Today, Norm Goldman Publisher and Editor of Bookpleasures.com is honoured to have as our guest, Dr. William Sun director of the Process Centre and the author of The Triple Process Remedy: A New Philosophy on Illnesses of Stress, Anxiety and Depression.

Thank you Dr. Sun for participating in our interview.

Norm:

Please tell our readers a little bit about your personal and professional background.
 
Dr. Sun:

I hold Certificate in Assessment and Treatment of Depression in the Primary Care Setting from Harvard University Harvard Medical School, and Certificate in Complementary and Alternative Medicine from the National Institute of Health, USA, and I received Doctor of Philosophy in Law from Leeds Metropolitan University, England. I am member of The Scientific and Medical Network (international), and member of British Holistic Medical Association. I am currently Senior Lecturer of Leeds Metropolitan University, England, Visiting Professor of Harbin Engineering University, China, and Director of The Process Centre, England.

Norm: 

What is the Process Centre?

Dr. Sun:

The Process Centre is an international multidisciplinary research group/network working on various subjects based on process philosophy. It has a full legal status of limited company registered in England. Its mission is to better serve human wellbeing through challenging and renewing fundamental understandings of the natural world, human beings, and societies. It aims at not just applying process philosophy and its related thoughts to academic research and human practices, but also further developing and advancing process thoughts to generate new knowledge and insights. Our experts at the Process Centre are highly talent professionals with remarkable achievements in their specific fields/areas. Many of them received PhDs and/or hold/held senior positions. Currently we have been working in two subject areas. One is medical philosophy and its practical implications, and the other is process thought perspectives on management, ethics and corporate social responsibility.

Norm:

Why did you become interested in process philosophy and its applicability to the treatment of anxiety disorders?

Dr. Sun:

I have been interested in philosophy for over two decades. But my systematic academic training in process philosophy started in the late 1990s when I studied for my Doctor of Philosophy at University of Essex and Leeds Metropolitan University, England, and then undertook my Post-Doctoral research at Leeds Metropolitan University. The very credibility of process philosophy is its mode of thinking about the world in a fundamentally systematic, interconnected and developmental way, which is distinguished from conventional static, linear, disconnected and fragmentised philosophical approaches. Later modern sciences such as relativity theory, quantum mechanics, and chaos theory all have been under the influence of process philosophy. 

Unfortunately, although process philosophy has been resurged since the early 20^th century in the West, I have not seen any medical research undertaken on the basis of process philosophy. I happened to find the applicability of process philosophy to anxiety disorders due to my personal experience. Previously I suffered from anxiety disorders for over a decade due to various sources of stress. I was mainly treated in England for many years, but all the methods, including medications, psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, herbs, physical exercise, and so on, failed to cure my illness. This forced me to explore anxiety/depression disorders, its mechanisms and causes, and particularly, why the conventional treatments are ineffective. 

It was a coincidence that when I explored anxiety disorders, I was also doing research on process philosophy. I understood that modern medicine is underpinned by conventional substance philosophy, which is in direct contrast to process philosophy. I thought that this could be the reason why conventional medical science failed to cure many diseases, particularly the complex and chronic illnesses and diseases like stress and anxiety disorders, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Understood as such, I decided to discover remedies for my anxiety disorders on the ground of process thought. Within several years’ hard research and experiments and under the advices of medical experts, I developed the Triple Process Remedy Programme, a completely natural and integrative approach to treat anxiety disorders. To my surprise, it worked. With a complete triple process remedy programme, I cured my more than a decade’s anxiety disorders within a very short period. Then, I worked with doctors for further clinic testing, and it turned out that it also worked in other patients. Patients usually could cure their anxiety disorders within three to eight months, depending on personal circumstances.

Norm:

What motivated you to write The Triple Process Remedy: A New Philosophy on Illnesses of Stress, Anxiety and Depression?

Dr. Sun:

My successful story and the success of other patients who have used the Triple Process Remedy are really a hope for those who have been suffering from stress and anxiety disorders, but could not find effective ways to cure this annoying illness. From my own experience, I quite understand the helpless feelings and bitter lives of those sufferers. Many patients even suffered from anxiety and depression in their whole lives. I have a deep sympathy for them. In order to help those people, I decided to release my successful experience and research results. As a university lecturer and researcher for more than two decades, I am vey happy to contribute my knowledge, experience and skills to people’s wellbeing.

