What is hormesis?
The human organism – both mind and body – needs to be regularly challenged in order for the species to survive. This is a theory known as hormesis.
Hormesis has been defined by Siim Land in his book, entitled Metabolic Autophagy (2019), as:
Hormesis is a biphasic response to a toxin or a stressor. The initial contact causes injury to the body. The following reaction leads to adaptation, leaving the body in a better condition than it was before.
Land also states that:
Hormesis is a dose-specific response to a toxin or a stressor that makes the organism stronger than it was before. The idea is that you experience a small shock that makes the body want to deal with it better in the future thus becoming more resilient.
The Merriam-Webster medical dictionary similarly defines hormesis as:
A theoretical phenomenon of dose-response relationships in which something (as a heavy metal or ionizing radiation) that produces harmful biological effects at moderate to high doses may produce beneficial effects at low doses.
These definitions give rise to the popular adages of “no pain, no gain” and “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” (an aphorism originally coined by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who profoundly influenced Sigmund Freud).
Homeopathic practitioners are very familiar with the concept of challenging the body in order to provoke a healing response. The Society of Homeopaths describes homeopathic work as:
Homeopathy is a holistic medicine which uses specially prepared, highly diluted substances (given mainly in tablet form) with the aim of triggering the body’s own healing mechanisms.
The survival of humankind
The caveman, for instance, needed to be threatened by starvation in order to be stimulated to search for food. Primitive man was also required to devise ingenious ways of finding food by outwitting his prey while simultaneously keeping himself and his family safe from predators.
The human species has, by this means, survived the millennia because primitive humans did not have the supposed luxury of online shopping, supermarkets or ready-meals. When starvation was a reality in the paleomammalian animal, survival depended on desperation rather than convenience. And we are all the ancestors of primitive man and the environment in which the caveman survived and flourished as a result of the hormetic challenges which were regularly faced. The challenge-factor – and the caveman’s resourcefulness and intelligence which enabled him to overcome such contests – is what has enabled humankind to survive and has placed the human animal at the top of the food chain.
The challenge-factor, however, can be a too-edged sword. A relatively mild challenge can be stimulating for the human organism but an excessive degree of stress, of course, will be counter-productive. The organism needs a minor negative stimulus in order to remain physically active, to earn a crust, to have an interest in life and to be emotionally healthy. But all things must remain in proportion in order to be able to restore equilibrium and homeostasis within the mind and the body once the stressor has abated.
Your challenges in life
Commonplace physical challenges can be obtained from regular exercise, from heat in a sauna or a steam bath, from a cold shower and from intermittent fasting. Mental challenges are evident when deciding to study a new subject, to acquire a new skill, to undertake problem-solving and to encourage the memory to hone its faculties.
When it comes to emotional challenges, however, things are not quite so cut and dried. Often a slight challenge, such as overcoming a problematic situation or confronting a hostile person, can be handled fairly easily in order to restore equilibrium. But, in many cases, the average person will not be able to overcome the demands of his/her existence because life’s shocking past experiences can be deep-seated, profound and encased stubbornly within the psyche where they cause further mayhem in everyday life. The stressed individual may, for instance, frequently trigger anxiety when landed in a difficult situation, may keep repeating unhelpful patterns of behaviour or may suffer long-term from depressive inertia. Hence the need for therapeutic intervention when significant forms of life-challenge cannot be readily overcome.
Overcoming your life’s challenges
Your client, of course, will be the one who has undergone too much of an emotive challenge and thus needs help in order to overcome this adversity. But your client should understand that his/her resilience will be empowered by overcoming his/her undue trials in life. Any situation of adversity, however, should be dealt with sooner rather than later because the client needs to rise to the challenge of overcoming his/her distress without delay. The therapeutic journey, moreover, is one which requires single-minded determination and tenacity in order to keep on track and to admit to the truth – rather than to maintain the pretence or denial – of past experiences.
If life has challenged you excessively, then know that there can be a light at the end of the tunnel if you wish to overcome your distress with earnestness and determination. If you have what it takes to overcome your unfair challenges in life, then please visit the “Find a Practitioner” page on the JMHT website (www.jmhypnotraining.co.uk) in order to discover the key to unlocking and resolving your personal issues.
Jacquelyne Morison