Dr. Andrew Arnold talks about the problems facing our clients in relation to healthcare.
Increasingly, there is more and more pressure on families and individuals as expectations to achieve more, have more, be more in shorter and shorter time increases. The belief is ‘more is more’ when in fact it doesn’t necessarily mean better. At the core is a desperate effort to fill the void creating from this distorted, perceived, capitalist-driven reality.
Marcus Bird in his book, ‘The 3-minute coach’ highlights a 2012 study from Carnegie Mellon University, ‘Americans, in particular women, young people and low-income earners, are more stressed today than three decades ago, the first-ever historical analysis of stress over time…self-reporting an increase of 10-30%. Dr. David Spiegel, a psychiatrist at Stanford University School of Medicine said, ‘It makes perfect sense stress levels would be higher today than 25 years ago. Economic pressures are greater, and its harder to turn off information, and its harder to buffer ourselves from the world.’
We live in a world where we are more connected than ever before, yet less connected and this lack of social connection is negatively impacting our mental wellbeing. According to Marcus Bird, ‘researchers from Brigham Young University reviewed 148 studies that tracked the social habits of more than 300,000 individuals. They found that people who have strong ties to family, friends or co-workers have a 50% lower risk of dying over a given period than those with fewer social connections (Journal Plos Medicine).’ It was also found we are less likely to develop harmful habits and addictions and fall ill less often if we are socially connected.
The result is what Marcus Bird calls, ‘Disconnection Illness’, a cortisol-dominant society where, as Dr. Joe Dispenza says our brains are stuck in survival mode. Mark Waldman talks about the different brain networks, in particular, the Default Mode network which essentially runs survival mode. Stuck in this gear means it is virtually impossible to be in the present moment, in a state of creation. We are constantly impatient, needing everything to happen yesterday irrespective of how much technology we have, or how organized we are. Think of the client who puts pressure on you to get to their desired outcome sooner and ends up dropping out anyway.
Even when we think we are relaxed, enjoying time out, etc. we are sitting in silent stress, quietly idling at higher than normal revs.
Our client is becoming socially isolated, chronically stressed and burnt out living from paycheck to paycheck sitting in fear and survival. It’s no wonder so many have trouble committing to a wellness program!
And what’s further, the apathy and despondency that ensues compounds our self-sabotage leading us to make poorer health decisions and become more unwell.
Taking this one step further, if this social disconnection causes us to disrespect ourselves imagine if it extended to a lack of connection to the planet. How respectful would be of our environment? Our stressful way of often leading us to do whatever it takes to survive and that means disrespecting the planet then so be it!
So, a connection is at the core of the problem which is why so much of the MDW Intern program is about forming a relationship with our clients. More connection, more meaning, more engagement, more enrolment, better compliance, better, more predictable health outcomes, more manageable healthcare spending and so on.
The MDW Intern program is about supporting wellness practitioners to connect with their clients more deeply, faster and with more engagement.
About the Author:
Dr. Andrew Arnold is a Chiropractor and founder of the Million Dollar Wellness Intern program.