Neuralplasticity and ME/CFS
A few people have asked me about a book I sometimes make reference to – ‘The Brain that Changes Itself” by Norman Doidge.
ME/CFS is a classified by the World Health Organsiation as a Neurological Condition. So for sufferers it contains a great overview of the changes in our understanding of how the brain works. In short, not only were we wrong about how the brain works but we were spectacularly wrong! The concept of neuralplasticity has totally changed how we treat certain conditions and what we now see as possible. In some cases such as stroke rehabilitation, it has turned the impossible into a wonderful new reality. What was unrealistic and just plain impossible is now standard treatment.
I see the Lightning Process as part of this new wave of approaches.
Sufferers of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Conditions may be particularly interested reading how the very early work on ‘Neuralplasticity’ (that won Eric Kandel a Nobel Prize in 2000) was about influencing pain messages to the brain.
I sometime encourage people to read the book before coming onto a training as it gets people to realise that many of the things that we learnt at school as ‘facts’ have changed.
For those suffering from ME/CFS and feel unable to take in the whole book, there is a documentary of the book and there are lots of free videos online of Norman Doidge discussing the book and the concept of Neuralplasticity.
The book itself is available at most bookstores. Read it. Your brain will thank you.