use Disorders. Those familiar with this treatment declare it is “spiritual.” Does this not indicate that these are spiritual disorders?
As Ernest Becker said in Denial of Death, “We are sinners with no word for it, and what is worse we look for the meaning of the word for it in a dictionary of psychology.”
Nevertheless, our faith assures us that truth and beauty will prevail. Heartily, we can sing with confidence a verse from my favorite hymn:
“To all life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.”
The following carefully carved words of the incarnate God are envisioned to reshape our lives:
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Robert S. Brown, MD, PHD a retired Psychiatrist, Col (Ret) U.S. Army Medical Corps devoted the last decade of his career to treating soldiers at Fort Lee redeploying from combat. He was a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Education at UVA. His renowned Mental Health course taught the value of exercise for a sound mind.