There are many causes of dementia. But when we focus on diet, exercise, supplements and so on, it is easy to overlook the importance of emotions and feelings – especially sadness and disappointments held onto through life. These are compounded in later life – loss of a spouse, loss of status due to retirement from a prestigious career, loss of dear friends to governmentally imposed medical malfeasance, loss of opportunities to travel overseas, loss of time outdoors and loss of day support services as a result of lockdown restrictions.
LOCKDOWN HARMS
The impacts of lockdown restrictions in particular on older people and people with dementia have been researched and well-documented. “People who were more anxious and depressed during 2019-2020 also saw their short-term memory and ability to focus worsen, by the equivalent of 5 to 6 years of what we’d expect to see from natural ageing” (Brooker, 2020; Hicking, 2021).
Another study found “irritability, apathy, agitation, and anxiety were the most frequently reported worsening symptoms, and sleep disorder and irritability the most frequent new symptoms.” Two-thirds of caregivers in the study had increased stress (Cagnin, et al., 2020).
Professor Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University called lockdowns “the single biggest public health mistake in history.” (For further research into lockdown see Dementia Pioneers previous blog entitled “Memory loss? Think lockdown, mould, medications and mnemonics” https://wordpress.com/post/dementiapioneers.uk/41 ).
Emotional suffering cannot be removed with a pill or a detox. Even talk therapy can fail. Suffering sticks. It stays with us, deep down in our energetic field – unless we take steps to remove it.
ENERGY
We are more than bodies. Energy is the very root of our existence. We are source energy manifested into physical form. We are masterful creations of the divine. “In the beginning was the word” (John 1:1), and “The word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)
Our thoughts and words are energetic vibrations. Negative thoughts and words create negative energies within our bodies. The longer we hold onto negativity about a person or an event, the deeper and tighter it takes hold and the more difficult it is to erase or re-tune. It may be so repressed that we barely remember the negative event that has so shaped our life ever since!
What has this got to do with lockdown harms you may ask…? Bear with me a bit longer.
Have you ever seen the patterns sand makes on vibrating plates? The pitch of the sound alters the form we see on the plate. A note played ‘out of tune’ has a discordant, harsh or dissonant frequency that clashes and is not harmonious to the ear. Likewise, in our energetic field, distant memories of anger, disappointment, strife, negativity or fear are inharmonious to the human physical body.
These inharmonious energetic frequencies ‘manifest’ or become apparent physically in our bodies, revealing themselves as illness or disease. “Dis-ease” literally means a physical state in which the body is not at ease.
Sooner rather than later (before they cause physical ailments) these energetic distortions must be untangled and smoothed out. What can be done about these? There are numerous ways to address embedded negative emotional memories (essential oils, tuning forks, meditation, sound baths, etc.)
The scientific mechanism whereby the healing happens will be expounded upon in a later blog where I explain the sound therapy research Dementia Pioneers is carrying out. For now, hold the thought that negativity and especially fear is damaging to the energetic spiritual body and eventually to the physical body if not cleared And there are numerous therapeutic ways to remove it.
Optimism and positivity are easily subdued in these dark days. This winter in particular, the short days were made evermore dreary and hopeless by the daily aerial spraying of toxic chemtrails removing any vestige of blue sky or sunshine from our world. As my emotional and physical wellbeing is intricately tied to the sun, my attempt to maintain positivity or hope is jeopardised.
Am I alone? What do you do to stay sane? How do you maintain hope…?
NATURE
What keeps me going is nature’s immense beauty, unbridled by the evils of man. What is more perfect than a bulb pushing up through the frozen ground to burst forth in colour and perfection? What is more uplifting than the dawn chorus out my window at 6am? What can lift me like a scripture, or a poem, or a song? How are these things so life-giving, so infused with hope when failings overwhelm the world, and life throws us into deep despair at horrific suffering?
So how are we to get up each day, make sense of our world and find some peace within it? In light of such glaring contradictions?
MIRACLES
Is it the small miracles like bumping into an old friend? Being on the spot to help a stranger break a fall? See a purse fall out of a pocket and be the one to return it? Witness a green leaf through a crack in the pavement…? Or is it the big miracles like surviving a heart attack? Being in love? Witnessing a child come into the world? Or is it simply hope?
