Okay, so high level coping is like a pressure cooker, okay? What does that mean? It means that you put a top on something, it builds up pressure, it starts to get really intense, and then we, like, do some high level coping. We'll do some breath work, open the top, pressure is released, all good. But put the top back on and the pressure starts to build back up again. And so what we're doing is we're coping in a healthier way, right? Our modalities like breath work
or psychedelics or these things bad? Not at all. But unless we're focusing on our trauma work and our purpose work, it's really just really just relieving pressure. But we're still stuck. And like I just said, and I'm not sure if this has got in the recordings, I'll say it again, whether you're stuck doing cocaine or heroin or stuck doing green juice, you're still stuck. Now, I'd much rather hear you be stuck drinking green juice and eating quinoa than hurting yourself with illicit drugs.
Who follows? This makes sense. Okay? Definitely all day long. But you're still stuck, okay? You're still stuck. You're just stuck in a healthier way, okay? And so we don't want to just have high level coping, okay? We want to go beyond that. And a lot of the high level coping strategies that we have are what are known as top down strategies, okay? Cognitive strategies, thinking, changing your thoughts, change your life, simple habit change, scheduling change,
behavior change. All that stuff is beautiful and necessary and amazing, but if it was just as simple as changing your behavior, you wouldn't be here, okay? Who follows this makes sense. So it's not that top down is bad, okay? We just need an upgrade, and we need more, a more complete model, okay? Now, the old message in that top down approach is that unless you can self regulate or feel better on your own, we're going to medicate pathologize or label you. Medicate pathologize
or label you. What does that mean? It means, like, for me, I would go to psychiatrist, get a diagnosis, ADHD. Cool. Here's some prescription medication for you. Now, I'm not anti prescription medication. I take prescription medication to this day, and yet prescription medication does not do my trauma work, does not do my purpose work, but it
does help my brain cope better. But there's more to it than that because trust me, if prescription medication was enough, we would not be seeing the massive amounts of anxiety and depression that we're seeing today. Who follows? This makes sense. In fact, who here knows someone on an antidepressant who's still depressed? Okay, I'm not against prescription medication, but the data is clear. It's not enough. We need more, okay? And so what they'll say is they'll say, okay, you have this label,
and the label is ADHD for me, right? That is a diagnosis. Most people then take that on as an identity and say, okay, I don't just have this symptom cluster. I am OCD, or I am ADHD, or whatever it might be, and we medicate it, okay? And the old model focuses on you doing yourself. Imagine a world in which someone has PTSD or ADHD. Maybe a kid has ADHD at eleven. First thing we do is look at their relationship with the parents. Right? That would be a
different situation. Okay? And so, in the old model of approaching things, the self care that you're doing tends to be avoidance of the deeper work. Okay? We're just soothing. We're not doing the deeper work, so we're staying stuck in a healthier way. Who follows? This makes sense, okay? And the old model says, change my thoughts, change my life. Now, is that true? Sure. But what has to happen to change your thinking is a lot more than
just changing your thinking. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, who here has ever been hungover before? Anybody? So imagine your worst hangover. It's been a couple of hours of sleep. Someone comes in, says, let's go running. Just change your thoughts, change your life, and you just feel better. Who here thinks that's not going to happen? Let me see if I show hands, okay? Why? Because your physiology has not caught up with your thinking yet. Okay?
So we need to understand how to get the body on board, okay? And here's the thing, okay? A diagnosis is not an identity. Now, I am not a medical professional, but I can read you all, okay? And there's a book called the DSM five. The Diagnostic and Statistics Manual for Mental Health Disorders. Volume Five. You can get it, it's easy to get. You just open it up and it gives you a diagnostic criteria for these different diagnoses. PTSD,
ADHD, whatever it might be OCD did. There's all these different things. A diagnosis is a symptom cluster that they give a name to, primarily for insurance purposes, meaning practitioners need to diagnose you to get paid. Now, there are some practitioners who diagnose you and then use that for a more holistic approach. But in general, the purpose of a diagnosis is not to give you an identity, which most people do. They take on an identity once they get diagnosed. I am PTSD.
It's my PTSD. You don't understand. I'm so OCD. Right? Who here knows someone that does that? Right? We take on the diagnosis as the identity, and ultimately the diagnosis is used. To say, here's a cluster of symptoms. And let's put it on the form and then bill insurance. Now, the old model does this. The old model names the symptoms. So you have ADHD, and then it blames the name. You can't, because you have ADHD. Right? And so what we have to realize
is that there's more to the story than a diagnosis. In fact, for me personally, in diagnoses for mental health disorders, I like to take the D at the end off and put the R on. What does that mean? Response instead of disorder. So, post traumatic stress response to the response. That's attention deficit response, right? A response to developmental issues and neurological issues that somebody has. Right. So we can't just really name the symptoms
and blame the name. We got to go beyond that. Who follows this make sense?