Your Truth Revealed podcast

NEW SEASON 4 - As fate would have it what began as debilitating symptoms led to my surprising diagnosis. And this struggle evolved into a radical transformation that affects every aspect of my wellbeing. In season four, I'm eager to share my story with you as a docuseries knowing you, too, will benefit from my health discoveries. Here's a sneak peek. *** Had I known that moving into our forever home would finally weakened my body of almost all vitality, I probably would have stayed put. Hugged at the Southeast corner by a slender creek, we named our property and abode Villa Girasole. With such a cheerful name, the sunflower house, we foresaw saw transforming the forgotten property and aged home into a peaceful haven. However, this place had its own plan. Ready to reveal a nasty truth about what had been hiding in my body for decades. Villa Girasole has ravaged my health then showed me a path to reclaim it. What began as general malaise progresses into a lasting headache so debilitating, I can no longer form cohesive thoughts. My brain feels swollen, pushing outward on my skull as the bones refuse to budge. My neck and jaw feel like fused joints, attempting to move in stiff discord. I'm no longer able to read for my eyes blur the words and my lack of balance cause several unexpected falls. Insomnia is rearing its ugly head of which I battled years prior. For months, I see medical specialists saying that according to their tests, I'm healthy. MRIs of my brain and neck are clear and unable to show any reason for my misery. A neurologist throws migraine pills and injections at my relentless headache with no effectiveness. And a rheumatologist decides that of the six auto-immune diseases she screens, I have none. Furthermore, what begins as a routine allergy shot reveals a distinct clue as to what is secretly plaguing my body. Minutes after I receive a shot, the office begins to swirl, my throat closes, my body panics and shuts down. I'm straining to hear the allergy doctors say to the nurse, “This is the first time I've given an epinephrin injection.” I must be going into anaphylactic shock. As he prepares the syringe, I imagine the scene in Pulp Fiction the movie when actress Uma Thurman passes out from a drug overdose and actor John Travolta stabs her in the heart with a huge needle filled with adrenaline. Similarly, as the needle pierces my thigh, I lunge upright with a huge gasp of air just as I suspected. After an hour of being monitored, I call my dad to arrive and drive me home. The three of us are confused about why I went into anaphylactic shock, another piece of the mystery unsolved. Several days later, I had my blood drawn for a comprehensive panel. The results show that my body's beginning to attack its own tissue which can lead to an auto-immune disease. I feel terrified and confused, not knowing what to do next. I am immensely grateful when my neighbor living on the other side of the creek from our home suggests I see Tenisha Wards who is a functional medicine doctor. She orders a handful of functional medicine labs for me to complete. And they indicate there are several pathogens in my intestines, and that my liver, heart, and neurological system are stressed. I also had the presence of toxic mold in my body that appears to be coming from our forever home. What's more is the final and most dreadful diagnosis that I will reveal in further episodes. The solution is treating the root cause of my mystery illness with natural remedies, including a lot of rest outside on my property. I use the most unusual methods as medical interventions have no effect. All these methods are completely new to me, although most have been employed for thousands of years. I endure ancient remedies to an ancient illness that has become a modern and worldwide epidemic. These methods include colon hydrotherapy and cupping massage employed by the ancient Egyptians.

