Vicki

You are so right. We are our own little ecosystem. And all our germ killin' can also whack the nice little organisms we need to keep us in balance.

Same thing with pain medication and tranquilizers. Over time pain meds make us more sensitive to pain and tranquilizers make us more sensitive to stress. By keeping our bodies and minds from feeling the pain of life situations, we do not build the muscles, immunity, and tolerance necessary to defeat the same invaders next time they attack. It's the tearing down and building back that develops our defenses. Just like muscles that heal over stronger from exercise, so does our brain and our immune system heal stronger from fighting off micro organisms, stress, and pain. And when we interfere with our body's natural reaction to those stressors, our brain over compensates the next time they come in order to get our attention that something is wrong.

Of course there are times when our bodies and our brains simply become exhausted from fighting and we need immediate help. We should take into account the long term effects on the ecosystem of our lives when we begin a course of treatment and plan for a time to end the treatment and possibly endure the discomfort in order to allow our bodies and minds to heal themselves.

smile