The Oprah Show Controversy: Is Your Illness All Your Fault?

Thank you Sungirl for your comments. I resonate very strongly with what you've written. I have also spent the past 15 years finding the root causes of my own serious medical conditions, studying Natural Health, Spiritual Psychotherapy, Bodywork and Priestessing skills to navigate my way back from 'victim' to joyful creator of my reality. I wish the same for all women and also know from my own experience that we often need to meet our pain on the journey. The key for me has been to bring uwavering courage and compassion to the subject of my own accountability and what I'm bringing from my lineage: inherited belief systems about everything from health, self worth, creativity, abundance and prosperity, race, class and relationships with power and authority. What I've learned is there are many ways my inherited and personal psychology limit the way I meet the world. There are also enivironmental factors that are a collective piece of the puzzle. I've learned as I've regained my health and power that I can only make changes in the collective piece from a place of health and power. My personal belief is that each one of us may have a different contribution to healing these collective, shared causes.

We need to be gentle with this subject. When we hear that we may be responsible for our health, our negative programming immediately clicks on with painful feelings of shame and blame, resistance that we're 'wrong'. Nobody wants to hear that they're wrong. Every single one of us has been shamed and blamed as a woman before; if not in your lifetime then in your mother or grandmother's or her mother, etc. And we carry this pain silently with us in some part of our psyche and bodies. And when I own that my emotions create my experience, painful ones become an invitation to investigate what beliefs lie under the suffering. True desires live there! When I bring compassion and acceptance to this suffering, I discover that my true desires lie beneath that pain. When I recover my energy from this pain, then I find my power. If I resist the pain of feeling blamed and choose anger, then I further seperate myself from those true desires...from the place where joy actually lives in me.

Oprah's a human being. One positive thing I can say about her is that she has created a relationship with Prosperity. Only she knows how clean it is; it's not for me to judge. But in reading the threads here, I felt the desire to support her path to healing. First because IT WORKED! Second because she's modeling a level of acceptance of prosperity...and I don't mean $$$$ prosperity. She has mental prosperity; a feeling of entitlement for abundance. That's where we're wounded, imho. Especially the women. I hear the outrage in some comments here about having the time and resources to rest. And wow, yes, when was the last time someone supported you to create the time and resources to rest yourself? After your pregnancies? After a full day of work when supper is expected on the table? When you're bursting to paint that picture or play your guitar, but the laundry needs to be done? We have to believe it's our right before anyone will support us there! Take it, it's your birthright! Find your desire for it under the pain. Only you can remember it. My vision is that when the women heal, we heal our relationship to the Earth and resources and abundance...we will re-member that there is enough; we will re-member what it feels like to be whole and to live in harmony with resources (and each other) so there is always enough, more than enough.

Blessings to all the women! Blessings to all the men! love, Kaliheart

Here are two videos that explain The New Biology if this is interesting to you. Bruce Lipton explains how we create our own biology with our thoughts.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-850666813...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-656810738...

http://www.brucelipton.com/

Wow, I saw the program with Dr. Northrop on Oprah and quite frankly am amazed at the venomous responses I've read here. Dr. Northrop was in no way 'blaming' anyone for their disease, but recanting the mind/body/soul trilogy in this now extensively studied and proven connection. This kind of response usually denotes to me some kind of 'struck nerve', especially if responded to with some of the anger and bitterness displaying itself in the form of resistance to change - EXACTLY the kind of 'stuck energy' that Dr. Northrop was trying so hard to convey.
This is why acupuncture, a procedure performed in other cultures extensively, has become so mainstream - because it releases 'blocked energy'. Time to get out of the dark ages! This lambasting of Oprah was truly astounding, given the amount of love, effort, kindness and compassion this truly inspirational individual has shown to aid so many others in great need. God forgive her if she wants to bellyache a bit or take a wee trip - why not focus on her accomplishments and humanitarian efforts and laud her as a member of our species that has truly made a difference in the world?
I don't know this blog, but I have had paid blogging work before, and I must also add I think it's irresponsible to comment or encourage a misguided furor about a topic on a show one hasn't even watched.
The more negative energy you have in your lives, the more illness you create for yourself, for the people in your life, and for the planet. Wake up. And read How to Heal Your Life' by Louise Hay - a magnificent book that has corresponding emotions to illnesses and what you can do to eradicate them. This has been a best selling book for years and is used by many medical practioners and psychiatrists. These are two wonderful women trying to aid others and ease the changes we women go through, which are FINALLY recognized in no small part, due to people like them.

