When we look at an illness, we usually look at it functionally – which part of the body or being does it affect.
But there’s another perspective that is rarely mentioned. Maybe because it’s harder to pin-point than an area of the body. Our need to know the answer often trumps the process of figuring things out.
However… there is a real benefit to thinking about illness from this other perspective: transient versus systemic.
Why? Because it helps to manage the expectations. It changes the treatment plan, the duration, the amount of effort required.
Finding out which one you have determines the healing process – is this just a phase in your life, or does this require a change to your whole way of being?
Transient versus Systemic Health Conditions
Transient illness relates to a condition which is passing by, whereas systemic illness is one that is born from the foundations of your body.
Think of transient illness as being in transit in an airport. It can take awhile to get out of transit - but most of the time, there's a way.
Both have different healing journeys and different amounts of effort.
The transient healing journey means that - consciously or spontaneously - you overcome it relatively easily (but doesn't mean you didn't suffer!). You changed something, internally or externally, or identified a key insight - and moved out of transit.
The systemic healing journey means that an inherent weakness is within (and we all have them). More often than not, you've had it a LONG time & you even define yourself with it. Not impossible to heal, but different. Needs more oomph! Changing foundational structures consciously requires will, determination & vision.
Examples of Each Type
What’s this got to do with health (or illness)?
Transient symptoms are usually born from:
- Unanticipated external/environmental factors, such as an accident or virus
- Bad habits that affect the overall balance in the body, such as picking up dysfunctional social behaviours – e.g. social drug use, workaholism
- Other forms of intermittent stressors
Systemic symptoms are usually an inherent weakness (which we all have, some more critical than others) and include:
- Hereditary/genetic disorders and tendencies (e.g. family illnesses)
- Poorly functioning critical organ or gland
- Often a childhood condition through to adulthood, either physically or in the psyche (e.g. childhood trauma or illness)
- ALSO - a transient illness which became irreversible and turned into an inherent weakness (e.g. critical accidents, intense surgical procedures/mistakes, critical viruses)
The reason some transient illnesses can become systemic, is because the body can only regenerate so far. Some aspects of the body regenerate at a far higher capacity, however everything has a limit.
Understanding the Difference
While some conditions are clearly purely transient (like a small cold/virus) or purely systemic (inherited diseases like type 2 diabetes or thalassemia, etc), most have the possibility to be both.
And this is where it’s important to understand that one person who has a condition may heal differently and faster (or more spontaneously) than another.
For example, one person who came for a medical intuition reading with recurrent UTI (urinary tract infection) had the root cause as a nervous system influenced effect dampening the immune system, leading to UTI. The issue with the nervous system was an inherent weakness (in the form of hypervigilance) which showed up due to certain events in childhood. Her recommended action was to start looking into ways to work on her nervous system & healing from the charge of childhood events still locked in her body somehow.
Whereas, another person who also had a medical intuition reading for recurrent UTI (on 6th round of anti-biotics & booked in for surgical cleansing) had the root cause as stress-related. This person was exercising every morning at the gym, working full-time and on weekends taking long trips. Her action was to reduce her exercise to 3 days a week, among other things like inducing small pleasures into her life.
While I only kept in contact with one of the 2 clients, I sense that the first person would’ve taken a lot longer to see results from working with supporting her nervous system. The second person had a (seemingly) spontaneous relapse after the reading, confirmed by doctors, and the problem never occurred again.
And this is an important thing to realise between these 2 types. That one will require consistent long-term effort to build up on a system weakness, however successes will likely be witnessed over time. Full relapse is uncertain, but possible. The other will show up like almost instantaneous ‘cure’, with just a deliberate change or tweak to their life.
Transient illness is more likely to have occurred more recently in life. And from what I’ve observed, the more recent that you work on a health issues, the easier and often faster the issue can be (miraculously) resolved. System illness may not show up for years, but the inherent weakness has been there a long time.
So, don't feel disheartened if you haven't healed as fast or the same way as someone else who's 'cured' or overcome it. Realise that your journey will be unique to you and keep going.