Sharing his battle with depression and succeeding, Zack Rutledge, MA shares his straight forward techniques that truly help. His book is "The Official Depression Relief Playbook: Real-Life Strategies From a Guy Who Has Lived It." Zack is in the movement counseling master's program at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He is a certified personal trainer, a fitness nutrition specialist, and a brain health trainer. He is a yoga instructor and has a black belt in karate. ➤RESOURCES Zack Rutledge: https://tinyurl.com/yrt8w33y Free Worksheet: https://www.YourTruthRevealed.com/listen ➤SUMMARY 1. You have a true insider’s look on depression. What is your personal story? · The perfect storm at 18 years old, best friend killed. Not just grief, but depression. · Friends were leaving for college no support system. Dropped out of college. · Karate school shut down. (Mental illness manifests in early twenties.) · Moody punk rocker. Bass player for several bands. Played at CBGBs, opened for big bands, had a record label. But was miserable. Didn't know what was happening. · Real serious. Pit in my stomach, despair. · Felt like midnight all the time. Life went from color to black and white. · At about 8 pm a lot of thought about death. Feeding the fear wolf. · Only thinking about negative things, all messed up. Tough time concentrating. 2. What was your turning point and what depression relief strategy was most effective for you? · Took over a decade to heal and life to slowly come back to color. · Deepest depression at 5'9' weighted 125 pounds. Teaching fitness classes and working out was a biproduct of martial arts. · Lifting weights, muscles growing, and had more control. Felt better and not getting sick all the time. · Movement and physical activity are the main coping mechanism and relief strategy. 3. I believe that half of the treatment for mental illness is counseling and the other half medication. What is your opinion? · Medication and therapy are the West’s gifts to the world. The East’s gifts are yoga and martial arts. · There is no single definition of depression. There can be various causes of our depression. It can be genetic, chemical, or physical issues. · It can be brought on by grief, PTSD, or troubling relationships. · Mindset requires real work toward personal development. Always sharpening the sword. · Requires: discipline, patience with self, and an open mind and positive attitude. 4. What are practical steps someone can take to lift them out of depression? · Writing something down is the first step of taking an idea out of your head and into the real world. · What got me through the darkest times was shifting focus to what I could control. · I would create a list of all the things I'd like to change in my life. Then cross things off once it was done. Small victories. · Split the list into two categories: Life Goals and Daily Goals. 5. Lastly, how do you train people to have healthier brains and how does this impact depression? · Daniel Amen's book "Change Your Brain Change Your Life." Cognitive reserve and denser brain. · Cognitive decline. Exercise and physical activity help. Less brain shrinkage. · Coordination strengthens a lobe in the brain (cerebellum). Start juggling, play pickleball. · When you get your heart rate up and do something mentally challenging, you start to see angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels in your brain. Neurogenesis the process by which new neurons are formed in the brain.

Suffering with PTSD from fighting in the War in Iraq, former marine Manny Marrero, OTR/L shares his story of recovery. Everyone has expereinced some form of trauma. And we may need help to adapt once we're in a safe and better place. This is the 2nd part of his interview. Manny received his master's degree in occupational therapy from Bay Path University in Massachusetts. He's currently an MBA candidate at Boston university's Questrom school of business. He has a mental health occupational therapist at Cape Cod Healthcare and a yoga instructor. ➤RESOURCES Manny Marrero: https://www.instagram.com/manny_marrero Free Worksheet: https://www.YourTruthRevealed.com/listen ➤SUMMARY 1. What is your role and how do you help people? · Mental Health Occupational Therapist. Yoga and Meditation Teacher, Trauma Informed Care, Sensory Modulation, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, work for NAMI. · Vulnerability is a sign of strength and not of weakness. Lack of insight and awareness as to what is out there. Especially men, it's time to say that you need help. It's okay to be vulnerable say that you're struggling. It was me at one point. 2. What is your personal journey with PTSD? · Marine Corps 2001 - 2009. 4 years active duty. My first day of boot camp was just before 9/11. At 18 years old I was in the war zone at the Iraq-Kuwait border. I was in the front lines for 7 months in intense combat. · I returned to California and didn't have time to process. Went back into training. In 2007, I was deployed to Falluja in Iraq for 8 months. I lost my friend, which hit me hard. After I left the marines, I wasn't  sleeping well and had anxiety all the time. · I didn't know about PTSD and there was more stigma then. The marines weren't concerned about mental health. · At 22 years old, I was on active duty and drifting as a civilian. Self-medicating with alcohol, in toxic relationships, reckless and impulsive. I struggled from 2005 - 2009. Was dating my now wife who was studying psychology. She said I had PTSD yet I was in denial. I later told the VA that I needed help. · I was in therapy for a year and stopped drinking. I gained insight and self-awareness. I had been blaming yourself and felt broken in some way, thinking I'd never get better. I did the inner work and researched. Medications helped for a small period of time. Then I did yoga, exercise, medication, and mindfulness. I went to a veteran silent retreat. This helped me cope and be more mindful, kind, and gentle to myself and then to others. People started to notice a difference. · I finished college, whereas before I failed out. I graduated top of my class. I went to graduate school for OT and graduated top of my class. Now I'm getting my MBA. How do you define PTSD? · PTSD is a natural response to unnatural events. · Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. · Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. · If the symptoms get worse, last for months or even years, and interfere with your day-to-day functioning, you may have PTSD. · Most people who go through traumatic events may have temporary difficulty adjusting and coping, but with time and good self-care, they usually get better. · Getting effective treatment after PTSD symptoms develop can be critical to reduce symptoms and improve function. What would you like men and specifically veterans to know? · We all suffer, it's the human condition. Many suffer in silence. But there are solutions to problems we face, there are resources and programs. Like occupational therapy, NAMI, counseling, medications, and yoga. · Mindfulness - once you have awareness of thinking and behaviors, use awareness to make changes. Respond verses react. People are surprised that they have inner resources and can access it.

