How much do we actually understand about our brain? - Writing Wednesday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
After watching Louis Theroux's documentary on autism, there's one question that kept popping to mind. How much do we actually understand about our brain? In the documentary, Louis visited autistic children at an education centre as well as some families who had autistic children, across many different parts of the spectrum. One teenager called Niki, was acting like a normal child up until 18 months old when he stopped crawling and talking. This was when he was diagnosed with autism. He was non-verbal up until the age of six when he miraculously began talking again and from there, he actually became more sociable. Although he has a twin sister, he was the only one diagnosed with autism. However, his family were very supportive of him and believed that autism was just part of his character. Although the way Niki spoke was different to the way other people spoke, I was truly amazed at how confident he was in speaking to other people and how open and honest he was about how he was feeling about something. In comparison, one mother suffered a lot with her autistic son. He had been placed in the special education centre, designed to aid autistic children and he had threatened many of the teachers and staff there. His mother also had to restrain him many times when he had his violent fits and episodes, where he was harmful to the people around him and to himself. It shocks me how one person with a similar severity of autism can socially adapt better than the other person. Doctors even struggle to understand this complex condition because there doesn't seem to be a link between each case. I believe that it's definitely something neurological but I don't think we understand enough about the type of transmissions that take place in our brain, to form a logical judgement on that. I'm sure a brain scan can't highlight the bigger issues at play here and I think that's the biggest obstacle that doctors face.
There was another weird condition that I haven't even heard of before until I watched the Hospital documentary on the BBC. Functional Neurological Disorder is when your body physically reacts to something mentally distressing that has happened. Many FND patients struggle to walk, talk, and many have non-epileptic seizures that debilitate them completely. However, when brain scans are taken, no external issues are found and the brain seems completely healthy. One lady called Pauline had suffered terrible events when she was a child. She was bullied at school and her father committed suicide when she was a teenager. Now, her daughter cares for her because she has many of these non-epileptic seizures and moves around using her wheelchair. Another FND patient was a father called David, who struggled to walk and suffered from seizures that could last for up to 5 hours. Unfortunately, since this condition is so rare, the resources for this condition are limited. The patients who require physiotherapy to help them move again, like David, are put on a trial that only lasts for a week. Patients like Pauline, who need psychotherapy, are put on a waiting list that can last for two years, in order to deal with the many patients who require the same exact medical attention. Although it is difficult, these patients do need more medical support. What I found so strange about FND is that it can literally happen to anybody. We are told so much about the importance of looking after our mental health but it's for things like this that it matters the most. 1,400 cases of this disease are dealt with by the Royal Liverpool Hospital's emergency department, each year. Our brains are amazing computers that control every move we make, yet we hardly know anything about it. This makes it very difficult to treat conditions like FND, which is why we must improve our understanding of the brain.
How much do you know about the brain? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
Tap one of the reaction boxes below to let me know what you thought of this post. It would really help me to make some improvements in the future!
Be sure to follow and subscribe so that you don't miss anymore of my brilliant posts and share this article with a friend who might enjoy it too!
See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette
My social media handles:
My Instagram
My YouTube channel
My second blog:
The Book Hub
After watching Louis Theroux's documentary on autism, there's one question that kept popping to mind. How much do we actually understand about our brain? In the documentary, Louis visited autistic children at an education centre as well as some families who had autistic children, across many different parts of the spectrum. One teenager called Niki, was acting like a normal child up until 18 months old when he stopped crawling and talking. This was when he was diagnosed with autism. He was non-verbal up until the age of six when he miraculously began talking again and from there, he actually became more sociable. Although he has a twin sister, he was the only one diagnosed with autism. However, his family were very supportive of him and believed that autism was just part of his character. Although the way Niki spoke was different to the way other people spoke, I was truly amazed at how confident he was in speaking to other people and how open and honest he was about how he was feeling about something. In comparison, one mother suffered a lot with her autistic son. He had been placed in the special education centre, designed to aid autistic children and he had threatened many of the teachers and staff there. His mother also had to restrain him many times when he had his violent fits and episodes, where he was harmful to the people around him and to himself. It shocks me how one person with a similar severity of autism can socially adapt better than the other person. Doctors even struggle to understand this complex condition because there doesn't seem to be a link between each case. I believe that it's definitely something neurological but I don't think we understand enough about the type of transmissions that take place in our brain, to form a logical judgement on that. I'm sure a brain scan can't highlight the bigger issues at play here and I think that's the biggest obstacle that doctors face.
There was another weird condition that I haven't even heard of before until I watched the Hospital documentary on the BBC. Functional Neurological Disorder is when your body physically reacts to something mentally distressing that has happened. Many FND patients struggle to walk, talk, and many have non-epileptic seizures that debilitate them completely. However, when brain scans are taken, no external issues are found and the brain seems completely healthy. One lady called Pauline had suffered terrible events when she was a child. She was bullied at school and her father committed suicide when she was a teenager. Now, her daughter cares for her because she has many of these non-epileptic seizures and moves around using her wheelchair. Another FND patient was a father called David, who struggled to walk and suffered from seizures that could last for up to 5 hours. Unfortunately, since this condition is so rare, the resources for this condition are limited. The patients who require physiotherapy to help them move again, like David, are put on a trial that only lasts for a week. Patients like Pauline, who need psychotherapy, are put on a waiting list that can last for two years, in order to deal with the many patients who require the same exact medical attention. Although it is difficult, these patients do need more medical support. What I found so strange about FND is that it can literally happen to anybody. We are told so much about the importance of looking after our mental health but it's for things like this that it matters the most. 1,400 cases of this disease are dealt with by the Royal Liverpool Hospital's emergency department, each year. Our brains are amazing computers that control every move we make, yet we hardly know anything about it. This makes it very difficult to treat conditions like FND, which is why we must improve our understanding of the brain.
How much do you know about the brain? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
Tap one of the reaction boxes below to let me know what you thought of this post. It would really help me to make some improvements in the future!
Be sure to follow and subscribe so that you don't miss anymore of my brilliant posts and share this article with a friend who might enjoy it too!
See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette
My social media handles:
My Instagram
My YouTube channel
My second blog:
The Book Hub
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for leaving your comments! I really enjoy reading your positive and constructive messages. They really make my day! 💜