Norm:

Why do you feel that this was an important book for you to write and for all of us to read at this time?

Dr. Sun: 

What I wanted to tell people in this book is not just my successful story of curing anxiety disorders, but also the ways of thinking about our health, illness and treatment. In my more than a decade’s research on philosophy, I realised that conventional modes of thinking are severely limited and modern science based on conventional philosophy still has problems. This is why Einstein’s Relativity theory is far better than Newton’s physics in understanding the world. Quantum theory and chaos theory have further advanced our modern knowledge and the way of thinking about the world.

However, modern medical science, as still intoxicated with self-satisfaction (owing to the success of antibiotics), is far lagging behind the new scientific advance in the 20^th century. It is quite ironic that nowadays many medical scientists tend to forget that the very success of antibiotics was originally derived from natural organic sources rather than artificial chemicals. The six pitfalls of conventional medical science as explained in this book are very tight bindings of our modern medical thinking and the associated ways of illness prevention and treatment. I think it is time now to break up our conventional modes of thinking, step out their mental traps, and move forward towards new directions. Otherwise, it is hard to make breakthroughs in medical science and cure many “incurable” illnesses and diseases. In recent years, the new thriving of alternative medicine, integrative medicine and holistic approach indicates that more and more patients and physicians have now waked up to seek new ways to help themselves or help patients. 

Dr. Joe Pizzorno, an international pioneer and practical visionary in natural medicine, has called for fundamental changes in medical care 10 year ago. He said: “We must change our fundamental approach from the current disease-driven, treatment-oriented medical model, to one that deals with the real problem of improving people’s health by correcting the underlying causes of disease.” 

Norm:

How would you respond to potential readers who might be sceptical about your book and your ideas presented in the book 

Dr. Sun

Practice is the best way to test any truth. The success of my own experience and many others has proven the effectiveness of the Triple Process Remedy. We have a guarantee policy. If any reader following the Triple Process Remedy Programme did not feel any healing effect within 6-10 months, he/she can return the purchased book to The Process Centre and we guarantee a 100% refund.                                                                                                        

Norm:

You mention in your book human life is inseparable from nature. Could you elaborate and tell us why you believe this to be true?

Dr. Sun:

Human life is a product of nature, as it totally depends on natural life elements such as air, water, sunlight, earth qi, nutrition, etc. Without suitable natural systems and conditions, life could not exist. Therefore, human beings are part of nature and subject to the patterns and laws of nature. Any change of natural conditions and systems could significantly affect our bodies and minds, and therefore our health. Unfortunately, in our modern times, many people have ignored this vital information. On one side, they tend to separate from nature and avoid close contacts with vital natural life elements. On the other side, since industrial revolution, our human beings have systematically abused natural environments and partially destroyed our natural living conditions. Those could be the major reasons why human health has been more and more deteriorated.

Norm:

If someone wants to partake in the Triple Process Remedy, what should they do?

Dr. Sun:

Patients should follow the instructions and recommendations from the Triple Process Remedy Programme in cooperation with physicians and health professionals. To achieve the best healing result, patients should practise the Complete Triple Process Remedy Programme (including 15 approaches and 39 methods) as long as possible. If impossible to do so, the Basic Triple Process Remedy Programme (15 approaches and 15 methods) should be conducted. The details of each approach and method have been given in the book.

Norm:

I must compliment you on plunging into a topic with a great deal of insight, lucidity and clarity though, I am certain it may ruffle a few feathers. How has been the feedback, if any, from the medical profession?

Dr. Sun

Medical professionals and patients who have already tested and used the Triple Process Remedy Programme have highly praised this new thinking and easy to follow remedy programme. We have not received any negative feedback so far.

Norm:

Until recently it was difficult to find negative commentary or material pertaining to antidepressants. Why do you think this was the case?

Dr. Sun:

This is a very complicated issue. Serous side effects of antidepressants such as suicidal have been reported long tome ago, but few people have taken them seriously until recently. The healing effects of antidepressants have been controversial as well. While some clinical testing and surveys proved its effectiveness, others did not. Personally, I do not totally deny the usefulness of antidepressants. They may work in some of patients. But I believe in three facts. First of all, the overall effect of antidepressants is about no more than 40% improvement rate in about no more than 40% of patients. This is actually not much better than the effect of placebo. Secondly, antidepressants usually do not cure anxiety disorders, as they are only aimed at releasing the symptoms rather than touching the fundamental causes. Thirdly, the side effects of antidepressants must not be ignored, as they could be fatal.

