Helen Germanos - Silent Pain: How Stress and Trauma may lead to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

About the Author

Helen Germanos is a homeopath, Reiki practitioner and holds a degree in psychology. In 2012 she collapsed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and lay paralyzed in bed for just over nine months. Helen managed to recover from CFS using her skills to help herself and looking to others for help. As she began to recover she read through as much of the research and theories on CFS as she could find.

In the process she finally began to gain some understanding of what this illness is and how it actually affects people in a variety of different ways. During this time she also read information on body/mind research in an effort to try and pinpoint the underlying cause for developing this illness, and by understanding this, to ensure it did not happen again.

In April 2013 she read a research study, published in the US journal Psychophysiology from 1995, entitled Orienting in a defensive world: Mammalian modifications of our evolutionary heritage. A Polyvagal Theory by Stephen Porges. It was this study that eventually led Helen to a complete understanding of how and why this illness develops and helped her in the final stages of her recovery back to full health. Helen quickly realized that it was from this moment of understanding that she was able to take her life and health back into her own hands. For this reason she decided to write this book, to share this knowledge with other sufferers and their carers in the hope that they too may benefit.

SILENT
PAIN

HOW STRESS AND TRAUMA MAY LEAD TO CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY AND TRANSFORMATION

HELEN GERMANOS

Copyright 2015 Helen Germanos

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

Disclaimer: The ideas and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice and treatment. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision. Names of supplements and certain techniques are typically followed by or symbols, but these symbols are not stated in this book. If you are suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome it is recommended that you consult a medical professional before following any of the advice or practice suggested in this book. The publishers, or any other persons who have been involved in working on this publication, cannot accept responsibility for any injuries or damage incurred as a result of following the information, exercises or therapeutic techniques contained in this book.

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ISBN 978-1784627-867

Book edited by Bryony Weaver

Cover artwork by Marina Koufidaki: www.marinakoufidaki.gr

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It takes two to speak the truth

one to speak and another to hear

THOREAU

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). In this book I will simply refer to this illness as CFS.

CONTENTS

by Colin Griffith, MCH, HMA

Biographies

Colin Griffith MCH, HMA is a highly respected and effective practitioner of homeopathy. He studied at the College of Homeopathy and, instead of writing a thesis, set up a supervised drop-in clinic that continued for 11 years and became a teaching clinic where students under his supervision set up their own tables. He has always preferred to work in a multi-disciplinary practice where other complementary therapies are offered: cranial osteopathy, reflexology, counselling etc. He is a founder member of the Guild of Homeopaths and lectures regularly at the Centre for Homeopathic Education, Regents College, London, and has lectured in America, Canada, Japan and Greece. He is the author of the highly regarded The Companion to Homeopathy, The Practical Handbook of Homeopathy, and The New Materia Medica, Volume I and II.

Susannah Burton is a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist, working in London. She is a graduate of the Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust and has since been a tutor on their practitioner trainings. She is extremely committed and inspired by Craniosacral Therapy and through her continuing professional development has been awarded an Advanced Biodynamic Diploma by the International Affiliation of Biodynamic Trainings. She is also an active member of the Craniosacral Therapy Association. I am extremely passionate about Craniosacral Therapy and continuously inspired by it, and have been lucky enough to meet and work with wonderful colleagues and clients, all of whom have contributed to my learning in so many ways. I have a particular interest in working with people with chronic and life-threatening illnesses, and am constantly amazed, and humbled, by how health can be found even in the presence of disease.

Amanda McGregor is a Creative Development Therapist working with the spirit of creation as a psychic healer, visionary, consultant and artist. Facilitating the spirit of creation to flow through her in healing, vision, collective consciousness and art, Amanda helps those who are in need, or who want to develop, by empowering them in limitless possibilities of the potential that they may embrace. A consultation with Amanda is an enlightening experience. Amanda works sensitively and purposefully, she psychically tunes in to your bodys energy field and the universal body of consciousness, to bring forward visions and solutions, to change personal energy patterns and to bring stability and consistency to all aspects of your life.

Foreword

Much is spoken about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome these days and many more suffer from it than are diagnosed. Odd, then, that it is not a well understood condition, perhaps least of all by many in the orthodox medical field. One reason for this lack of understanding is that it is a syndrome rather than a disease; syndromes are far harder to pin down as they are a complex of a wide variety of symptoms which vary in number, intensity and influence on the body in each individual. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is hard to quantify or qualify and does not fit easily into the medical textbook; not least as there are no official treatments or drug regimes. Modern medicine has not caught up with the ills of mankind!

Good news indeed that Helen has written the story of her life with CFS: the blow-by-blow account of succumbing, suffering, searching for the path towards healing of this debilitating unwellness. She writes from the heart, the only place from which understanding might ever come when the origins are to be found not simply in the physical body but also in the subtle bodies of emotion and spirit.

Helens text is simple, undogmatic, unpretentious and positive in tone. Those with CFS or practitioners who are asked to treat patients suffering with it will find ample food for thought and much inspiration. She is clear that recognition and understanding of the condition is the first step. She tells us that, as with all chronic ill health, true healing can only come from within; true cure can never be applied from outside the body. She is open-minded in her appraisal of those disciplines that offer support and healing; her intention is to suggest that sufferers should seek their own individual routes to health, not simply through choosing a therapy such as homoeopathy (her own practice) but other supportive measures as well including, when appropriate, orthodox medical means.