Suffering with PTSD from fighting in the War in Iraq, former marine Manny Marrero, OTR/L shares his story of recovery. Everyone has experienced some form of trauma. And we may need help to adapt once we're in a safe and better place. This is the 1st part of his interview. Manny received his master's degree in occupational therapy from Bay Path University in Massachusetts. He's currently an MBA candidate at Boston university's Questrom school of business. He has a mental health occupational therapist at Cape Cod Healthcare and a yoga instructor. ➤RESOURCES Manny Marrero: https://www.instagram.com/manny_marrero Free Worksheet: https://www.YourTruthRevealed.com/listen Tribe book: https://tinyurl.com/yvxjyh8y ➤SUMMARY 1. What is your role and how do you help people? · Mental Health Occupational Therapist. Yoga and Meditation Teacher, Trauma Informed Care, Sensory Modulation, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, work for NAMI. · Vulnerability is a sign of strength and not of weakness. Lack of insight and awareness as to what is out there. Especially men, it's time to say that you need help. It's okay to be vulnerable say that you're struggling. It was me at one point. 2. What is your personal journey with PTSD? · Marine Corps 2001 - 2009. 4 years active duty. My first day of boot camp was just before 9/11. At 18 years old I was in the war zone at the Iraq-Kuwait border. I was in the front lines for 7 months in intense combat. · I returned to California and didn't have time to process. Went back into training. In 2007, I was deployed to Falluja in Iraq for 8 months. I lost my friend, which hit me hard. After I left the marines, I wasn't  sleeping well and had anxiety all the time. · I didn't know about PTSD and there was more stigma then. The marines weren't concerned about mental health. · At 22 years old, I was on active duty and drifting as a civilian. Self-medicating with alcohol, in toxic relationships, reckless and impulsive. I struggled from 2005 - 2009. Was dating my now wife who was studying psychology. She said I had PTSD yet I was in denial. I later told the VA that I needed help. · I was in therapy for a year and stopped drinking. I gained insight and self-awareness. I had been blaming yourself and felt broken in some way, thinking I'd never get better. I did the inner work and researched. Medications helped for a small period of time. Then I did yoga, exercise, medication, and mindfulness. I went to a veteran silent retreat. This helped me cope and be more mindful, kind, and gentle to myself and then to others. People started to notice a difference. · I finished college, whereas before I failed out. I graduated top of my class. I went to graduate school for OT and graduated top of my class. Now I'm getting my MBA. How do you define PTSD? · PTSD is a natural response to unnatural events. · Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. · Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. · If the symptoms get worse, last for months or even years, and interfere with your day-to-day functioning, you may have PTSD. · Most people who go through traumatic events may have temporary difficulty adjusting and coping, but with time and good self-care, they usually get better. · Getting effective treatment after PTSD symptoms develop can be critical to reduce symptoms and improve function. What would you like men and specifically veterans to know? · We all suffer, it's the human condition. Many suffer in silence. But there are solutions to problems we face, there are resources and programs. Like occupational therapy, NAMI, counseling, medications, and yoga. · Mindfulness - once you have awareness of thinking and behaviors, use awareness to make changes. Respond verses react. People are surprised that they have inner resources ...