A very new study published in PLoSMedicine on 26^th February 2008 revealed a very important fact that even the published and unpublished data on clinical trials submitted to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by pharmaceutical companies for the licensing of the drugs did not show the positive effect of antidepressants was greater than the effect of placebo (a sugar-coated “dummy” pill). That means that the true effect of antidepressants has been hidden from the beginning. This may explain why until recently it was difficult to find negative commentary or material pertaining to antidepressants.

Norm: 

Anxiety disorders are a "mixed bag".  Do you try to differentiate the types of anxiety disorders before starting therapy or intervention?

Dr. Sun:

There are many different types of anxiety disorders, including GAD, PD, SAD, Phobias, OCD, PTCD, etc. The basic principles of the Triple Process Remedy remain the same for all those types, particularly if they are stress-related. However, the methods may need to be adjusted for each type of anxiety disorders because of some different symptoms, and adjusted for individuals because of different personal conditions and circumstances.

Norm:

Several types of medications are useful in treating anxiety disorders and are usually used in combination with other forms of therapy, such as your approach. Are you open to such approach when necessary, or is this the case in your clinic?

Dr. Sun:

As mentioned in the book, medications could be used in combination with the Triple Process Remedy, particularly for patients with severe anxiety disorders to control their symptoms. But medications should be used very cautiously due to side effects and can be gradually discarded in pace with the progress of the Triple Process Remedy programme.

Norm:

Does your treatment have any side effects? If so are they disclosed to the patients before starting therapy?

Dr. Sun:

The Triple Process Remedy is a completely natural remedy with no side effects found. But patients should take the detailed instructions and warnings in the book seriously. If there are any serious side effects found, we will timely inform the readers through our websites.

Norm:

Does your therapy interact with other medications the patients might be taken for other medical illnesses? If so how do you resolve this problem?

Dr. Sun:

As a natural therapy, the Triple Process Remedy does not interact with other medications in general. But patients need to carefully read the drug information to see weather the medications taken may interact with some natural sources specified in the Triple Process Remedy. Patients are advised to consult their physicians before using this remedy programme.

Norm:

 How long does it take before your therapy or intervention helps?

Dr. Sun:

Usually patients can experience the healing effect of the Triple Process Remedy within 2-6 months, depending on individual circumstances and how well the remedy programme is followed and completed.

Norm:

 How do you go about with assessment and diagnosis of mental disorders or anxiety disorders? Since the clinical presentations of older adults with anxiety disorders may be different from those of other adults, making diagnosis of treatable illness more difficult.

Dr. Sun:

Conventional ways of assessment and diagnosis of anxiety disorders including interviews, measure scales and physical examination are all designed to address the symptoms and severity of anxiety disorders in order to determine weather or not and to what extent a person suffers from anxiety disorders. They have nothing to do with the underlying causes of anxiety disorders. With the Triple Process Remedy, apart from addressing the symptoms, the assessment and diagnosis need to reveal the in-depth causes of those symptoms and understand what the exact problems are with the patient. It is a systemic review on the patient’s (as well as his/her parents’) medical history, health conditions, sources of stress, lifestyle, surrounding environments, and other related factors.

The assessment and diagnosis of anxiety disorders or other mental disorders for old adults could be different from mid-aged or younger adults. This is very possibly so because of different causes of the illness. As explained in the book, anxiety disorders could be caused by three major issues and some other possible problems. The normal process of aging is very possible to be accelerated due to the deficiency and fluidity issues. Anxiety disorders could be one of major indications of “senility” rather than an independent and isolated illness. If so, the treatment should be different for old adults. It needs to address the fundamental problems of aging rather than the superficial symptoms of anxiety disorders. The general principles and approaches presented in the book are helpful for old people as well.

Norm:

How will you know if your therapy is the right or wrong intervention for your patient? In other words, how do you determine the success of your therapy?

