Hanging Healing

In a straightforward two-phase SBS, the organism experiences a DHS, creates a biological conflict in the psyche, enters the conflict-active phase, resolves the biological conflict in the psyche, and then completes the healing phase through PCL A, the epi-crisis, and PCL B.

Hanging healing occurs when that healing phase is repeatedly interrupted. The most common cause is a track: when sensory information unconsciously reminds the organism of the original DHS, which the organism unconsciously interprets as an alarm signal. When the organism "steps on a track," it re-creates the biological conflict in its psyche, triggering a new conflict-active phase. This prevents the organism from proceeding cleanly to the end of PCL B.

Each relapse restarts the SBS and thereby prolongs the healing process. The result is an oscillation between conflict activity and healing, which may appear as chronic illness, recurring "flares," repetitive symptoms, or a degenerative pattern.

Hanging healing can also occur when healing-phase symptoms themselves become frightening and trigger a new DHS. This is especially common when pain, swelling, weakness, discharge, fever, or other repair symptoms are interpreted as:

• a threat to existence (producing Kidney Tubule Syndrome),
• worry about the body (producing attack conflicts), or
• "deterioration" (producing self-devaluation).

Resolution of hanging healing requires achieving genuine conflictolysis rather than avoiding the conflict content or the tracks. Once the organism does this, it can stop reactivating the conflict in its psyche and continue through PCL B to establish a new normotonia.

In today's culture, the idea of the "new normal" is itself often existentially frightening to individuals at an unconscious level. It is the fear of leaving the herd behind, forging ahead into uncharted territory, and the fear of rejection or loss of territory if one is no longer suffering the same victimhood as everyone else. This essentially amounts to a fear of, and therefore inability in, completing PCL B. Hanging healing is "better the devil I know."