Ever-sceptical, I was willing to take this book** seriously until the author revealed that he advised his adult mental health patients to suck their thumbs!
This – and expensive
sessions in a sensory deprivation tank - are among techniques Dr Leonid Altshuler suggests to those suffering from anxiety, depression and related conditions.
A conventional medical doctor and psychiatrist, Florida, USA-based Altshuler turned to alternative treatments like meditation during a troubled period in his own life: He packed up and visited a Nepalese monastery where he underwent a severe, seven-day emotional self-detoxification whose adverse physical effects read like a drug or alcoholic ‘cold turkey’.
I sense that Dr Altshuler is a sincere chap who genuinely wants people to help cure themselves using the methods he suggests. Many of them have ancient roots and should not require visiting a therapist, nutritionist or family doctor. Nor would I ever recommend anyone joining a meditation group for reasons I cannot outline here.
As I have observed of similar self-help guides: This is all about self-indulgent westerners with too much money, leisure and little sense. They believe they are unhappy. Then they meet real disaster – and suddenly they see sense!
**The Art of Emptying The Brain: Nepalese method spontaneous mental healing is available from Amazon Kindle @ $8.99.
© Natalie Wood (04 February 2019)
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