Science, Spirit, & Neuroplasticity: A Physician's Journey From Chronic Pain to Higher Consciousness

In medicine, we often shy away from speaking about matters of spirituality. There are good reasons for this. Science does not necessarily rely on Spirit to make important discoveries and advance medicine. In addition, we as physicians usually try not to impose any beliefs onto our patients, recognizing the huge diversity within the populations we treat. While understandable, our lack of time to explore the unseen is another persistent gap. I suspect this limitation ultimately diminishes us all. 

For me, spirituality has given me the reason I keep going—the reason I seek higher levels of health. It gives me the “why” for it all.

I have always been around spirituality. I was raised in a predominantly Christian household, including going to church and saying our prayers. However, my path diverged from Christianity as a late teen into one of a non-institutionalized believer. In other words, while my mind could easily grasp the concept of a Higher Power, I struggled to reconcile a divine love that was available only to certain individuals. For me, the way of Christ has always been a path to Higher Consciousness that is available to us all. I recall asking elders about how it worked if a good and kind person was knowingly Buddhist, or Jewish, or Muslim—would they not also be welcomed in Heaven? If, for all intents and purposes, their actions here on earth exemplified the teachings of Christ, yet they did not call themselves Christian, would they truly be excluded?

I admit that the answers I received from many Christians felt incomplete and did not seem to capture the totality of our Universal reality. How can we be on a planet that is one out of billions, and yet also created by a God whose love could be contained by earthly, human labels? My intention here is not to minimize, in any way, dear reader, whatever you believe. I have met many truly kind and wonderful people who follow many different religious paths, and I truly believe in following your heart.

However, I found myself looking for a framework that matched the vastness of our human experience. It was this very curiosity—this deep inkling that our spiritual and physical potential is far greater than the boundaries we draw—that eventually opened my eyes to the profound, interconnected world of neuroplasticity and the healing power of the mind-body-spirit connection.

In the last several years, my spirituality has grown exponentially. Not coincidentally, these were also the years that I was learning about neuroplastic conditions and starting to see that I had mind-body syndrome. After reading a book about people-pleasing, I learned about Dr. John Sarno and read The Mindbody Prescription. It was like some major light bulbs were ignited into my awareness. It made so much sense that childhood trauma, a people-pleasing and perfectionistic personality, and living a life of high stress would all sensitize my nervous system.

A sensitized system is much more likely to interpret safe signals as dangerous ones. It was as if my life experiences were a giant hearing aid in my brain, turning up the volume to every sensory input just in case it could bring me some potential harm, even if that harm was only hypothetical. There are good ancestral reasons for this. When humans are consistently put in difficult situations, our brains become very adept at looking out for danger. We are trained to look out for land mines—everywhere. This was how I was wired, and I was wired to survive. The trouble comes when that wiring is no longer necessary and keeps us in a perpetual state of high alert, much to our detriment.

This is how I found myself in my 20s and 30s—in medical school, then residency, then married with two children. For all intents and purposes, my life was great. I was overall healthy, in a good marriage, with a roof over my head and so much potential. Regardless, my brain (particularly my subconscious) was wired to look for danger.

I was hyper-sensitized to anything stressful and to any situation where I would not be enough or not know enough, to please everyone around me.

I was my own worst critic, usually talking to myself in very negative tones. To be honest, I was so used to doing this that I was not even consciously aware of the patterns. It is no surprise that I was struggling with insomnia, anxiety, depression, migraines, TMJ syndrome, neck pain, back pain, hip pain, chronic fatigue, and irritable bowel syndrome. For many years, these conditions existed separately on my “problem list.” One would flare, and I would see my primary doctor or a specialist and try a medication or diet until things calmed down, only to be replaced by a flare of another condition. I was very used to catastrophizing and also used to feeling like I was meant to suffer. If I allowed myself to be happy and at peace, I feared that it would all just get ripped away—as if I were asking for disaster just by being content.

This is a low-frequency state, one in which energy is constantly consumed by fear. It is a state of "Illness as a Mindset," but I was too entrenched in the weeds to see anything bigger beyond me.

There is no doubt that learning about the neuroscience of mind-body disorders significantly helped me on my healing journey, and this is a big part of the treatment. Understanding is hugely important when it comes to disease. Humans crave to understand on a deep level why we feel the way we do, how it came to be, and what we can do about it. Reading books on mind-body disorders and taking courses like Freedom From Chronic Pain and Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) did wonders for my symptoms. It is amazing how increasing a sense of safety in my nervous system has led to symptoms of much lower magnitude that fade more quickly.

Of course, I needed to see all of the doctors that I spent years seeing and do all of the work-up to let go of the idea of structural disease. I consider all of that time as time well spent. It allowed me to let go, and to embrace a mind-body pathogenesis. However, I would not say that science alone kept me on the path.