HOPE
How hopeful are you these days? Adam P. Stern, MD tells us, “We find ways to oppose the dread of life’s dangers with hope: an aspirational feeling that circumstances can improve, that we can persist, that there is at least as much good in the world as bad.” And further, “among young adults with chronic illnesses, greater degrees of hope are associated with improved coping, well-being, and engagement in healthy behaviors. It also protects against depression and suicide. Among teens, hope is linked with health, quality of life, self-esteem, and a sense of purpose.” (Stern 2022)
As a verb, hope means “to expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation”. But on emotionally dark days, how can we get started? Saul Levine, MD writes that hope, “derives from deep need, sadness, unfulfillment, or physical or emotional pain, and represents profound yearning for betterment.” (Levine, 2021)
Being a dual-national (a citizen of both the US and the UK) I find myself searching for hope across the puddle, contemplating the Founding Fathers in their fight for independence and self-determination against an unelected, unaccountable and tyrannical state. Their struggle lasted for years and included “war, starvation, upheaval, fierce public debate and spiritual awakening” (Shurk, 2024). Shurk tells us, “If America’s success story was foreordained, it is because America’s Founders steadfastly believed in God’s gift of freedom.” (but alas… only for white men at the time…)
Only we can preserve liberty for posterity. Governments can’t hand over freedoms they don’t have to give. “People assert their freedoms as God-given human rights against any form of government that insists otherwise… Freedom’s power comes from God’s inspiring presence within the human mind.”
When I found Shurk’s article, I started to pull out of my blue funk. Continuing to read Levine, he tells us that, “hope is a human need and a powerful force which can foster courage and creativity.” Hope is uniquely human because it “requires words, thoughts and imagination to contemplate a more positive future.” It provides respite from “pessimism, fear and dread.”
CREATIVITY
I started out by saying that negativity and especially fear is damaging to the energetic spiritual body and eventually to the physical body if not cleared. The next step for myself therefore is to be creative by envisioning something better, and then do something to bring that vision into being. I started by lining up three meetings this week with colleagues to help me move my health research agenda forward in the next few weeks. Returning to Shurk, I read, “when we are tested most harshly… we find courage that we never knew we had.” My work may not end the tyranny. But it will help to untangle and smooth out my own energetic distortions so I have the heart, energy and drive to add positivity, healing and love into the national atmosphere.
TRUTH
Another way to stay sane is to share a link to a credible online UK news broadcast, where reporters are doing the job that mainstream legacy media no longer does: https://www.ukcolumn.org
Or to share an awake radio station https://english909.com/ which broadcasts regular meet-ups where like-minded souls can share strength and support, and find hope for the future.
REFERENCES
Brooker, H., 2020, University of Exeter. https://www.nationalhealthexecutive.com/articles/older-people-6-years-memory-decline-during-lockdown
Hicking, S., 2021. “Older people experienced 6 years of memory decline during lockdown.” https://www.nationalhealthexecutive.com/articles/older-people-6-years-memory-decline-during-lockdown
Cagnin A, Di Lorenzo R, Marra C et al (2020) “Behavioral and psychological effects of coronavirus disease-19 quarantine in patients with dementia.” Front Psychiatry 11. 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.578015 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33033486/
Prof. Jay Bhattacharya, Stanford University – The Telegraph, 10 June 2021
Alice Ashwell PhD, Dementia Support Educator & Coach. https://heartofnature.co.za/dementia-connections/ Quotes and references supplied with thanks from Alice’s presentation “Learning from lockdowns – how NOT to care for people living with dementia.”
Shurk, J.B., 2024. https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/god-placed-us-in-this-moment-of-history-for-a-reason-are-you-up-to-the-challenge/
Levine, S., 2021. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/hope-why-it-matters-202107162547
Stern, A. P., 2022. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/our-emotional-footprint/202202/hope-human-need-and-powerful-force
The UK Column https://www.ukcolumn.org
The English 909 https://english909.com/
Back on track 
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