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I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

theatlantic.com

21–30 of 131 posts

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#21
post #8
post #2

She and her family were hit by a wrong way truck probably going 70 mph. It completely shattered their bodies, lives and shows how precious our moments are. This almost feels personal to me because of how well written her account is. I’ve had terrible chronic migraines for as long as i can remember. Apparently they can be associated with brain lesions, too. I’ll clearly never know how they’ve impacted my personality.

After decades of migraines I was diagnosed with Chronic Daily Migraines. I was prescribed a 'under the tongue' triptan which if the migraine aura arrived during the day worked some of the time. If I woke with the migraine at 10/10 pain level than I lost the full day. One of my daughters also had weekly migraines, lost a day at work each time. I got a Daith piercing in my right ear - my migraines originated on the rig…

Could be an effective placebo for sure: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-unconventional-pierci...

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#22
post #9

For some reason I found this line particularly funny and poignant: "But did you know that you can eat whole grains and still get hit by a truck?"

As I get older, more and more people around me get ill and die: many of them super healthy, not smoking or drinking, sporty all their lives, wealthy, health food nuts and no family histories get diagnosed with cancer and heart disease. In my group more healthy than unhealthy receive terrible outcomes at too young an age. It seems indeed it is not fair; do not believe or think it is, there is no reason to do so. Oh an…

Yeah, important to realize healthy eating and exercise does something like reducing a 5% (say) chance of early severe sickness or death to a 2% chance. The exact numbers are definitely wrong but the size of the effect seems about right.

Of course, the chance of death is always 100% in the end :^)

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#23
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After decades of migraines I was diagnosed with Chronic Daily Migraines. I was prescribed a 'under the tongue' triptan which if the migraine aura arrived during the day worked some of the time. If I woke with the migraine at 10/10 pain level than I lost the full day. One of my daughters also had weekly migraines, lost a day at work each time. I got a Daith piercing in my right ear - my migraines originated on the rig…

Did you get the piercing because you expected it might help (and if that's the case, would you mind sharing why), or did you get the piercing just for aesthetics and then discovered it helped? I'm not looking to pick apart your story, just curious.

I got the piercing after reading something somewhere that a daith had helped someone else. I am no stranger to bodyart / piercings and I have a passing interest / experience in acupuncture / acupressure. So the idea it could help appeared worth a shot, so I went for it. I did not think "this will work", but hey, nothing ventured ..

I would not describe a daith as an aesthetic piercing. It is very discreet so not a 'showing off' type. The placement also does not lend itself to changing the usual steel ball closure ring which is initially placed. I did not think through what I would do if it did not work because I am visibily modified and this extra was a nothing.

My daughter has no bodyart. Standard ear-gun piercing, one in each ear. She took some convincing, but all I could say was "This worked for me, I'll pay, there is nothing to lose and much to gain". And it worked.

What I do not know is "If I removed the metal, would I get migraines back?" and I'm not about to try.

Here is something to try: My late wife would have bad headaches. If I squeezed the web between her big toe and the next one the pain would fade after a few minutes and if I continued the pain would stop.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#24
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After decades of migraines I was diagnosed with Chronic Daily Migraines. I was prescribed a 'under the tongue' triptan which if the migraine aura arrived during the day worked some of the time. If I woke with the migraine at 10/10 pain level than I lost the full day. One of my daughters also had weekly migraines, lost a day at work each time. I got a Daith piercing in my right ear - my migraines originated on the rig…

Could be an effective placebo for sure: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-unconventional-pierci...

As I said, there is no research.

But there is also much anecdotal evidence it helps.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#25
post #18
post #2

She and her family were hit by a wrong way truck probably going 70 mph. It completely shattered their bodies, lives and shows how precious our moments are. This almost feels personal to me because of how well written her account is. I’ve had terrible chronic migraines for as long as i can remember. Apparently they can be associated with brain lesions, too. I’ll clearly never know how they’ve impacted my personality.

As horrible as this accident is, this is also a testament to modern automotive safety. If this had happened in the 70s or 80s, they all would've been done for. I've seen reports of recent model year cars surviving these kinds of accidents while leaving their drivers unscathed.

My 8mo pregnant wife and 4yo daughter just walked away completely unscathed from a 40mph T-bone collision where the other driver blew a stop sign. Their car was hit so hard it spun around twice. The impact was directly into the driver side, where they were both sitting. By the time I got there barely 5 minutes later my daughter was sitting and joking with the police on scene.

Found out later the VW Atlas essentially has armor plating in the side, which spread the side impact out from the door into the frame. Didn’t know that when we bought it, but we sure bought another one quick.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#26
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could be an effective placebo for sure: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-unconventional-pierci...

As I said, there is no research. But there is also much anecdotal evidence it helps.

This is one of those areas where anecdotes can be quite valuable, because there seems to be no real downside risk to a piercing aside from the money spent and possible infection, but if there's even a .01% chance it could stop debilitating chronic pain, then sure, you might make a valid decision to try it even though there isn't a study supporting it.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#27
post #4

What a well-written story. I don't have much to add, but I can say her humour or writing talent seems to be quite sharp for someone that feels she has not completely regained her mental faculties. Also the joke about opening a spa where she whacks stressed people with a bat so they find respite from our busy world: we already do that ourselves when we reach mental burnout. I did, and in some ways, I feel that years l…

> Perhaps burnout is as traumatic to the brain as a massive brain injury Wouldn’t surprise me. I had a massive psychotic break 5 years ago. I’m pretty sure it came with physical brain damage. My memory isn’t what it used to be. There are holes in it. Apparently some of it is so completely gone, I don’t know I’ve forgotten it. Usually I know if I forgot something because there is a dangling pointer to it. Brain damage…

I often feel as if the brain is deliberately culling memories around psychotic episodes as a means for survival/optimisation.

Either that or the memories are treated no differently by the brain. Because one remembers the time as being so significant it seems disproportionate for it to be forgotten. But this could just be what happens to all memories.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#29
Many years ago I read an article (which I can't seem to find) that had the following key points:

- Very smart guy

- Had some kind of blood circulatory issue so reduced oxygen to the brain

- BUT was a very active cyclist so has very good cardio

- due to both of the above, he was getting enough O2 to be functional but effectively had a lower IQ

- circulatory issue was eventually identified and then corrected

His comments (paraphrased):

"Being less smart was kind of a blessing. Instead of getting frustrated when things weren't working when there were obvious solutions, my attitude changed to just accepting things.

As soon as my circulatory issues where resolved, I went right back to being frustrated."

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#30

Any updates on how she’s been going?

Here's her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hanaschank

She seems to be doing well and her writing and snark are on point. After reading her posts I'd wager 50% of you will think she's still brain-damaged and 50% will say she's never been in better shape -- such is the contemporary zeitgeist.

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