Meet child psychiatrist Jim Tucker, MD. As seen in the Netflix series Surviving Death, he reveals children's' accounts of remembering their past lives. Children give details about a past life that verifiably match the life of someone who lived and died in the past. This is the 2nd part of his interview. Jim received his medical degree in psychiatry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the Bonner-Lowry professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia and the director of the UVA Division of Perceptual Studies. ➤RESOURCES Jim Tucker's Book: https://www.jimbtucker.com/ Division of Perceptual Studies: https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/ Free Worksheet: https://www.YourTruthRevealed.com ➤SUMMARY 1. What have you discovered in your combined 50 years of research? · We and our colleagues have studied over 2,500 cases. · Many of the children have given details that have been verified to match the life of a deceased person, someone unknown to the child’s family. · Many of the children display behaviors and emotions that are consistent with their purported memories. · We now have good evidence that some young children have memories from a life in the past. · Consciousness is primary, inhabits a physical brain. Comes before and goes on after life. · The personality is one manifestation of the consciousness. 2. Can you please tell listeners about the past life memory of James Leininger? · We determine what happened — what the child has said and how the parents have reacted. Whether the child’s statements match the life of a particular deceased person. · James called himself the third James. · Nightmares waking up screaming, “Airplane crash on fire, little man can’t get out.” · Dad asked, “Who shot your plain down?” And James said the Japanese with the big red sun. He said the boat’s name was Natoma. His friend was Jack Larson. He pointed to a photo of Iwa Jima island, “That’s where my plain got shot down.” · Dad found the report that the ship Natoma had been at Iwa Jima. · James’ dad was in shock. How could he know this? Jack A. Larsen was the assistant artisan’s officer aboard Natoma bay. · When James was 6 years old, he described how they made Napalm bombs. · In the early 2000s, they went to a Natoma Bay reunion. Dad learned there was only one pilot killed in the battle of Iwa Jima and from a particular squadron, James Huston Jr. · Anne Huston (Baron) was James Huston’s sister and they met. She said she completely believed it. · James Leininger remembered his past life as World War II pilot James Huston. 3. I’ve heard that some children have birth marks related to their past life, is this correct? · Birth marks and birth defects can match fatal wounds on the previous person. · A gunshot wound where the bullet went in and out of the body. · At birth, Patrick had a slanting birthmark with the appearance of a small cut on the right side of his neck—the same location of Kevin’s central line—a nodule on his scalp above his right ear as Kevin’s biopsied tumor had been, and an opacity in his left eye, diagnosed as a corneal leukoma, that caused him, like Kevin, to have very little vision in that eye. · When he began walking, he limped, favoring his left leg. 4. How are parents impacted by their child’s past life memories? · Parents will try to get their kids to stop talking about it. · The child may cry to go to an old place and old family. It can be irritating to the parent. 5. Do past life memories in children occur mostly in the East where reincarnation is accepted? · There are young children all over the world who say they remember a past life. · All continents except for Antarctica(?). · Some Christian parents in the US have no trouble adding it to their belief system. · 25% of Christians believe in eternal life. 6. Why does your research focus on children rather than adults?

