What is secondary depression?
Some people are depressed because they have specific audio deficits at particular sound frequencies. Other people who have different audio deficits also are sound-deprived and they have symptoms of depression in addition to their other primary symptoms. For example, the condition we call “dyslexic syndrome” is caused by a weak right-ear muscle, which produces shifting cerebral integration, like a switch for a motor being turned off and on every couple of minutes. When the left-brain cannot stay strongly dominant, we can tell that both halves of the brain are deprived of a normal supply of sound energy because the right ear also serves the right-brain, although to a lesser extent. No matter how happy the person feels when the left-brain is dominant, an inevitable mood of reduced emotional energy—depression—swiftly follows. Those fluctuations happen constantly so that the child cannot progress in normal learning as quickly as children with normally strong right-ear muscles. They can become generally unhappy and discouraged with their achievements as compared with others.
If the right ear muscle is weaker than in dyslexic syndrome, the switching on and off creates more severe shifts in mood, creating the condition known as “manic depression” or “bipolarity.” At this level of impairment, the secondary depression is obvious enough to have become part of the label for the condition.
If the switching on and off is severe enough to stop integration, the condition is called “schizophrenia.”
People with dyslexic syndrome may discover chemicals that relax their ear muscles, which increases their emotional, right-brained states of consciousness. This situation makes them feel happier for a while. Alcohol, marijuana, illegal drugs, or certain prescription medications weaken the ear muscles and undermine left-brain dominance to create those sustained, right-brain “highs.” Those chemicals weaken the ear muscles in both ears, of course, making the person’s sound-energy flows weaker to both sides of the brain.
By the time the negative side effects of those chemicals on the ear muscles have become frightening, the person has no more ear control over abusing them. This condition is addiction to their artificial means of achieving an intensely emotional, right-brained state of consciousness interpreted as “happiness.”
Daniel was about 11 years old when he fell into despair over ever achieving the type of relationship with his parents, teachers, and others that his siblings enjoyed without difficulty or that his siblings had with one another. He became rebellious and sad. The more often he failed over the next few years, the more vulnerable he became to artificial, chemical happiness. Nothing we did as parents to bridge the gaps seemed to be enough. He required far more attention than our other children, which made them feel neglected. By the age of 15, he was addicted to alcohol, marijuana, and hallucinogens. His behaviour had become harmful to himself and to others.
Within a few days of Daniel’s Tomatis Method listening treatment, he became calm, happy, able to communicate comfortably with adults, and pleased with the “reborn” person he had become. He was no longer shy, withdrawn, or ashamed of his former limitations. He gained the sense of balance that allowed him to stand erect, sit up straight, write legibly, draw images as they appeared in focus, remain attentive, and sleep soundly.
Unfortunately, none of us realized that his ears needed much longer treatment to achieve normal tonus (muscle strength and flexibility). When his listening program stopped after the usual 10 days recommended by the Tomatis Method practitioners, he rapidly lost left-brain dominance and crashed into schizophrenia. It took 10 years for me to sort through all the issues, including a drastic reduction in medication, to discover that the cure for his schizophrenia was to strengthen the right ear muscle with high-frequency music. We learned that Focused Listening must be used longitudinally, i.e., for months, in cases of severe ear muscle damage, until the ear muscle is strong enough to perform well consistently. Daniel followed up Focused Listening with frequent sessions of amplified, binaural listening, which synchronized his left ear with his right ear.
