My name is Freeman and I suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), or electro-sensitivity for short. This means electric and magnetic fields harm me.
These fields are generated by all wireless technologies including cell phone towers, cell phones, wireless routers, cordless phones, computers, Bluetooth earbuds, fit bits, and all "smart" technology such as smart speakers, TVs, printers, smart meters and so on. These fields are also generated by all electrical appliances like refrigerators, furnaces, fuse boxes, lamps, and all of the wiring that provides electricity to these appliances such as powerlines and the electrical wiring in our homes and businesses.
HOW DO I KNOW I HAVE EHS?
When I moved into a condo in downtown Minneapolis I started getting the same kind of headache I'd get when I held a cell phone up to my head, which made me initially suspect it had something to do with electromagnetic radiation.
In addition to the headaches, I would also become extremely fatigued, unmotivated, confused, forgetful, and be unable to think or remember things. My mood was depressed, impatient, and angry. I'd get waves of nausea. There was a constant ringing in my ears.
Although I had planned to live in the condo for a year, I had to get out of there after only a few weeks. By the end of my time there, my entire nervous system was buzzing with an aggressive, unpleasant, and hostile-feeling energy that had me panicked and looking for an escape. This fear was compounded by my having an addled mind that found it hard to think creatively or make decisions.
During the few weeks that I lived there, I noticed how my symptoms improved while I was walking the dog down by the river, or away from the condo for any reason. It was also clear that the symptoms worsened the longer I was at the condo.
Since then, I have purchased three expensive meters to measure electromagnetic fields (EMF) and Radiofrequency fields (RF) and confirmed that the level of radiation I was experiencing at the condo was very high compared to what I am used to at my parents' home in the suburbs.
However, since my experience at the condo, I now am intolerant of all fields, and I have been unable to stay at my parents' house because the wireless pollution there is intolerable even after we stopped using cell phones, turned off our wifi router and switched over to ethernet for our computers, and started using landline corded phones.
At the house, there is still significant background radiation and a very high voltage pulse every 15 seconds which I suspect is coming from one of our utility meters. Even though the readings at home are far lower than at the condo, my reactions are equally strong because now I'm so sensitive.
The clincher for me that I have EHS is that, at times, I can feel when I am in an environment that has Wi-Fi, and even when those around me have their cell phones on.
I recently gave a training at a Church that was willing to turn off their Wi-Fi while I was there. I asked each attendee to turn off their cell phone and they were willing to comply. While my co-trainer was speaking I felt the Wi-Fi-induced dementia and pain in my head.
Before I started speaking, I said, "I'm sorry. I'm having a difficult time thinking because it feels like someone still has their cell phone on. Could you please double-check and make sure your cell phone is powered down?"
They all got out their cell phones and then I could feel the relief that they were now off. Although the cell phone hangover lingered, there was at least no new damage being done.
This incident made me realize that when I asked people to "turn off their cell phone," they may interpret it to mean "turn off your cell phone ringer." Now I ask people to put their cell phone in airplane mode or "power down their cell phone."
Later in the day, two church volunteers entered the sanctuary to fulfill their duties and the headaches and Wi-Fi induced dementia returned. Ultimately, I excused myself from the training and asked the volunteers to power down their cell phones.
To summarize, I can now use the severity and painfulness of my symptoms to estimate the intensity of EMF and RF in my environment, and testing by the meters confirms my general estimates. This is why, I can say with confidence that I suffer from EHS.
WIRELESS: THE INVISIBLE THREAT
Experts in the field estimate that 3% of the population are hypersensitive, like me. However, the evidence shows that electro-pollution impacts everyone, whether hypersensitive or not.
In 2007, an international group of scientists and public health policy experts from the United States, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, and China called the Bioinitiative Working Group, released a 650-page report citing more than 2,000 studies that detail the toxic effects of EMF and RF pollution. You can find the report online at bioinitiative.org.
They found chronic exposure to the radiation from cell phones and wifi can cause cancer, impair immunity, contribute to Alzheimer's disease and dementia, heart disease, depression and numerous other illnesses. RF also causes headaches, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, asthma, digestive problems, allergies, abdominal pains, and other common complaints that negatively impact our lives.
According to an article on prevention.com, "Members of the European Union, which has led the way on EMF investigations, are moving quickly to protect their citizens, particularly children and pregnant women.… France, Germany, and England have dismantled wireless networks in schools and public libraries, and other countries are pressing to follow suit. Israel has banned the placement of cellular antennae on residences, and Russian officials have advised against cell phone use for children under 18."
ELECTROSMOG IS THE NEW SMOKING
However in the United States, it is business as usual. The FCC created a maximum permissible exposure limit for radio frequencies in the 1990s. Thus, the standard was set long before the explosion of cell phones and wireless technology invaded our homes, workplaces, and communities and it does not take into account the thousands of research studies that have been conducted since its creation.
Moreover, the standard arose from the faulty assumption that the only damage RF can cause is from overheating our tissues like a microwave oven. The FCC recommends no more than 1000 micro watts per centimeter squared of RF. In contrast, based on the thousands of studies investigating the impact of RF on human health and well-being, the bioinitiative report recommends .003 micro watts per centimeter squared.
