UNDERSTANDING OUR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Before reading this entry, please read the entry titled "Feed Your Faith And Your Fears Will Starve." Look in the Archives shortcut section on the "RIGHT" for June 2016. This is also related to the entry titled "Our Natural State Is Interdependence." Understanding  those entries will help with this post.

Each of us are a product of our genetics interacting with our teachings, environment, experiences and conditioning (beliefs). Many of our habits develop at a young age and follow us into adulthood. Others are embraced and adopted as we mature. Can any of us see our own eyeballs? We look through them all the time, but rarely take time to look at them. Even when we use a mirror our eyeballs spend most of the time examining the rest of our face. The three dimensional aspects of our existence do not allow us the ability to take in a full physical view of ourselves even with mirrors. At best, It is difficult to see our entire corporal body and even more demanding to look introspectively. To better understand ourselves, we must also examine the external influences from the world we live in.

The past two centuries have had a greater impact upon us then the past two millennium. Our recent advances in agriculture, medicine and electronics created such an impact across humanity that it is difficult to measure their influence. The advent of chlorination, vaccines and integrated circuits alone, is now reaching every aspect of society quicker then the common cold. Behavioral modifications are a natural byproduct of environmental changes. New and improving technologies are changing the way we think.  Since 1947, the advent of transistors and solid state devices have forced us all to adapt, adjust and cope with them.  Our tasks, tools and toys coincide directly with "Moores law."

We are all nourished or influenced through the air we breath, the food we eat, the water we drink, the environments we're exposed to and the teachings we practice. Many beliefs, ideals and practices "firmly" embraced in the 13th century are no longer acceptable in the 21st century. We are evolving. The inventions of clocks, telephones, cars, cameras, printing, broadcasting, lighting and computers have successively altered our existence. As we become more and more connected we increasingly witness the phenomena of information spillover. The formally invisible is becoming visible. The formally mysterious is being understood. Past superstitions are being refuted and disproved. Our vision has been extended far beyond what we are capable of physically seeing. Air, light and electricity, difficult to describe physically, now have theory and/or definition. It is short sighted for us to continue with our traditional way of thinking and dealing with overall health by isolating various portions of it.  Without acknowledging multiple interrelated and dependent aspects of existence we will fall short of understanding it. Mental health is just as important as physical health. As we rapidly advance and evolve exponentially we will be dealing increasingly with symptoms of maladjustment diseases and mental problems. Prepare to deal with multiple types of fatigue from the stress of our fast paced world. It has been the folly of our society not to regard and treat mental illness the same way we do physical illness. This denial will have a profound effect upon society as it develops.  Both mental and physical illnesses have interrelated components and causes but we cannot make assumptions or draw conclusions without proper scientific research drawn from correct premises.

Sight and perception have been redefined and the association between them takes on a new meaning. Sight is a very different thing then perception. Sight will show us the state of our world, our lives, and the lives of others; it will show us what we enjoy and like or dislike about it; it will influence our reactions.  But how we take in sight is highly fickle, it depends upon our perception. Perception is how we chose to take in the information we are exposed to. Perception is an uniquely personal thing even though the attached sight that created it is collectively shared. Perception includes the filtering of information with the automated thought process of the mind. Our perception is affected by our judgments, philosophy, religion, culture and emotions. In fact anything of any nature influences perception. Our behaviors are in part influenced by our "personality promoting process" that instantly interprets but easily bypasses. "the see, think, ponder, deliberate and respond route." Sight can be experienced sequentially or simultaneously. It is an instant ongoing flow of data requiring consistent processing without complete conscious effort. As a result we create our own "automated systems."

The systems we create can deal with the majority of incoming information that we simply process through predictive analysis. But to properly grow we also need a flow of secondary continual updates scrutinized by adaptive analysis. The primary process may filter out the secondary data. The secondary data will provide enlightenment if it gets past the primary filter. Old perceptions tend to cloud and obscure new information. This in turn reinforces learned behavior regardless of accuracy. Although new data is constant, our perceptions usually align it to confirm our previous data. Therefore any new conclusions we reach are predisposed to match our present understandings, rational and reasoning. Our ability to assimilate and deal with all of the new information presented to us is decreasing exponentially. Just as the volume of information available is increasing exponentially.

Our behaviors represent the balancing act we employ to maintain equilibrium. By using a standard of measure, from a behavioral health perspective, we can now examine our convictions. Most of our beliefs complement our brainwashing. This occurs through the interior tenets we choose to use. That little voice, our internal dialogue, directly influences our spiritual, emotional and physical ideologies. This is where we separate or disconnect from thoughts that baffles and shrinks our minds.  Only through the application of scientific scrutiny are we able to refute our own false beliefs. Even with proof, truth can simply be denied.

Science is the ultimate authority when it is applied scientifically. Science, is a systematic and orderly arrangement of knowledge that synthesizes and provides explanation for seemingly unrelated combinations of thoughts and things. This definition does not LIMIT science specifically to the physical or material world. Traditionally,  religious people do not embrace science. As a result it has been regarded as heresy for anyone to consider religion as having a scientific side. Today we have finally permitted ourselves to reach a place where our consciousness allows us to embrace spirituality along with science.

THERE IS A SCIENCE OF THE SPIRITUAL REALM THAT OPERATES THROUGH THE MENTAL LAWS OF THOUGHT. The perception of these laws can manifest the unseen. We always demonstrate our beliefs through our behaviors. The demonstrations in our lives are the direct manifestations we cause and bring into effect.  Teachings can easily become beliefs and beliefs can form strong convictions. As a result anything that challenges these convictions comes under intense biased scrutiny and is usually rejected. Many times it takes longer to let go of the counterfeit than it takes to embrace the truth.

There are many myths still embraced today that are not founded on science of any kind. We have and use more than five senses. There are exteroceptive senses (touch, taste, smelling, seeing, hearing) that respond to the outside world. These work along with our interoceptive senses that connect to our internal sensations. Through proprioception we distinguish our individual sense of relative posture and position for interacting. And It is nociception that describes our response to harmful stimuli along with our sense of pain.  

Senses should be distinguished from feelings. Senses are a distinct part of our anatomy that respond to specific phenomena.  Senses function without conscious effort or control, and may be refined or heightened. There are certain regions in the brain that receive and interpret their signals. Feelings, although related are quit different. Feelings are uniquely and individually manufactured. We learn to create feelings that seemingly correspond to what we sense. The relevance of feelings to actual experiences are subjective. Physical feelings are directly tied into our senses. Emotional feelings are developed by impressions from events and occurrences. Our state of mind can control our feelings while our state of being connects directly to our senses. We have feelings, feel emotions and connect with our senses.

Whatever we invest in is what we expect returns on. If we do not invest time for wellness,  we will allow sickness to take that time. Our minds work on the conscious, subconscious, unconscious and superconscious levels. Every one of our ideas project form.  We all carry the shape and proportions of our physical bodies within our minds. By feeling and licking our teeth with our tongue we attempt to canvas and confirm what we expect our senses tell us. Imagine using a sensory organ to physically "feel" with. Touch and taste are not the primary senses to detect or determine tooth decay; pain and (Dis-At-Ease) disease are. When we realize that the "conditions" within our core (body & soul) express the character of our thoughts (mind & spirit) we can better understand the status, rewards and consequences of our behavioral health.

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