I keep track of Janie's Stop the Thyroid Madness website more than Shoman's, as the website is a lot more practical and is light years ahead with its knowledge. It explains the scandal of years and years of the awful T4 medications and dosing by the TSH. Her website also tells you about Armour and adrenal fatigue and is a PATIENT website, which I like. It literally saved my life.

And she is pushing all of us to write to Oprah, or even email, but she thinks that writing and using those bright envelopes from the PO will attract more attention. Check out her latest post on her blog, which will also give you link to the template letter. I AM DOING IT and I HOPE OTHERS WILL. Oprah has become a pie-in-the-sky celebrity and LOST TOUCH with real people. Heres the blog: www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/blog ( http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/blog ) and the latest post contains the link to the Oprah letter and page.

Nancy

I've been dealing with endocrine problems for a while, including thyroid. Every diagnostic thing I read emphasized stress. Doctors kept treating me like a Hysterical Woman, never mind the obvious symptoms. Despite my requests, they never ran the thorough diagnostic tests.

By the time I convinced a doctor to, she initially diagnosed me with a pituitary tumor.

The diagnosis keeps changing in the why but not the what.

I feel sick(er) knowing what I've been through the last three years. Doctors making it all my fault, telling me to exercise more, diet, relax...and when I tried and kept feeling worse? They told me to try harder and do more.

I was stressed all right, but as a result of being ill and treated like a crazy person, not the other way around!

It's so frustrating to be a believer in holistic and alternative medicine, and strongly feel that we do need to have better and healthier lifestyles---and then have that used against me this way...and to see Oprah, a leader, do it? Deeply upsetting.

Oh current theory of cause of my illness? Environmental contaminants.

Julie
Using My Words ( http://theartfulflower.blogspot.com/ )

I'm very happy I missed this one too.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com ( http://www.catherineblogs.com/ ) and The Political Voices of Women ( http://politicsanew.com/ )

Normally I like Oprah's show and try to watch it from time to time, but I am really glad that I didn't see this one. I'm angry just reading about it.
Alex Elliot, Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting ( http://www.flexibleparenting.com )

Thanks for your comment. I especially liked...

"I think the whole area of women's medicine needs more research, more listening paid to root causes, less vitriol towards those who suffer any type of health disorder and strict attention paid to the INDIVIDUAL circumstances .. because we DESERVE it and it will be a lasting legacy to hand on to our daughters and our the rest of female humanity."

I agree. Thanks for your comment.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com ( http://www.catherineblogs.com/ ) and The Political Voices of Women ( http://politicsanew.com/ )

I have to say that I am very happy that I missed this show. Just reading the clips made me cringe, it's so disrespectful.

Also, if the mind and body are connected (and I believe they are)...What good does it do to make statements that will make people feel bad about themselves? What happened to doctors "doing no harm"?

As someone who suffers with chronic illness myself...the whole "blame the patient" mentality is infuriating to me.

Thanks for your comments Alyssa

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com ( http://www.catherineblogs.com/ ) and The Political Voices of Women ( http://politicsanew.com/ )

I would have to agree that Oprah is a bit out of touch with the mainstream women of this country.

Thanks for your comment.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com ( http://www.catherineblogs.com/ ) and The Political Voices of Women ( http://politicsanew.com/ )

First off, let me say that my Hashimodos' thyroiditis what brought me into the natural healing "camp" in the first place. I nearly died while pregnant, was sick for months and months with thyrotoxicosis in my 30s, and know every single time I got a virus I was SUNK. My blood tests on T3, T4 and antigen levels were off the charts in terms of malfunction.

At first I though, "well, it must be me. No one else gets this sick." I was told that only 1 in a million people EVER get Hashimoto's.

