Keep Asking ‘Why?’

Posted by Ken on April 30, 2015 in Healthy Community, Ken's Blogs

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If you’re not finished asking ‘why’, then you’re not finished!

I’m sure you remember the times when you heard a child ask the first ‘why?’ The parent pauses and gives a quick answer. And the child says ‘why?’ again. The parent digs a bit deeper and gives a more comprehensive answer. And the child says ‘why?’ again. It’s amazing how long a child can continue with this sincere curiosity. No matter the answer, they seem to find a way to take parents just a wee bit deeper.

Do we lose that curiosity as we get older? Do we stop asking ‘why?’

I’m working with a group in our community that has brought together a group of community leaders to look into the Mental Health issues that are prevalent in our community, as they are in communities around the world. Every time I participate I find myself asking ‘why?’

Why is there such a prevalence of mental health issues?
Why does it seem so easy to diagnose and so hard to solve?
Why are we not finding answers?
Why is the system so hard to navigate?
Why ….

I had a sidebar conversation with a doctor who has been part of several groups that are looking into these issues, and I asked a simple ‘why’ type question. “It seems like there is a lot of work going into figuring out how to get more and more treatment to people diagnosed with mental health issues, is there any work being done to figure out how to get to the root cause?” I thought it was a pretty obvious question to ask, and as much as I suspected that it wasn’t really being asked, I silently hoped that I was wrong.

The answer that came back was “the only real research we have is coming from the pharmaceuticals …” My heart sunk. And I asked myself ‘why?’ And then I responded, somewhat downtrodden, “that doesn’t sound like a conflict of interest.”

It would be very easy for me to go on a tirade, but the simple truth is that I have a lot more questions than I have answers. And I also don’t think that choosing sides and throwing darts at each other gets us any closer to solution. But I do wonder if we have stopped asking ‘why?’ I wonder if we have lost our sense of curiosity. I wonder if we have buried our best problem solving capabilities simply because we’ve stopped asking ‘why?’

I have made a lot of connections with people who have experienced mental health issues and have heard lots of stories of people that have “come out the other side”. I know and have connected with lots of people that are asking the ‘why’ questions and are sharing their stories simply to make a difference.

I know mothers that have children with autism and they keep wondering whether the vaccines their children were given were a contributor or a cause of the autism. I know mothers that believe that processed food (or food-like substances as I like to refer to them) and genetically modified food laced with pesticides are contributing to their kids mood swings, lashing out, and other “bad” behaviour. I also know that many of these people have taken action by radically changing diets and routines and found that they have ‘a whole new child’, all symptoms have disappeared.

I know doctors and scientists that are questioning the effectiveness of the pharmaceutical, treatment-based approach to dealing with mental health and other health issues, questioning the side effects and wondering ‘why’ we’re not looking into root cause.

None of these are people that I would apply the label ‘crazy’ to.

I could go on and on, but this is NOT a tirade. How did you feel when you saw the word ‘vaccine’, or ‘GMO’, or ‘pharmaceutical’? In my experience, every time any of these conversations starts, the battle lines get drawn, people take sides and ready themselves for the fight. They will educate the other side. They will prove that they are ‘right’.

And I simply pause and ask ‘why?’

My friend and colleague Andrea Beaman shared a post last week that really struck a chord with me. I encourage you to pop over and read “Death of a Genius”. And as much as it struck a chord with me, that is not to suggest that I am choosing a side and readying myself for a fight. I simply ask you to read with curiosity and your own sense of ‘why’.

I firmly believe that we will not solve our social issues, be they mental health, poverty, high rates of dis-ease and an overburdened, unsustainable healthcare system, or otherwise until we remember those days when we were 2 years old and start asking ‘why’. Masking symptoms is not the answer. Choosing sides and ‘winning’ is not the answer. What is the answer?

Why?

Can you dig a bit deeper?

Why?

Why?

Why?

You’re not finished until you can stop asking ‘why’?

But when you can, you just might have the answer.

Will you share it?

Why?

Namaste, Ken

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Written by Ken

Ken Jaques describes himself as a Health Care Evolutionary, Community Builder, and Speaker. True healing begins when we treat root causes instead of just masking symptoms. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 2008, Ken has experienced many facets of the health care system. As “the only patient who ever lost their hair on this low of a dosage of chemotherapy” – as spoken by his rheumatologist – Ken has been on an amazing journal of self-discovery, a journey of true healing. In his blog, Ken shares stories of how his beliefs have changed over the past few years, and how they are still changing. Is it possible that our bodies can heal themselves? Do we really have to live without hope after we receive a chronic illness diagnosis? These are the types of questions that Ken encourages people to ask themselves as they embark on their own physical or emotional healing journey.

Ken is creating a platform to connect People, Patients, Practitioners, Partners and Promoters, enabling a collaborative effort to help shift the focus on health from I-llness to We-llness. Check out the pilot at www.myHealthyCommunity.ca.

“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even I-llness becomes WE-llness” ~ Malcolm X