For those not aware of our Mold Symptom Therapy Guide website, let this “Rewriting Mold” series serve as a reminder of both what we offer our patients and what we offer the general public in terms of understanding mold toxicity illness. Over the coming weeks, I will be reviewing and reposting sections of our Mold Symptoms Therapy website one or two at a time. It has been over 3 years since I first wrote this 30 plus page guide and posted it online. A few things have changed since 2020 (yes, an understatement), but the basic principles emphasized in 2020 continue with minimal change.
As this provides me an opportunity to update any advancements, it also offers the opportunity for you to ask questions and even contribute to edition number 2 of the Mold Guide. By leaving comments and questions, I can identify areas where I can offer even more to patients and the public in terms of education and empowerment over mold. Please take 2-3 minutes to be a part of helping others restore healthier more abundant lives with your questions and feedback. You can leave comments on Facebook or our website not only for each week’s section, but any section off the website which I have not addressed yet.
This week Mold and the Human Spirit
The following includes some of my observations and experiences concerning the human spirit and mold. While other topics addressed in the mold guide have primarily focused on symptoms and patterns caused by mold toxicity, here we focus primarily on the experience or subjective aspects of this condition. As varied as the symptoms can be from mold toxins, the experience of mold can feel even more unique and isolated from within the illness, yet even here there are common patterns. Though you feel very alone, you are not alone in the spiritual effects of mold toxicity.
In caring for those who suffer from mold toxicity, one of the simplest descriptions that I can give is that it “dehumanizes”. I mean it dehumanizes by disrupting what it means to be human and to feel “well”. We have discussed the interference with normal physical and biochemical functions at length above. The dehumanizing aspect continues into a person’s heart and spirit, even altering their being and relationships during the illness.
With difficulties in thinking due to neurologic changes come difficulties in communicating or relating to others. You may feel like you can’t get your point across. Others may be frustrated that you often misunderstand them. The brain fog, emotions, and mood swings make communication touchy and sometimes heated. Then increased physical needs of the illness put stress on family and friends as they may have to take on responsibilities and duties that you cannot fulfill.
You may even struggle with your faith from both an intellectual and an emotional standpoint. Intellectually, you struggle to read Bible verses which might encourage you or struggle to understand sermons that could provide peace. Emotionally, you become distrustful due to anxiety or feel excessively lonely as no one, including yourself, “understand” your depression. Next you start blaming yourself or start feeling like God has abandoned you. You intellectually know that God is faithful in your head, but the feeling may not make it to your heart. Despair can set in as prayers feel unheard.
Ultimately, you may experience the loss of those things which had before provided safety and comfort. Relationships are strained. Church attendance becomes a challenge either physically or emotionally. Sometimes the church building is a source of mold exposure which is even harder to face. Guilt and shame grow. Your home which should be a haven may become a source of the problem and you may cry out with the Psalmist, “How long Oh Lord?”
As guides in the recovery process, we try to point patients back to hope. While we encourage them with the success stories of prior patients who overcame, we ultimately want to point them back to a heavenly Father who cares. Our focus during visits in terms of time is almost always on monitoring progress and adjusting therapies, but in small ways we want to continue encouragement in finding the ultimate restoration in God. Given the how much time family spends with the patient, we also work to encourage the discouraged parents, spouses, and children of patients. The encouragement is for their well-being and for their continued emotional and spiritual support towards the suffering patient. Not only does the patient suffer, but those that love them also need our care.
And we pray as we work to release you from this dehumanizing force. We pray that God removes the toxins and the effects. We pray that God restores health and hope and life. And we keep pressing with you.
TAKE HOME POINTS
Mold and the Human Spirit
Mold dehumanizes
Physically – multiple symptoms already addressed
Intellectually – makes thinking, remembering, and decision making more difficult
Emotionally- confuses emotions or makes one imprisoned by them
Relationally – family and friend relationships are strained
Spiritually – one’s ability to relate with God is hindered
Interferes with daily activities
Recovery requires support for the spirit
Prayer empowers the restorative work we do
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