Meet child psychiatrist Jim Tucker, MD in the 1st part of his interview. As seen in the Netflix series Surviving Death, he reveals children's' accounts of remembering their past lives. Children give details about a past life that verifiably match the life of someone who lived and died in the past. Jim received his medical degree in psychiatry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the Bonner-Lowry professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia and the director of the UVA Division of Perceptual Studies. ➤RESOURCES Jim Tucker's Book: https://www.jimbtucker.com/ Division of Perceptual Studies: https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/ Free Worksheet: https://www.YourTruthRevealed.com ➤SUMMARY 1. What have you discovered in your combined 50 years of research? · We and our colleagues have studied over 2,500 cases. · Many of the children have given details that have been verified to match the life of a deceased person, someone unknown to the child’s family. · Many of the children display behaviors and emotions that are consistent with their purported memories. · We now have good evidence that some young children have memories from a life in the past. · Consciousness is primary, inhabits a physical brain. Comes before and goes on after life. · The personality is one manifestation of the consciousness. 2. Can you please tell listeners about the past life memory of James Leininger? · We determine what happened — what the child has said and how the parents have reacted. Whether the child’s statements match the life of a particular deceased person. · James called himself the third James. · Nightmares waking up screaming, “Airplane crash on fire, little man can’t get out.” · Dad asked, “Who shot your plain down?” And James said the Japanese with the big red sun. He said the boat’s name was Natoma. His friend was Jack Larson. He pointed to a photo of Iwa Jima island, “That’s where my plain got shot down.” · Dad found the report that the ship Natoma had been at Iwa Jima. · James’ dad was in shock. How could he know this? Jack A. Larsen was the assistant artisan’s officer aboard Natoma bay. · When James was 6 years old, he described how they made Napalm bombs. · In the early 2000s, they went to a Natoma Bay reunion. Dad learned there was only one pilot killed in the battle of Iwa Jima and from a particular squadron, James Huston Jr. · Anne Huston (Baron) was James Huston’s sister and they met. She said she completely believed it. · James Leininger remembered his past life as World War II pilot James Huston. 3. I’ve heard that some children have birth marks related to their past life, is this correct? · Birth marks and birth defects can match fatal wounds on the previous person. · A gunshot wound where the bullet went in and out of the body. · At birth, Patrick had a slanting birthmark with the appearance of a small cut on the right side of his neck—the same location of Kevin’s central line—a nodule on his scalp above his right ear as Kevin’s biopsied tumor had been, and an opacity in his left eye, diagnosed as a corneal leukoma, that caused him, like Kevin, to have very little vision in that eye. · When he began walking, he limped, favoring his left leg. 4. How are parents impacted by their child’s past life memories? · Parents will try to get their kids to stop talking about it. · The child may cry to go to an old place and old family. It can be irritating to the parent. Do past life memories in children occur mostly in the East where reincarnation is accepted? · There are young children all over the world who say they remember a past life. · All continents except for Antarctica(?). · Some Christian parents in the US have no trouble adding it to their belief system. · 25% of Christians believe in eternal life. 5. Why does your research focus on children rather than adults? · Children stop talking about past lives around 6 - ...

Meet your podcast host Erika Marcoux, MA in the 2nd part of her interview. Specializing in psychology and yoga, she explains the importance of being mindful of yourself. And how developing self-awareness can help you discover your full potential. Erika has a master's degree in counseling psychology from JFK University and has been in private practice for almost 20 years. She is the host and producer of Your Truth Revealed podcast, a yoga instructor, and author. ➤RESOURCES Your Truth Revealed: http://www.YourTruthRevealed.com Free Worksheet: https://www.YourTruthRevealed.com/Listen ➤SUMMARY What is your educational background? * Bachelors in Mayan archeology and cultural anthropology. * Looking at cultures from an objective standpoint and recognizing the psychology of the individual. * Registered polarity therapy training founded by Dr. Randolph Stone. How do you work with clients and students? * Holistic healing * Helping people heal and notice how they get stuck. * It’s our brain and nervous system, our whole body that has life experiences. * We hold emotions and memories. * We have four primary parts to being human: body, emotions, behavior, and mind. How can people learn how to be more conscious? * Recognize your soul as being essential and primary. * The soul is the fundamental self, the true Self. * Its characteristics are being conscious and compassionate. * Notice when you are simply being, perhaps while doing a slow and simple task. * Notice your breathing. Slow down and let go of distractions. How is this a shift in perspective for most Westerners? * Yoga psychology teaches about the true Self and the ego. * The ego is not bad—it’s how we function in the world. * The key is not being completely identified with it. * You are a soul having a human experience. What is some advice for people who are new to mindfulness? * When being self-aware, be with any fear that comes up. * If you notice something that you don’t like about yourself, accept it with compassion. * Then work on practical ways to personally develop. * You may notice deep negative thoughts tied to self-limiting beliefs. * Self-limiting thoughts are solidified by the time we’re 6 years old. * Re-evaluate them as an adult and shift to a self-enhancing belief. * Last, be willing to ask for help if you need it.

