Australian study findings on Stress Response supports Lightning Process theory
Stress-response systems in people with chronic fatigue syndrome are signalling to the body that it is not safe to relax, creating a state of high alert that can be likened to post-traumatic stress disorder, new research suggests.
This has been the understanding behind the Lightning Process approach for 12 years – looking at how we retrain the brain and the body out of a dysfunctional stress response. Using the skills taught during the training people learn how to spot this, the things they do that set it off and importantly how to train the body to respond more appropriately to the environment. Often people question how can something that works with a condition like Post Traumatic Stress or anxiety possibly work with a physical condition like CFS. Does this mean I believe that CFS is psychological or ‘all in the head’.
We see CFS as a genuine condition where there is a imbalance in how the brain is setting off the stress response. The similarities between CFS and Post Traumatic Stress are interesting. I would say that both are physical conditions where the stress response is being triggered unneccessarily. With CFS the brain has learnt that exercise is dangerous (or food, or light or chemicals, or noise, or even sleep or standing up). Of course everyone is different in what their brain is responding to as ‘dangerous’. The Lightning Process therefore has to treat each person differently, looking at how they use the skills of the Lightning Process to assist them.