Rather, it was much more my spirituality that brought me to an entirely new level and to the place where I find myself today.

Interestingly enough, it was an experience with an evidential medium that cracked open my worldview. I had never been to a psychic or a medium and was skeptical, but I was also open-minded. Even though I did not understand how these things were possible, I did hear enough of others’ profound experiences that I humbly thought I cannot rule anything out by logic alone. As I mentioned, I was raised in a Christian household and even though I was not religious, I did believe in a Higher Power that is the Source of all things. So, when my sister recommended a medium to me whom she had seen and been impressed by, I decided to give it a try. At this point in my life, I was struggling significantly with my chronic symptoms, in particular with my depression. I was trying to be a good mother to my children, but feeling like I was failing miserably. I had also lost my stepfather some years before and had the odd sense sometimes that he was right there with me. So, I booked a session with Barb.

Right off the bat, Barb mentioned things to me that there was no way she could have known.

She brought up two people who were significant in my life who had passed and did so in a way that was striking, down to describing their appearance and personalities accurately. She told me something quite personal that my stepfather wanted to say to me, and it led to such a profound release that it is truly difficult to put into words.

Imagine having a role which weighs you down, putting significant pressure onto you—a role that was imposed by a loved one while they were still alive. After they pass, that sense of pressure remains and is all the more depleting because they are gone, and you can never get closure or explore it with them as an adult. Barb gave me a message that day from my stepfather that he wanted me to let go of that pressure. It was so specific to me, and I felt his presence so strongly, that I began to sob with all of the pain that I had placed on myself, mostly subconsciously, for all of those years. I experienced a significant release that day. I have since listened to the recording of that session, simply in awe at what she was able to do and that I still do not scientifically understand.

I do not mean to say that all of us should believe in mediums. Again, I think honoring what feels true to your heart is of paramount importance. But there are certain experiences that we cannot always explain and yet have enormous transformative power.

Being spiritual means that you are discovering how to let go and surrender to something not fully understood by the human mind.

It means that you are learning to Trust. Trust is not something that comes easily to those who have experienced trauma or significant difficulties in their lives. But, interestingly enough, it seems like these are exactly the individuals that become more spiritual. After having my session with Barb, I picked up books by Laura Lynn Jackson, watched the Surviving Death documentary, listened to The Telepathy Tapes, and read countless other books that explore the nature of the unknown.

I believe that there is much to be gained from listening to stories of near-death experiences, end-of-life visions, and past lives. If consciousness truly survives bodily death, that would change everything. It would mean that there is so much more to our universe than we truly understand. It would mean that we are never alone, and messages of unconditional love are based in Truth.

It would mean letting go of my symptoms is possible because I am so much more than my body, and I am so much more than what is on my problem list.

It would mean I can surrender to what is in this moment, because it is exactly as it is meant to be. It would mean that all of the struggles, difficulties, and pain were experienced for a purpose. It would mean that leaning into Love rather than Fear is a path not only to reduce neuroplastic symptoms, but one that allows me to access higher levels of consciousness and allows for the exponential growth of my spirituality. It is a spiritual path as much as one that promotes bodily health.

When we treat patients for mind-body disorders, we are asking for a significant amount of trust. We are asking them to let go of their identities as a sufferer of “this or that” condition. We are asking them to open up their minds to entirely new possibilities for their health, to believe they can get better, and to allow Hope to foster in their lives. These are things that can be challenging from a scientific perspective alone. Of course, every human is unique and every path is distinctive. Many patients have recovered from neuroplastic conditions with evidence-based treatments like PRT and EAET (Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy) alone. Not everyone needs to embrace the existence of a higher level of consciousness in order to recover.

However, I do wonder how many of us naturally become more spiritual as we heal, and that this may not be coincidental.

And what would the world be like if it became more acceptable for doctors to talk about these things with patients? I believe that we are all Connected, and the awakening of some humans to Universal Consciousness creates an undercurrent of momentum that brings this Light of awareness to more and more people. Physicians can be healers in more ways than one—not only helping treat bodily diseases, but also those of the mind and spirit. In my humble opinion, the best health comes from the harmonious flow between all three.

I close with great gratitude to all of the transcendental thinkers who have come before, from whom I have learned so much.

It is my very dear hope to continue on this journey of Joy and Wonder, to continue to experience life’s ups and downs, but to do so with an understanding that I come from Love and it is back to Love I will return. With this, all things are possible.

Melissa Huck Nguyen MD is a licensed family medicine physician living in the Bay Area, CA with her husband, two kids, a massive collection of fantasy fiction novels, and far too much Disney paraphernalia.