Meet your podcast host Erika Marcoux, MA in the 1st part of her interview. Specializing in psychology and yoga, she explains the importance of being mindful of yourself. And how developing self-awareness can help you discover your full potential. Erika has a master's degree in counseling psychology from JFK University and has been in private practice for almost 20 years. She is the host and producer of Your Truth Revealed podcast, a yoga instructor, and author. ➤RESOURCES Your Truth Revealed: http://www.YourTruthRevealed.com Free Worksheet: https://www.YourTruthRevealed.com/Listen ➤SUMMARY What is your educational background? * Bachelors in Mayan archeology and cultural anthropology. * Looking at cultures from an objective standpoint and recognizing the psychology of the individual. * Registered polarity therapy training founded by Dr. Randolph Stone. How do you work with clients and students? * Holistic healing * Helping people heal and notice how they get stuck. * It’s our brain and nervous system, our whole body that has life experiences. * We hold emotions and memories. * We have four primary parts to being human: body, emotions, behavior, and mind. How can people learn how to be more conscious? * Recognize your soul as being essential and primary. * The soul is the fundamental self, the true Self. * Its characteristics are being conscious and compassionate. * Notice when you are simply being, perhaps while doing a slow and simple task. * Notice your breathing. Slow down and let go of distractions. How is this a shift in perspective for most Westerners? * Yoga psychology teaches about the true Self and the ego. * The ego is not bad—it’s how we function in the world. * The key is not being completely identified with it. * You are a soul having a human experience. What is some advice for people who are new to mindfulness? * When being self-aware, be with any fear that comes up. * If you notice something that you don’t like about yourself, accept it with compassion. * Then work on practical ways to personally develop. * You may notice deep negative thoughts tied to self-limiting beliefs. * Self-limiting thoughts are solidified by the time we’re 6 years old. * Re-evaluate them as an adult and shift to a self-enhancing belief. * Last, be willing to ask for help if you need it.

Meet neurologist Diego Tovar-Quiroga, MD in the 2nd part of his interview. Specializing in seizures and epilepsy, he explains that often people are bewildered by the symptoms that can affect mental health. He provides ways to successfully recognize and treat this brain disorder. Diego completed medical school in Bogotá, Colombia and his fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. He is a certified neurologist at Austin Epilepsy Care Center and is dedicated to treating and diagnosing people with seizures and epilepsy. ➤RESOURCES Austin Epilepsy Care Center: http://www.austinepilepsy.com Epilepsy Foundation: 1-800-332-1000 National Association of Epilepsy Centers: https://www.naec-epilepsy.org Free Worksheet: https://www.YourTruthRevealed.com ➤SUMMARY What happens neurologically in the brain during a seizure? * A seizure is a sudden, uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain. It can cause changes in your behavior, movements, feelings, and levels of consciousness. * Seizures can be provoked by many different factors. They're classified as either epileptic or non-epileptic seizures. * Epileptic seizures - dysfunction of the electrical networks in the brain. * Non-epileptic seizures - enhanced neural networks in the brain. * Because these two different types of events can look alike, sometimes people get the wrong diagnosis and are treated wrongly for decades. How do you discovery the correct diagnosis? * The diagnosis is confirmed by capturing the events with electroencephalogram (EEG), ideally with simultaneous video recording. This test allows us to determine if there is abnormal electrical activity in the brain at the time of the event, which is the hallmark of epileptic seizures. * When patients have non epileptic seizures, the majority of the times there is a pain syndrome that is not well controlled. * Part of my role is to guide the patient to see the correlation and explore the treatment options. How might someone who has seizures experience an impact on their mental health? * Epileptic seizures are a brain malfunction, and so are major depression, anxiety disorders, and psychoses. Although epilepsy is not a psychiatric disorder, its psychiatric dimension is important for treatment and research. * The symptoms of focal seizures, especially, can be mistaken — by the patient or the doctor — for psychiatric symptoms, especially panic attacks, flashback memories, or dissociative experiences (involving, for example, altered consciousness or a feeling of unreality). * About a third of people with focal seizures also suffer from anxiety disorders, especially agoraphobia. But the psychiatric disorder most notoriously associated with epilepsy is depression. As many as a third of people with epilepsy suffer from periodic depression, and depression is 4–7 times more frequent than average among them. * Seizures themselves can cause lasting changes in mood and thinking. * A condition called interictal dysphoric disorder occurs in some patients with epilepsy. The definition includes eight symptoms, of which the patient must have at least three: depression, lack of energy, pain, irritability, anxiety, fear, and, oddly, euphoria. How does culture impact how seizures are treated? * All cultures have health beliefs to explain what the cause of a disease is, how it should be treated or cured, and who should be involved in this process. * I did part of my medical education in Colombia, where still, in many parts of the country (especially rural areas) there is a strong belief and use of non “traditional” western medicine, based on herbal treatments, massages etc. * Working there I got to see cases of people who became very ill or died because they did not received proper treatment (eg abdominal pain “treated” treated by a local “healer” with massage and herbal remedies, which turned out to be a ruptured appendicitis). * Another observation is that patients trust healthcare providers (traditional and nontra...

