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February 18, 2022 3 min read

  • Screenwriter and author Mike Bender shares his story about Lyme, EHS, and building a home free from invisible stressors
  • Mike spent years waiting for a diagnosis, finally finding a doctor who pointed to EMF as one of the main reasons for his debilitating symptoms
  • A lesson for us all, whether we have EHS or not, on how EMFs may be affecting our health

A captivating article from Men’s Health details one man’s experience of Lyme disease, environmental toxins, and electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). Many of us can relate to the struggle of searching for answers in our health journeys. His story highlights how invisible stressors, such as EMFs, play a role in our physiological and emotional well-being, even for those of us who do not experience severe reactions.


Mike Bender is a well-known screenwriter and author who hit number one on the New York Times best seller list. In his otherwise normal life, he’d never expected that a series of mysterious ailments and symptoms, beginning in his 20s, would lead him on a complicated journey to discovery and relief. Years and years of visits to every type of doctor, specialist, and healer only brought more questions. The vast variety of symptoms and sensitivities, and the lack of results from trying everything prescribed and recommended, left the people in his life questioning his sanity. 


After a diagnosis for Lyme disease, Mike was hopeful to begin his journey to healing not only with the normal treatments, but also by changing his environment. Yet, it still wasn’t enough. Mike began experiencing panic attacks that triggered his fight-or-flight response, ultimately exaggerating his physical symptoms. He continued to stump the doctors and felt hopeless. 


Finally, Mike met with an M.D. who gave him the answer he waited decades for. This Doctor has years of clinical experience treating people who also failed to find an explanation for their symptoms. For Mike specifically, the combination of Lyme, exposure to mold, and the extensive trauma to his body from the various ailments, resulted in his immune and limbic system going into overdrive. His body remained in a persistent state of fight-or-flight, reacting to just about everything as a stressor and impacting the normal regulatory responses. Now that Mike had his answer, the next phase of his journey began.

 

The next steps required not only the immediate physical treatments, but also the optimization of a healthy environment for Mike’s long-term health. In addition to changing his diet and improving the water and air quality in his home, EMFs were also a concern for his well-being. Mike writes that he had only ever associated EHS with “that guy wrapped in tinfoil”, but his doctor provided insights as to why he could not stand to use any electronic devices. According to his doctor, when the limbic system becomes overreactive, as in Mike’s case, invisible stressors, such as EMFs, even in small amounts, act as a trigger for an unnecessary bodily response.


Mike’s story is a lesson for all of us. Many people experience symptoms at the same extremity, and live their lives without a diagnosis or treatment. EHS and other sensitivities are often overlooked since the root cause may be an invisible stressor. While EMFs might not manifest in such debilitating symptoms for everyone, Mike’s story is proof that there is a physiological response to the radiation from our everyday technology and the infrastructure that supports it. Mike needed to take extreme steps to reduce the EMF exposure within his home, but there are things we can all do, whether we feel bad or not, to minimize the impact on our well-being.  


To read more about Mike’s story and the steps he took to build his a safer home, check out his article in this month’s issue of Men’s Health

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