The 3 Causes of Illness: Part 1

Have you ever wondered why, when a number of people are exposed to the same infectious illness, some catch it and others don’t? Assuming that the basics of good health are in place, (diet, sleep, exercise etc.) the answer lies in the 3 causes of illness, which differ from person to person:

1. Weaknesses caused by diseases and / or traumatic life experiences endured by previous generations of your family
2. Weaknesses inherent in the physical and emotional type you were born as i.e. your Constitution
3. Weakness caused by a particular event or ongoing situation

The Vital Force & Vitality

I will expand on the 3 causes in subsequent blog posts. First though, I want to explain how homeopathy perceives the health and disease differently from conventional medicine. Health, for homeopaths, is about Vitality. Vitality is more than just energy, it is well-being at all levels – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. And your Vitality is controlled by your Vital Force: The central, governing intelligence in your mind-body system, which creates health at all levels.

Deeper than a virus

Let’s say your Grandmother had Tuberculosis. We know that this can predispose future generations to chest infections (Cause 1).  And suppose you have always had a tendency to coughs (Cause 2). Then one morning, Vitality high, you receive a tax demand for a large sum of money you don’t have (Cause 3).  Unless you are a saint, the stress of that news is likely to put your Vital Force off balance, and lower your Vitality. Later that day, still reeling from shock and worry, someone coughs over you. Your Vital Force will use that virus to produce a cough and thereby rebalance your system.  So contrary to conventional thinking, symptoms are good, because they are what the body does to heal itself.  Sometimes though, the Vital Force gets stuck, and symptoms (a cough in this case) continue for weeks, or recur frequently.  That is when homeopathic remedies can reactivate the Vital Force to help it finish the healing process.

Summary 

Family history of TB + Tendency to coughs + Shock + Virus = Cough leading to Balance & Health