Dr. Sun:

The assessment of success is based on periodic reviews on the changes of symptoms as well as fundamental strength of a patient’s body and mind after receiving the therapy. The success criteria are that the symptoms of anxiety disorders are completely gone, or the severe and moderate symptoms are significantly reduced to mild anxiety and depression, measured by Hamilton Rating Scales for Anxiety and Depression (HAM-A & HAM-D) and/or other rating scales. Patients need to take long time practices to achieve and retain fundamental changes of their bodies and minds which would eventually become strong enough to resist any sources of stress and prevent anxiety disorders from returning.

Norm:

What are the major differences between the process philosophy and the traditional approaches to diagnosing and treating anxiety disorders?

Dr. Sun:

The fundamental differences between the triple process approach and the conventional approaches to diagnosing and treating anxiety disorders are explained lengthily in the book. Generally speaking, process approach addresses the fundamental causes of the illness with a different worldview, whilst the conventional approaches merely catch the symptoms of the illness and misunderstand the mechanisms and causes of this illness. Because of such differing understandings, the treatments are therefore different. The very advantages of the Triple Process Remedy over conventional approaches are that it cures anxiety disorders rather than just addresses the symptoms, it is completely natural with no side effects, it is easy to follow by self help, and it comes with very little costs.

Norm:

Dr. Sun, the physiological symptoms associated with life threatening medical illness like heart attack may be similar to anxiety disorders. These symptoms may include heart palpitations, trembling, dizziness, dry mouth, chest pain, and nausea. How do you differentiate between the two?

Dr. Sun:

People with panic attack often mistake it for heart attack. There are some common symptoms between the two, but the underlying processes are different. Heart attack is due to the problem of blood flow to the heart, while panic attack and other anxiety disorders are problems mainly with the brain nervous system (in connection with the body conditions). If the symptoms like chest pain and difficulty breathing last for 2-3 minutes or longer, or the pain leaves and then returns, you need to consider about the possibility of heart disease or heart attack. You need to call emergency service or visit doctors and have a medical check.

Norm:

Dr. Sun, your thoughts and findings are based on your own personal experiences and they explore the reasons why you feel the seemingly "scientific" methods are not very effective. Can you explain to the reader what you mean?

Dr. Sun:

Science refers to a system of acquiring true knowledge. Conventional medical science is not so ‘scientific’ as claimed due to many fundamental problems with its assumptions and its underlying worldviews. For instance, reductionism, a very popular doctrine in medical science, assumes that any illnesses and diseases can be analytically reducible to a single elementary entity within the body.

Along with this assumption, anxiety disorders are believed to be caused by some chemical deficiency such as serotonin and benzodiazepine in the brain. Then, the treatment is simply to address that single element, such as raising the level of serotonin. Is this assumption true? There are several problems with this assumption. For example, it treats the living body like a lifeless machine, an assemblage of decomposable and disconnected parts. By simply changing a problematic part, the whole machine may run.

 However, if you only change the single element of the body, the whole body may still be ill, because the conventional approach does not address the body as a living organism and an interconnected whole. Or the body even becomes deteriorated, because it hides the body problems by simply removing the symptoms. This is why the so-called ‘scientific’ treatments do not work well or even worsen patients’ situations. I think that a real medical science must touch the fundamental mechanisms and causes of diseases and address total wellness, rather than merely focus symptoms and small parts of the body.    

Norm:

Are you working on any books/projects that you would like to share with us? (We would love to hear all about them!)

Dr. Sun: 

Yes, apart from other research on process thought, I and the Process Centre have planned to develop process medical philosophy in understanding and curing other illnesses and diseases such as hypertension, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. We would like to help as many patients as possible.

Norm: 

How can our readers find out more about you and the Triple Process Remedy?

Dr. Sun:

For more information, please visit our websites: http://www.processremedy.com, and http://www.theprocesscentre.co.uk. The book is available to purchase either from our websites or from Amazon.co.uk.

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Dr. Sun:

I genuinely hope that everyone who is still suffering from stress and anxiety disorders will eventually cure his/her illness and return to normal very soon. I am happy to help everyone.

Norm: 

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

***Note: I wish to thank Dr. Billy Johnson author of New Prescription for Childhood Obesity for passing onto me some of the above questions to ask Dr. Sun

 Click Here To Read Norm's Review of The Triple Process Remedy: A New Philosophy on Illnesses of Stress, Anxiety and Depression

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