Meet neurologist Diego Tovar-Quiroga, MD in the 1st part of his interview. Specializing in seizures and epilepsy, he explains that often people are bewildered by the symptoms that can affect mental health. He provides ways to successfully recognize and treat this brain disorder. Diego completed medical school in Bogotá, Colombia and his fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. He is a certified neurologist at Austin Epilepsy Care Center and is dedicated to treating and diagnosing people with seizures and epilepsy. ➤RESOURCES Austin Epilepsy Care Center: http://www.austinepilepsy.com Epilepsy Foundation: 1-800-332-1000 National Association of Epilepsy Centers: https://www.naec-epilepsy.org Free Worksheet: https://www.YourTruthRevealed.com ➤SUMMARY What happens neurologically in the brain during a seizure? * A seizure is a sudden, uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain. It can cause changes in your behavior, movements, feelings, and levels of consciousness. * Seizures can be provoked by many different factors. They're classified as either epileptic or non-epileptic seizures. * Epileptic seizures - dysfunction of the electrical networks in the brain. * Non-epileptic seizures - enhanced neural networks in the brain. * Because these two different types of events can look alike, sometimes people get the wrong diagnosis and are treated wrongly for decades. How do you discovery the correct diagnosis? * The diagnosis is confirmed by capturing the events with electroencephalogram (EEG), ideally with simultaneous video recording. This test allows us to determine if there is abnormal electrical activity in the brain at the time of the event, which is the hallmark of epileptic seizures. * When patients have non epileptic seizures, the majority of the times there is a pain syndrome that is not well controlled. * Part of my role is to guide the patient to see the correlation and explore the treatment options. How might someone who has seizures experience an impact on their mental health? * Epileptic seizures are a brain malfunction, and so are major depression, anxiety disorders, and psychoses. Although epilepsy is not a psychiatric disorder, its psychiatric dimension is important for treatment and research. * The symptoms of focal seizures, especially, can be mistaken — by the patient or the doctor — for psychiatric symptoms, especially panic attacks, flashback memories, or dissociative experiences (involving, for example, altered consciousness or a feeling of unreality). * About a third of people with focal seizures also suffer from anxiety disorders, especially agoraphobia. But the psychiatric disorder most notoriously associated with epilepsy is depression. As many as a third of people with epilepsy suffer from periodic depression, and depression is 4–7 times more frequent than average among them. * Seizures themselves can cause lasting changes in mood and thinking. * A condition called interictal dysphoric disorder occurs in some patients with epilepsy. The definition includes eight symptoms, of which the patient must have at least three: depression, lack of energy, pain, irritability, anxiety, fear, and, oddly, euphoria.  How does culture impact how seizures are treated? * All cultures have health beliefs to explain what the cause of a disease is, how it should be treated or cured, and who should be involved in this process. * I did part of my medical education in Colombia, where still, in many parts of the country (especially rural areas) there is a strong belief and use of non “traditional” western medicine, based on herbal treatments, massages etc. * Working there I got to see cases of people who became very ill or died because they did not received proper treatment (eg abdominal pain “treated” treated by a local “healer” with massage and herbal remedies, which turned out to be a ruptured appendicitis). * Another observation is that patients trust healthcare providers (traditional and nontr...