Scientists raised the alarm against smoking, DDT, asbestos, PCBs, the DES pill, and scores of other health problems, while the industry obscures the health risks. The result? No meaningful change happens until after much human tragedy resulted.
Wireless pollution is the new smoking which our country and our communities ignore at the peril of our family's and our community's health.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REDUCE YOUR EXPOSURE
Here are some tips to get you started:
Get a landline and make most of your calls from it with a corded phone.
Keep your cell phone in airplane mode when not in use.
Never put your cell phone next to your body or by your head.
Use wired Internet, a wired home security system, and wired entertainment system instead of wireless. If you do use Wi-Fi, plug it in only when needed and disconnect it during other times, especially while sleeping.
Do not allow your children to use a cell phone, unless it's an emergency.
There is much more one can do to limit their exposure to wireless pollution, but this list will get you started.
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT ME
Being hypersensitive, it is best for me to avoid all wireless and electromagnetic exposure. The more I am exposed to it, the weaker I get and the more mentally incapacitated I get. Some days I only get a few productive hours before I am too exhausted or too incapacitated to function.
My health and well-being depends on your compassion and kindness. Here's what you can do to help.
If you plan to meet me, please put your phone in airplane mode before we meet.
If you need to use your phone while we are together, please let me know and I will leave the area. Wait for me to move 200 feet away before taking your phone out of airplane mode.
Please do not take offense if I ask you if your cell phone is off. I have found that many well-meaning friends who want to support me forget to do this when they meet with me.
If you invite me over to your house:
Please turn off your wireless router and all devices that communicate with your wireless router. This includes computers, printers, entertainment systems, and more. All these "smart" devices act like little cell towers sending out signals in search of Wi-Fi.
Don't be offended if I bring my meter readers, measure your space, and make suggestions on ways we can limit the electro-pollution while I am there. This may include unplugging all appliances from the wall, turning off power strips filled with devices, and so on.
Sometimes this pollution is coming from outside of the house, and nothing you can easily do from the inside will stop it. In these cases, I may have to leave. Please do your best to understand and have patience with me and my condition.
I completely understand if this is too much to ask of you. If so, we can meet another time at a location that I already know to be safe.
As you can imagine, just from reading the above, my illness not only incapacitate me in many ways, it also isolates me and prevents me from engaging in the wider world.
Where can I go and be safe? The best locations I have found is a few public parks, and yet in these parks you find people with cell phones, low-flying airplanes, and other sources of wireless pollution that make me feel like someone is wringing lobes of my brain like a dirty dish rag whenever they get near.
LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING
One challenging aspect of this illness is that I both look, and often sound, like a healthy and thriving person. People find it hard to believe how disabled and incapacitated I truly am.
For starters, this illness is so isolating, that being around others does naturally boost my mood. It's a rare treat that I enjoy.
In addition, I have always been a fan of Gandhi and his wisdom that those who harp on their woes, multiplies them manifold. Thus, I avoid complaining, and use my mindfulness tools to remain peaceful despite the difficulties, and kind despite the pain. (Not always successfully, but better now than I was when this illness became so severe.)
Talking about my condition with others is frustrating, complicated, and tricky on many levels. I am living hour by hour, and I don't know a lot. I lack information on this issue, and my failing memory can't remember the details. Because this is all so new, I'm not entirely sure what my needs are, or even what I plan to do tomorrow, let alone next week.
Talking about this with others needlessly depresses me, so I tend to talk about other, lighter subjects and laugh about goofy things to avoid the topic. This again, can give the impression that I am thriving and all is fine.
What you don't see are the hours of sleeping, meditating, resting in the park, and other restorative practices necessary to rally for the few hours of productive work or socializing I try to squeeze out of each day. Nor do you see the hours needed to recuperate from the impact of being around people and the technologies of the world.
Of course, sleeping, meditating, and resting in the park sound delightful don't they? But most of this is accompanied with a mental stupor, physical exhaustion, and significant helpings of pain. During these times, my awareness is trapped in a body and mind that no longer have the capacities and abilities that I have been used to enjoying for most of my life.
After hours of rest and avoidance of Wi-Fi, I get an hour or two of mental clarity and bodily health each day and I try to use that limited time to the best of my abilities. But there's only so much that can be done in that amount of time.
Given my limited time, please forgive me as I am having to neglect email, phone calls, letters, and invitations of all kinds. My situation is more dire than I realized in the beginning.
WHAT'S NEXT?
I don't know. There's 1,000,001 things that could be done or need to be done. But I can't do them on my own. Thankfully, my parents are doing what they can to help me and my friend Christy has been an angel helping me with everything. Many many others have shown me love and support too. Thank you. I can’t do any of this without you and your support.
I am putting my faith in what I know to be true, that all of my experiences are here to serve my higher self. I pray ceaselessly that my pain may be used for my awakening and for the benefit and welfare of all beings and all life.
I remember that my essential nature is healthy, strong, eternal, and invincible, and that I have nothing to fear about the dissolution and death of this body. But while this body is alive, it is my duty to try and care for, love, and defend this body and mind for my wellbeing and for the benefit and welfare of all life. I will continue to do this with your help and the help of all those who are willing and able. Thank you!
Wishing you boundless love, peace, compassion, and joy,
Freeman
7-27-2019