Your Right to Your Own Perceptions

[Guest guest]

I want to send along some thoughts about how to validate your own

perceptions and impressions and sensory messages. We are all

independent and individual human beings with the right to our own

thoughts, ideas, impulses, gifts, inner impressions, and expression.

We call it the First Amendment in this country, the freedom of

speech, which as many of you know, was and is highly regulated in

some countries at this very point in time.

We must safeguard our rights to our perceptions in the field of

health as well. When we don't feel well, we experience dis-ease.

Not easy, not healthy, out of sorts, unwell, ill, ailing, off kilter,

groggy, up on the wrong side of the bed today, so many words to

describe our inner perceptions.

I bring this up because there are many times when smaller more

sensitive issues related to our health and especially those that

other people have difficulty 'seeing' or 'verifying' are the most

prone to disregard or dismissal or bullying responses, or simple

ignoring ones.

Pain falls into this category. So does anxiety or fear. And of

course 4S or tinnitus or hyperacusis are good examples.

And even with visible signs or tests that verify these conditions, we

can see that our medical providers or our families or friends, well

meaning people, can sometimes toss the complete responsibility for

the dis-ease right back onto the sufferer's shoulders.

How many times have you heard, oh, if you worry you will make it

worse! Stress can cause xyz, so don't stress out! Or the classic

one that tears at my heart, well, she REALLY wanted to live, so that

is why she BEAT that dis-ease!

These remarks tend to throw BACK responsibility for the disease onto

the shoulders of the patient to a certain extent.

That can make people feel a little boxed in, perhaps doubting their

own perceptions. If someone said to me, hey, you don't have a bad

headache, that is all in your mind! I might clock him if I was

having a migraine! : )

This is a very subtle phenomena and I have seen it applied to people

with 4S time and time again, i.e., your perceptions are 'wrong', your

reactions are 'wrong', why can't you control yourself, why can't you

ignore the gum chewing, doesn't bother me, why you? You are making a

big deal out of nothing, blah blah blah.

How many of you have had those things said to you?

The real question is, how many of you have believed them to be TRUE?

You see, this is where the subtle debate comes in, is this a mind-

game or a physical issue? If I slap my face, it will turn red. Is

that a mind game or a physical issue? If you slap my face, my cheek

will redden and what happens to my personal inner impressions is

perhaps just as important.......wow, I don't like that! If I try

hard, can I keep my cheek from its reddened state? If I try, can I

learn to like to be slapped? Is any of this getting at the root

cause of the slap-red relationship?

Somehow these exercises and habits from medical providers or family

can lead us into believing that we deserve to be slapped, or that we

cannot help being slapped but everyone else likes it, so why don't

we, or some other conclusion that leads us into feeling guilty of

something, no matter how it comes out in the long run.

We have the right to validate our own impressions and sensations and

to fully explain them and to be heard. This is the fundamental right

of all human beings of whatever age. And we also deserve to be

listened to and attended to, but bright open minds that are able to

connect the dots and come up with new ideas on how these situations

might be explained, supported, and hopefully, amended.

Be careful then of those who advise you, once again, 4S is all in

your mind, you see, and you should be able to control that! That is

the old game of, well, you are in control and can regulate your

sensory impressions and expressions 100 percent.

Not true, is it?

Food for thought.

Dr. Marsha

Audiologist