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Self-Esteem and Your Health
Dr. Mary Riggin, AP, DAc.
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[A connection between mind and
body]
Self-esteem is commonly defined as
a “confidence and satisfaction in oneself,” but it actually
goes beyond simply “feeling good about oneself.” Having
self-esteem means that you have an overall positive attitude in
terms of “who” you are — you are satisfied with
the job you do, your achievements, how other people perceive you,
your purpose in life, your potential for success, etc.
Consider how it would affect you if you woke up tomorrow and realized
your career choice was no longer right for you? How would you feel
if you started doubting your “purpose,” or became overwhelmed
with negative feelings of self-worth?
If you go on with your daily routine and let these emotions flourish,
your self-esteem will slowly diminish. These feelings would eventually
take their toll on your mental health and would soon become detrimental
to your physical health.
Research has shown that the body reacts to emotional pain just as
it reacts to physical pain. Emotions can have an adverse effect
on the body, just as an accident or broken bone can have.
Shame and low self-worth have been linked to prostrate problems,
menstrual disorders and sexual dysfunction; fear and anger have
been linked to stomach and digestive problems, insomnia and eating
disorders. Grieving has been linked to causing heart problems, severe
headaches and migraines by interfering with blood flow, and it can
also affect the immune system.
Emotions, like an open wound, will affect the muscles, organs, nerves,
glands and tissues of the body. If not properly addressed, this
will lead to the onset of more severe physical problems. On the
other hand, poor physical health will lead to poor self-worth by
causing one to feel useless and burdensome.
A patient of mine, LD, had a strong history of being active and
a hard worker. After a back injury, her chronic Rheumatoid Arthritis
(RA) became exacerbated. This completely disabled her. This created
an emotional problem, which caused depression due to her low self-worth
and low self-esteem.
When she first came to me, she was hoping for some relief, but was
amazed that her RA went into remission and her pain and numbness
decreased. After months of treating with an advanced combination
of Acupuncture and bodywork techniques, her MRI showed that her
torn disc had healed. Today, she is back to work and is off the
medications. As a result, her self-esteem has returned to where
it once was.
Stress, “pressure or strain that tends to distort the body,”
hinders blood flow and interferes with normal metabolic functions.
An example of how this could affect the body would be how the cells
absorb nutrients and release waste.
Another patient of mine, AJ, was on a healthy diet, but was under
a lot of stress for a boy his age due to physical and emotional
problems. He was under-developed, couldn’t concentrate and
did poorly in school. AJ had very poor self-esteem due to his small
size and weak muscles.
His body wasn’t fully absorbing the nutrients that he should
have been getting through his diet and supplements. This adversely
affected his whole body physically, behaviorally and emotionally.
After several months of a specialized, advanced Acupressure treatment,
AJ’s growth-rate improved, the dark circles disappeared from
under his eyes, his schoolwork improved, thereby improving his self-esteem.
All of this was a result of improving the absorption and assimilation
of his already good nutrition.
Poor health, chronic pain, hormonal imbalances, digestive trouble
and poor food and nutrient absorption will eventually affect your
attitude toward yourself and could literally disable you physically,
emotionally and mentally. This will then result in a poor self-image
and affect your whole life. This downward health spiral will not
change by itself; you must get to the root of the problems before
the trend can change. The bottom line is if you don’t feel
good, everything in your body is going to be affected.
Chinese medicine does not separate mental health and physical health,
as the two are directly correlated. Organ dysfunction, as we see
in this case, caused an array of physical and emotional problems.
This was demonstrated by a case study published in the Oriental
Medicine Journal. This case study explained how organ dysfunction
affected the health of a 36-year-old woman.
The patient reported an irregular period, fatigue, lack of appetite,
insomnia and irritability. She started a regimen of Chinese Herbs
and Acupuncture. After three months of care, the patient’s
cycle was regulated, her energy improved and she was sleeping better.
More and more people are starting to realize that natural alternatives
should be looked at before resorting to the harsher therapies that
are commonly used to manage acute health emergencies. The trick
is to know when and where to use which type of therapy. Getting
to the root of the problem is necessary to achieve a long-term solution
for optimal health, well-being and a positive attitude in life.
Source: Oriental Medicine Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2; Merriam-Webster
Online, www.webster.com; National
Association for Self-Esteem, www.self-esteemnase.org;
www.SHENTherapy.info,
February 20, 2005
Dr. Mary Riggin is a national board
certified, licensed Acupuncture Physician (FL), Doctor of Acupuncture
(RI) and clinic director of Healing Touch Oriental Medicine. She
hosts the award-winning television program, “Health Options,”
Saturdays at 9 p.m. on cable channels 21 or 96. Phone:727 669-6000,
www.DrMary.Riggin.net.
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