Turns out that this is not TRUE. In fact, the diagnosis of an EPIDEMIC of thyroid disorders was due to standard of detection that was thoroughly FLAWED and it has since been adjusted. And it's not just a matter of not enough iodine in the diiet.

Thyroid disorders have definitely picked up due to environmental factors.

A great many disorders are "made up" by the pharmaceutical companies; we all hp to that. But what we are not seeing is a simple public health awareness campaign to let us know that something about women's thyroids being damaged is afoot. Doctors should be including a check on women's thyroid levels at the annual checkup; instead most female thyroid levels are ONLY noticed if a woman can't conceive or during pregnancy. Yet, the thyroid is called "the third ovary" . and it regulates our female wellbeing and health as no other gland does. Unfortunately under allopathic medicine, glands are often misunderstood and very little research is done on them. An endocrinologist will know ALL about diabetes, but all too often very little about thyroid function and dysfunction.

All the Hashimoto's patients I have met in endocrine clinic waiting rooms in over two decades have been women. I have asked each one if they DRINK. Invariably, the answer is YES. Do the doctors and specialists tell them NOT to drink. Well, no .......

There is PLENTY wrong in how a society socializes women. When things become too frustrating due to high expections and little delivery of real support, many women begin to self medicate. And THAT is also a problem as it can mask serious disorders for a very long time. There is, truth be told, a very definitive correlation between women who have a need to CREATE imaginatively and the rush to stifle themselves, a practice pushed on them from a very young age. They drink; they take drugs; they oversexualize themselves as hedges against societal disapproval, not realizing that the Earth Mothers of this world are going to have problems, too. But today's individualistic culture does nothing to restore a balance of differing sorts of women; it's still very much one-size fits all.

Enter the EXPERTS! Who get the five snappy minutes of sound bytes on shows like Oprah and Dr. Northrup with the one-size fits all Answers!!

There are
women who are really drug abusers (alcohol is a liquid drug and very potent) who shut down their immune systems,

there are women with a genetic predisposition to getting thyroid problems (do males in your family have pituitary disorders?, a very unresarched area - it is certainly true in my case and find that out really helped me stop the guilt at what I thought I had done. I had bought into the "I did this to myself" meme, following reading Louise Hay, dean emeritus of the school-of-blame-yourself-for-all your-problems Charm Academy)

women who have exposure to microwaves and nuclear radiation,

women with a too low level of iodine in their diet

there are women who do stuff feelings and creativity,

there are women who overtax their systems through over work either self imposed OR because they are single mothers ..

Another unresearched area, and one that particularly pertains to Oprah, is have you experienced sexual abuse and experienced a shut down of your system at a crucial age due a lack of grieving over loss of trust and safety such that it has effectd and affected the development of your glands ...

Any doctor who seems to think that there is only one cause of thyroid disorder is hgihly suspect. I do not care IF a person is endorsed by Oprah, that does not mean that they are the be-all, end-all personification of health knowledge OR wisdom about it. Rather than BLAME Dr. Northrup (although her answer is thoroughly unprofessional and I would NEVER consult with her for any reason), I think the whole area of women's medicine needs more research, more listening paid to root causes, less vitriol towards those who suffer any type of health disorder and strict attention paid to the INDIVIDUAL circumstances .. because we DESERVE it and it will be a lasting legacy to hand on to our daughters and our the rest of female humanity.

In the case of thyroid disorder, INITIALLY, it was short changed at it showed up in POOR nations with a lack of iodine in the diet and the doctors studying goiters and so on didn't make money studying them. But with today's SUPER PROFITS being made in medicine there is no longer any excuse of mis/dis information on women's health issues.

Oprah so often has the "Rich ladies" line on many MANY Things . and this is a big one to just "let it pass by". People should write in and complain long and hard. The women's health cruise has sailed .. and she's missed it, preferring to keep her money and her concern for all women marooned on an island in Hawaii ... she and Dr. Northrup can sit out there in tropical (depleted uranium-filled Hawaii) and discuss how we are just plain ole sick, eh and how pathetic WE are becuz we "stuff" stuff? Doesn't sound like much JOY to me or very healthy either. I really cannot bear to watch Oprah on TV and have not enjoyed it in a very long time. There is so much more she could do to improve people's lives that she does NOT do; there is far too much materialiSM for my taste and too much focus on personaliities who are outside what average people live like. It's mere circus material as people's lives spin wildly out of control in many, many cases. The US is a MESS.

