Here is the next part of the serialization of a long-form presentation I did for a facebook group of people with Parkinson’s, that I started in my previous post:
For this next part, I interviewed a participant of my Overcome Parkinson’s course, Andy, as part of the presentation. I prefer letting people with the diagnosis talk for themselves, so this is why I chose the interview format for my book, and many of these Substack articles. As there are not a lot of studies about stress and diseases, I use the interview form to help you understand what type of disease Parkinson's is. A disease that is dependent on your stress might not be what we have all thought it was.
The transcript is below.
Lilian: I have invited one of my participants on my Overcome Parkinson course. Give a short presentation of yourself.
Andy: My name is Andy. I'm living in the in the UK in the east of England. I was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2022. I've been in Lillian's course since November and I'm really getting a lot out of it.
Lilian: Why did you start to look at alternative solutions?
Andy: I've done loads of research online. I've spent hours and hours doing research, and I found your website, a link to your website. And I thought this sounds wonderful not least of all because it has the word HOPE in the title. And what we all need is hope rather than what we're given by our neurologists, which is despair.
We need the opposite of that
We need hope.
We need to be able to be positive and proactive with our diagnosis.
Lilian: you joined my courses, why did you do that?
Andy: Well, I had an interview with you, and I thought that what you were offering was a much superior alternative to what I was given before. Again, it's the idea of hope. It's the idea that stress is a major factor. And I've had a lot of stress in my life, specifically, particularly in the last few years. And it just rang true for me, what you were saying, that this is a stress-related condition.
My symptoms are because of stress.
I'm trapped in fight or flight or freeze mode. And I need help to recover from this.
Lilian: "During the course have you had some aha moments?
Andy: I have had aha moments. I've been feeling much more positive generally.
I've been able to do things without medication that six months ago I couldn't do. Silly things like clean the bath. I can clean the bathtub now. I couldn't do that six months ago because I just couldn't physically do it. My hand wouldn't move to clean with a cloth. So it's just little things like that, little details.
The biggest effect, though, is how much more positive I feel. That's the most striking effect. I love the meetings we have. I look forward to this. I love the community, the sense of community that we get from them. It's been excellent, really excellent.
Lilian: What do you think about this idea that symptoms are so much more stress-related than most people think?
Andy: I'll give you an anecdote about that. Last year I went to my uncle's funeral. And we were caught in traffic because of road closures and road works. And we arrived just in time. And I knew I was going to be towards the front of the church and it was a packed church. And I shook like a jelly. I was so tremoring all over my body. From my head to my feet, I was tremoring. And I sat down, and the tremors just wouldn't go because I felt so exposed by this congregation, all watching me. I thought they were all watching me. The following day at home I took the same amount of medication, no tremor.
So it shows that there is a huge stress component in this condition
I have no doubt, I have no doubt, if I'm stressed, my symptoms go through the roof.
I'm looking forward to a future where I become healthier, where my symptoms decrease. I think that a lot of this is about attitude and mindset. It's about what you believe, what you think is going to be your future. Our minds are so powerful. And if you're negative, you will get worse. If you think in a more realistic and positive way, you can get better.
I can control my tremor now when I lie down in bed. I can actually stop it through breathing exercises, which is such a huge relief. So I'm sleeping better.
We've got to start listening to our intuition. We've got to stop ignoring the red flags. Stop trying to attain perfection and control of things. Don't leave it up to the experts who peddle gloom and doom. We need to accept ourselves for who we are and be content in the knowledge that we are enough as we are and have nothing to prove.
Lilian: Thank you a lot, Andy.
Ready to join our Overcome Parkinson’s course
(where your diagnosis does not matter, stress is the main focus)
If you are ready to invest in a course.
Feel free to book me for a short call. Only if you want to go active and have more of this biological knowledge
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