Is Chronic Illness Just Biological… or Is Your Body Calling Bullshit?
Here’s the thing about chronic illness: doctors will tell you it’s all about biology, genetics, or they just don’t know why this happens. They’ll run tests, scratch their heads, and when everything comes back “normal”, they slap the label invisible illness on you.
Basically: “We can’t see it, so here’s some meds. Adjust your life to accommodate the symptoms. Good luck.”
And sure, meds can help with pain, inflammation, hormones, all that jazz — but what if that’s only part of the story? What if your body isn’t broken, but is actually waving a giant red flag saying: Oi, something deeper needs sorting out!
Experts such as Bessel van der Kolk and Gabor Maté have been talking about this for years. Trauma doesn’t just disappear if you ignore it — it sets up camp in your body. It messes with your energy, immune system, and even your ability to recover. I don’t need a PhD to back that up — I lived it. Chronic fatigue, pain, muscle spasms, wheelchairs, the works. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Think of it like turning off a fire alarm instead of putting out the fire — you silence the sound, but the flames still burn.
When Medicine Misses the Point
Now, don’t get me wrong. Conventional medicine is brilliant in many ways. If I break my leg, please don’t hand me a crystal and a meditation app. But when it comes to chronic illness, the biomedical model can fall short.
Why? Because it focuses only on symptoms. It treats the body like a faulty car part that needs fixing, without considering the messy, beautiful, and complicated human it belongs to. Which is why so many people with conditions like chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia feel dismissed, disbelieved, and downright pissed off.
Trauma Doesn’t Just Live in Your Head
Here’s the juicy bit: unprocessed trauma doesn’t just mess with your emotions. It lodges itself in your nervous system, in your cells, in how your body responds to stress. Stanislav Grof called illness a signal — a not-so-subtle nudge from your mind-body-spirit system saying: Deal with your shit.
That’s where practices like mindfulness, meditation, bodywork, and yes — all the woo-woo sounding stuff — actually come in clutch. They help regulate the nervous system, shift stuck energy, and restore balance across the mind, body, and spirit. It’s not about bypassing medicine — it’s about adding the missing pieces.
My Clients Prove It
I’ve worked with people dealing with autoimmune issues, chronic fatigue, long-term pain — people who had tried all the conventional routes and got nowhere.
And yet, when we worked together using trauma-informed techniques — mindfulness, somatic work, deep inner reflection, and reconnecting them to something bigger than themselves — they didn’t just feel “a bit better”. They found real, lasting changes. Less pain. More energy. A sense of hope. And most importantly: tools they could actually take with them for life.
Because healing isn’t about a quick fix. It’s about learning to understand your body’s signals — not as problems to squash, but as whispers (or sometimes screams) saying: Pay attention. There’s more here.
So… What’s the Answer?
Is chronic illness purely biological? No chance. Biology plays its part, but it’s only one slice of the pie. Trauma, emotions, and spiritual disconnection are massive players too.
The truth is, real healing often means stepping outside the box — integrating the best of both worlds. Take the useful bits of medicine (thank you, antibiotics) and the deep, soul-level work that trauma-informed and transpersonal approaches bring.
That’s where hope, resilience, and genuine change happen. Not just managing symptoms, but actually living fully again.
So, here’s my two cents:
If your body is flaring, crashing, or shutting down, maybe it’s not “broken”. Perhaps it’s calling you to look deeper. To heal, not just patch up. And yes, it takes time and effort — but bloody hell, is it worth it.
Because you don’t have to just survive chronic illness. You can actually thrive.
✨ If this resonates with you, you might love my book Chronically Awesome — it’s where I share my own journey of healing and the tools that helped me move from surviving to actually living. You’ll also find down-to-earth practices you can try for yourself.
Because healing isn’t about quick fixes — it’s about reconnecting with yourself, learning to listen to your body, and knowing you’re not alone in the process.
📖 Grab a copy below and start walking your own path back to wholeness.
Works Cited
CDC. (2024) About Chronic Diseases | Chronic Disease. [online] 4 October. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/chronic-disease/about/index.html [Accessed 18 August 2025].
Grof, S. (1984) Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Van der Kolk, B. (2014) The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. New York: Viking.
Maté, G. (2022) The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture. London: Vermilion.
