The oven burner represents the STRESS, TRAUMA, ABUSE (child or domestic/intimate partner and includes physical, verbal, emotional, psychological, sexual, neglect,  rejection, abandonment and excessive yelling) and  ADVERSITY (in childhood, adolescence or adulthood), and the INTENSE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS and mental anguish that accompany all these events.  These can and often do cause system malfunction, depending on factors such as type, level of emotional arousal during the event, time frame, frequencies of the traumatic event/events and the coping abilities of the specific individual (including level of alexithymia) at the time and their current situation and environment (peaceful and conducive to healing versus abusive) and the vulnerability of certain bodily systems in an individual.  The heat that the burner is putting out represents “inflammation”.   The more these “external factors” (stress, trauma, abuse, rejection, neglect, etc.) are “attacking’ you or have in the past, the more likely inflammation is to grow and continue.  This can become chronic where inflammation (the heat) continues to increase and when it becomes severe enough, it develops into an AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE!!!  INFLAMMATION IS WHAT DRIVES THESE DISEASES!   

        Victims of trauma, abuse and adversity tend to have hyperactive and hypersensitive Central Nervous Systems as a result of such events.  Regardless if the abuse is physical, verbal, emotional, psychological, sexual, neglect or rejection, THE BODY REACTS THE SAME WAY!   These “threats” set off the “fight, flight or freeze” response which is a survival mechanism built into our older more primitive parts of the brain- the limbic system, (also known as our “emotional brain”), specifically the amygdala.  The amygdala is responsible for warning us about possible dangers we may encounter in our surroundings and when it detects danger, it activates the body’s “stress response” (fight/flight/freeze) to allow us to fight or flee, and sometimes freeze.  These “danger”signals the amygdala detects, can be registered from all the senses, even from our own thoughts, memories and nightmares. When the “stress response” is activated, nerve impulses are triggered and stress hormones are activated.  These drive up heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen intake, which create excess energy, strength and oxygen capacity to fight or flee.  During these times of extreme emotions, the “Vagus Nerve” (formerly referred to as the “pneumogastric nerve”) is activated, which communicates bi-directionally with the heart, mind and gut (stomach/ intestines/microbiome). This nerve is crucial in the control and expression of emotions in animals and humans.  Also, the very important Vagus Nerve uses “mirror neurons” to detect the safety or danger of the people and places around us, which then relays a corresponding message internally, to places such as gut microbiome, to make adjustments. When someone experiences strong negative emotions, it is not only registered in the mind, heart and gut, but is also registered viscerally (with all of our senses).  Think about the pain in your gut and heart when someone you love dies. You can actually physically “feel” the pain of loss in your body.  It’s horrible, is it???  Normally, after the trauma, threat or danger has passed, hormone levels and bodily systems return to normal.  However, in a person who has been traumatized, these stress hormones take much, much longer to return to baseline levels and disproportionately and rapidly rise in response to even mildly stressful events and situations.  These constantly elevated hormones, (namely adrenaline and cortisol) coursing through a person’s body begin to cause damage. Damage from the constant surge of stress hormones usually begin to manifest as problems with sleep, mood (irritability), and with concentration, memory, attention and the person may begin having issues with anxiety and or depression, heart flutters or palpitations, acid indigestion, nausea, stomach or intestinal issues, and muscle stiffness/pain.   Symptoms during this stage may be anywhere from a “nuisance” to significantly affecting daily life.  The person may or may not seek medical attention for their symptoms.  The amygdala at this point is keeping you in “survival mode”, instead of  “rest and digest’ mode that we should normally be in.

       The traumatized person’s mind might learn to ignore or even deny these ‘faulty” danger messages which are continuing to be sent from the limbic system, but the amygdala still keeps sounding the alarm bells and setting off the “stress response’ throughout the body.   When this continues to happen, organs and systems including the HPA Axis, and the immune system become faulty.   Stress hormones start to turn your immune system into a more “pro-inflammatory state”.   Many studies have shown that levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (inflammation causing), such as IFN-y, TNF-a, IL-17,IL-6,  in the plasma, and increased levels of inflammatory Th17 and immune stimulatory Th1 cells in the blood.  There is also a decrease in inhibitory cytokines and proinflammatory mediators, which control and decrease inflammation).   This newly out of balance immune system kicks off the inflammatory process within the body.   This is what I call the “pre-autoimmune disease” state, where inflammation has become insidious and your body is “percolating” an autoimmune disease.   This is where symptoms are moderate to severe and are affecting your quality of life.  This stage is where you start hearing diagnosis such as; Fibromyalgia, PTSD, IBS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Thyroid issues/disorders, Leaky Gut, clinical depression, adrenal issues, moodiness, anger issues, asthma, migraines, CPRS,  gluten sensitivity, myalgias, joint and muscle pain and more. Blood work may show no, to very little to moderate inflammation in blood markers such as CRP (C-reactive protein) and SED rate.   The farther in this stage you are, the more inflammation the blood markers will reflect.  You may even waffle back and forth between a “negative” and borderline “positive” on the ANA titer test, which detects and measures the amount of antinuclear antibodies in your blood (detects autoimmune disease).   This is very dangerous territory not only because of the level of inflammation in your body but because of the fact that these symptoms are starting to take a physical, emotional, social and financial toll.   This can easily increase depression and anxiety which both feed the developing disease and in turn inflammation drives the depression and anxiety.   A VICIOUS CYCLE has begun, that can be difficult to get out of and it is usually during this stage that antibodies are able to start being detected and an autoimmune disease develops and takes over.  THIS IS THE POINT WHERE IT CAN ALL SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL!!!🌪🌪🌪

        Unfortunately many doctors, including Rheumatologists consider these “pre-autoimmune diseases” as a separate illness from full blown autoimmune diseases and refuse to treat them as such.  I went to a new Rheumatologist recently because my last one retired and during my first visit, I was told that I needed to go to my primary care physician to have my Fibromyalgia treated.   He immediately wanted to get me started on a heavy duty TOXIC  immunosuppressant medication for my SLE (Lupus).   I told the doctor that since I now know what caused my illnesses (domestic abuse from a 30 year marriage), I am going to try healing therapies specific for such traumas, such as limbic system therapy, somatic movement therapy, and maybe some EMDR. (all standard healing protocols for trauma based illnesses)   He looked at me like he didn’t understand a word I was saying.   I wasn’t speaking “French”, I was just speaking “PSYCHOLOGY” ,”INTERPERSONAL NEUROBIOLOGY”, and a little” NEUROSCIENCE” ’for the most part.  I could see the wheels turning in his head but he just didn’t get it.   After a long pause, he clapped his hands together and wished me good luck.   Needless to say, I never went back!

         For more information on this subject, please take a look at my “SCIENCE” section!   For more information on Domestic/Child abuse and violence”, and “Abusers” (namely narcissists, sociopaths,, psychopaths (antisocial personality disorder) please take a look at those sections as well.  Thank you so much for reading.  For more information on this process, please check out my articles below.   

                                                                    Thank you and happy healing!!!💐