On a metaphoric level, a goiter IS a giant tear, but it's not necesarily PERSONAL; some of us are crying that in this day and age, the real truth about women's diseases is still so little understood, poorly researched, the medical practices so archaic, so little real information getting into people's hands -- and women still expected to put up with it. Now that is SAD.

Welcome to the ONEiverse. We are all ONE. Practice, practice, practice the law of ONE.
www.opednews.com ( http://www.opednews.com ) www.ladybroadoak.blogspot.com ( http://www.ladybroadoak.blogspot.com )

I was actually surprised that the "Dr." was a woman. When I first heard this story yesterday, I assumed it must be a man saying this stuff (I know, that sounds terrible, just being honest).

Since I had no idea who she was, I really have nothing to compare her statements to. But on their own, I believe these statements are very insensitive and disrespectful to women.

Thanks for your comment Belinda.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com ( http://www.catherineblogs.com/ ) and The Political Voices of Women ( http://politicsanew.com/ )

I agree with a lot of the under-riding premise that our minds, bodies and souls are one big amalgam and must be treated holistically. For sure. But I watched that show with my jaw on teh ground, as i felt women everywhere internalize the message that their health is their fault. gasp.

while there is no denying that we are responsible for much of our health and wellness, we are also all dealt a hand that decides - or at least influences - our overall pathology. we can and should do everything we can to stay healthy, but there is a fine line between empowering and blaming.

on a similar note - but one i found very positive - Mark Liponis has a new book called Ultra Longevity. His basic premise is that it all gets down to managing your immune system and taking care of it - as some of the most prevalent diseases in our society are auto-immune diseases, or else triggered by an over active immune system (stark contrast to the belief that our immune systems aren't active enough.) I was lucky enough to have dinner with him before a lecture he gave in Seattle, and it was really empowering. Although I already do most of what he suggests, his holistic focus on diet, love, fun and all the stuffs of life left me feeling like i could do so much. But he also allowed for the very real fact of genetics and things beyond our control......

Here is a link to his initial post on HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-liponis/feeling... and i gather that he will be adding to it over the course of time. I did not buy the book - but probably will.

The overall message needs to be that we have the opportunity to make the most out of our lives and our bodies. BUT we cannot control everything - that's not fair.

Additionally, Oprah needs to, at some point, understand that although she may be able to bring ultimate calm, into her life, most of us cannot do that. She has a long history of thinking that we can all do what she does, if we could just live her life, we'd all be better. Not that simple, Oprah.

Another time I'll tell you about my slack-jawed response when, in talking to a woman who fought off an armed rapist, she said, "I'd rather be dead than raped." (REALLY? 'Cause I'm REALLY happy to be alive!)

She's clueless sometimes. But she's mostly good - I just wish someone would work with her to get some perspective. The things she says, sometimes, are so hurtful, and I am SURE that's not her intent!
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com ( http://www.JustCauseIt.com )

Oprah has been out of touch for a long, long time. Her grandiose tv special on her school in Africa showed that her jam is sliding right off of her toast and into her Earl Grey. And her disease disclosure and expert advice was like a telethon held for the flu.

Poor little overworked billionaire! Staff, personal chefs, trainers, spa treatments, experts with placebo advice, no children, no financial worries--and it's all too much for her. Maybe she'll be inspired to give sabatticals to everyone in her next audience.

Should I change my name on this comment? Because what if I ever write that first book, I'm blowing my chances here...

Dr. Northrup's remarks on this issue. I relied heavily on her book "Women's Bodies; Women's Wisdom" years ago when suffering horribly with endometriosis and other gynecological problems, and it helped me to find solutions to chronic health problems that had plagued me for years. I also found her PBS series of lectures to be informative and enlightening. I can't imagine what's going on here--either she's changed her focus quite a bit since those days, or she was edited to remove any more sensible *medical* aspects of the discussion. Either way, YIKES.

It's a shame, because I had considered her an important advocate for women's health issues in the past.

Belinda ( http://www.ninjapoodles.com )