It’s All In Your Head

"Stop whining, it's all in your head."

Maybe your mom told you that when you were being a little... bratty.  Maybe later on in life you had some really tough challenges that you couldn't get over, or that people couldn't explain, so they told you "it's all in your head."

Have you ever thought about the absurdity of what people mean when they say this statement?

First, it is all in your head.  Everything is in your head.  Everything is processed and experienced in that mushy pink stuff resting between your ears.  But when people say "it's all in your head" it's supposed to somehow make what is happening to you less real in some way.  That makes no sense.  They'll say, "It's all subjective, we need some objective stuff to go on."  How is that possible when it comes to your head?  It filters and skews everything.

Second, people dampen it down when it is in your head.  "It's just placebo," they'll say, when you get a crazy result from something they don't understand.  Well... so?  I had a great friend who once told me "I'm willing to pay for placebo."  He wasn't be facetious, he was telling the truth.  He recognized placebo as a power we should exploit, not something we should right off.  We should realize that all obstacles must first be overcome in the mind if they are going to be overcome in "reality" (I put quotation marks in that for a reason).

Instead of getting downtrodden when someone says "it's all in your head," thank them instead.  They're pointing out an important fact of life.  And once you realize that "it's all in your head" you become not so helpless afterall.

About Josh

Josh holds a Doctor of Chiropractic from Parker College of Chiropractic, is currently enrolled in The Carrick Institute studying Functional Neurology, and runs a full-time practice in Farmington, NM.  His interests are in neurology of movement, pain, and what a human being needs to express health.  He also likes to read and write, hence this blog.