From a young age we are taught to be careful with electricity and our parents cover the wall sockets to insure our curious fingers are protected. The latest neuroscience is now pushing the shocking limits with bio-electric medicinal treatments. This is not like the movie, One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest, which horrendously depicted shock therapy, but the application of low amounts of electricity carefully inserted into patient’s brains to alleviate pain, increase functionality, or stimulate the bodies’ internal chemistry.
While electrical therapy is not a new phenomenon; Roman historians recorded over 2000 years ago the popular use of electric eels, which were stood upon by barefoot sufferers of gout and other debilitating consumptive diseases, in an attempt to mitigate the pain. Electricity has been documented to reduce pain with electrostatic devices, which in medieval times were employed to reduce migraines and back aches and incorrectly used to treat cancers and other tumours.
The interest in electric therapy led the 17th Century American political philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, to hang a key from his kite string, as every US school child has studied. What is less known about Franklin, the prolific inventor, is his suffering of acute back pain and a variety of experiments he conducted to treat his condition with electric shock.
DIY electric pain management is now readily available from pharmacies and online, at costs as low as $10USD, in the form of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimuation machines, better known as TENS. Until recently these portable machines were used in birthing wards to alleviate labor pains. They continue to be popular as a home remedy for lower back discomfort. Some of the earliest work on neuropathways was documented by the TENS inventor, C. Norman Shealy.
The 20th Century is reknowned for technological advancements, which have been largely driven by the harnessing and manipulation of mysterious electrical currents. Inventors of communication, transportation and computer devices, among others, have shaped electricity into products which make our modern lives possible.
The 21st Century may well be hallmarked by the understanding and manipulation of our neurological circuitry, in order to extend and improve human lives and alleviate suffering. The great inventor of so many useful electric devices, telephone, gramophone, light bulbs etc., Thomas A. Edison, bemoaned the frailty and susceptibility of the human body which limited his ability to work and concentrate and withstand pain. He would often shock himself to aid in his concentration and stimulate his focus. While his bio-chemical education was limited, his practical engineering foresaw the neuro-electric possibilities now being refined in this century.
“The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around.”
Thomas Alva Edison
Electrical terms, like “charged” and “short-circuited,” have commonly populated our vocabulary and denote neurologically stressful situations. It is the growing understanding of the electrical components of the brain and nervous system which have lead to the increasing popularity of Bio-Feedback, which is often used by our Whitespace therapists in their treatment of emotional disorders, performance enhancement and increased mental function.
Bio-Feedback has been used by Shamans, medicine men, fortune tellers, lie detectors and even poker players, as mysterious ways to understand the tensions and anxieties of their observed subjects. These educated observations help predict outcomes and prescribe cures. A common example of this feedback is observed if the human pupil dilates because it sees something pleasant and also shown with the heart rate and perspiration increases in stressful situations. The quantification of this stress can be realised with machines, like polygraph tests and blood pressure monitors. The ability to tune into these bodily “tells” and indications, allows Whitespace therapists to discover subliminated charge and upsets, limiting mental function and inhibiting happiness.
Whitespace is excited that bio-electric medicine holds the hope for pain relief and disease mitigation in a variety of physiological areas.
The stimulation by electric shock in regions of the brain has been shown to stimulate the production of the body’s own disease prevention chemicals. Bio-chemical pain mitigators such as TNF have been increased with electrode insertions of patient’s brains, which reduces inflammation. Seratonin, which is known to increase feelings of pleasure and satisfaction has been augmented with shock therapy and is not fattening, like chocolate.
While current pain relief and disease mitigation is mostly attacked with pharmaceuticals, Whitespace believes that the implementation of Bio-Feedback therapies and bio-electric treatments can be a potent combination of well-being medicine. The understanding of how the brain and neuropathways can be stimulated, both mechanically and emotionally will be used in conjunction with injections or pills which predominate the current therapeutic regimens.
Are your prepared to be shocked?
