I have been doing a lot of research this weekend about MCS and catching up on the newest findings. I came down with MCS 10 years ago, and today I consider myself healed. Yes, I still avoid all the toxins that I can and can have horrible reactions when I am not careful with my environment. Yet, I feel better now then I ever did. Even before I got MCS.
Anyways, I was thinking about how upset I would get when I was ill and everyone was telling me it was in my head. Even when I was in the hospital. (Probably the worst place to be!) It seems like the research pieces and opinion pieces that I have come across lately look at MCS as only a psychological condition or only as a physical condition.
I do not believe any disease can only be looked at on a physical level or only on a psychological level. I think those of us with MCS are actually quiet lucky that there is so much focus on the psychological aspect.( If only it was not attached to us in such a disrespectful manner and always minimizing the reality of the physical manifestations… ) I believe to have true healing you must look at illness on all levels – physical, mental and spiritual. I think that we all have a great opportunity to heal if we spend the time working on all these levels of healing. I think we have to be very careful not to get so frustrated by everyone telling us that it is all in our head, that we go the other way and do not take the time to work on the mental level of ourselves.
My healing I attribute to a lot of physical work – changing my diet, ridding my home of toxins, and exercise. Yet, I would not have the healing that I have today if I did not work equally as hard on my mental and spiritual health as well.
So now when someone tells me that it is all in my head, I just smile. While I know that the physical aspect is very real, it no longer bothers me if they do not believe it. I know my reality and realize you can not make someone see things your way. It used to take up so much of my energy trying to make people believe me, cause I took it so personally that they thought I was crazy. I have found it is better to spend that energy on myself and not worry so much about what others think. (as long as they are not coming into my house wearing perfume!)
I do realize that this is a very serious issue on the physical side and we have to raise our voices on the issue and continue to do research and raise awareness, yet there is no reason to be fighting about it. I do not like this us vs. them that I see in so much of the writing. Lets spend our energy on creating healthy buildings and healthy lifestyles that people will be so inspired by our energy and our increased sense of well-being that they will be asking us how we do it. Our lives will then speak for themselves. There will be no need to argue.
My words of wisdom: Believe in love, in possibility, in going after your dreams, in never stopping, in not existing but living - fully, unapologetically and wildly, believe that all is good, and always trust your gut. 
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