QUANTUM HURTING
WHERE AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES AND OTHER SPIRITUAL ILLNESSES LIE IN WAIT
MISSION STATEMENT
To explain, explore and incorporate the true root cause of why our bodies become ill with autoimmune diseases and pre autoimmune diseases, specifically, beyond our body’s own chemistry and at the quantum level where it truly all begins. We are all made up of energy, frequency and vibration,, which makes us susceptible to another’s energy as well as the energy of an immediate environment or situation. We are spiritual beings residing in these physical bodies. Quantum Physics and related fields, have evolved enough that scientists have been able to measure and quantify the energy at this level, and are therefore able to study it in a meaningful way. Each of us has a “biofield”, an electromagnetic field surrounding us, sometimes referred to as an “aura” in some religions and parts of the world, that is affected by the incoming energy. Both positive and negative energy, frequencies, and vibrations are at play. It is the specific negative energy from a loved one or significant other which, if severe enough or chronic enough, begins to cause a cascade of metabolic and chemical reactions in the body that cause it to fall out of homeostasis and into disease. Body components such as mitochondria, (our spiritual wifi /antennas), mirror neurons, (our neural wifi), vagus nerve, and processes such as interoception, proprioception, and alexithymia play a crucial role in this process, as well as, the decoherence of quantum physical systems during the metabolic process leading to increased inflammation in the body. I believe that the quantum field is where the missing answers are when it comes to the true cause of these specific illnesses. In the context of an abuser/victim dynamic, in the development of these specific illnesses, this can be broken down to the age old fight between evil vs good. The spirit/soul of the abuser is attempting to injure and maybe even annihilate its less submissive and powerful and often times harmless, victim, all for personal gain. It is a battle which begins at the spiritual level, within the quantum field and if this is the case, does it not make the manifestation of physical autoimmune diseases a SPIRITUAL ILLNESS of sorts??? This is what I believe these illnesses truly are and where they begin.
I have chosen the name “QUANTUM HURTING”, as the name of my new website and book because I believe “quantum hurting” is the area of the quantum field which holds the negative energy that is created and delivered to us, so it is within this area where autoimmune diseases lie in wait. In this case, autoimmune diseases do not cause your immune system to get “confused” and start attacking your own body, as previously thought. The body is getting attacked externally, so internally it is taking orders and following suit. It is not confused at all, It. Knows. Exactly. What. It. Is. Doing. It is being sent an external message for self hatred and annihilation so it starts to “believe it” and mimics that message internally. The volatile emotion of anger, which is a secondary emotion to other primary emotions such as fear, is a big player in this process. I also explore successful healing therapies and modalities, notably- in the emerging field of “QUANTUM HEALING”, including the practice of biohacking. (The process of using mainly nutrition, nutrients and lifestyle to strategically “hack” and therefore alter genes.
QUANTUMHURTING.COM
Coming soon!
INTRODUCTION;
I was reading about quantum healing and how it is not just about the intentional healing of ourselves but also the intentional healing of others, collectively as a whole, our communities, cities, countries and the entire global community, using energy frequency and vibration. As I was reading, I had one of my thunderstruck epiphanies, as I have had numerous times during this journey. True downloads, I call them because I KNOW they are not coming from me….If there is a quantum healing that exists, then doesn’t it stand to reason that there would be a 180* degree opposite… a “quantum hurting” of sorts (just as all things have inversions of themselves) that precedes the “need” to heal? If so, this is the area I’m interested in because that is where autoimmune diseases lie in wait and nobody talks about this area. Quantum Hurting can be explained as, an act, place of, or timeframe, where this injury takes place. This area explains how the energy/frequency and vibration of another person’s words, actions, etc. be it passive or aggressive, can absolutely change the biofield and therefore their target person’s chemical metabolism, causing real dysregulation leading to inflammation in the immune system and eventually autoimmune disease. This process sets off a cascade of negative effects, especially in the central nervous system, (think Vagus Nerve), the musculoskeletal system, HPA Axis, as well as mentally and spiritually. Quantum Hurting can also been seen as, the cumulative physical effects of the negative energy, frequency and vibrations (either intentional or unintentional) exerted/projected by one person to another.
The idea behind “Quantum Healing”, a term coined by none other than, Dr. Deepak Chopra, himself, is that it, “describes how our thoughts beliefs and attitudes affect the way we experience illness and the health in our lives. It is grounded in the notion of interconnectedness. It operates on the principle that everything is connected in the universe, including our bodies, and is connected at the fundamental level. This interconnectedness implies that changes in one part of the system, either purposeful, or accidental, (like our energy/biofield), can have far reaching and profound effects on the whole system and in turn, our overall health.” (awakendandalign.com/article-What Is Quantum Healing and How Does It Work?)
In the book, “Quantum Healing”, Dr. Deepak Chopra, MD., introduces this term as “a way to explain certain types of sudden and dramatic healing of the human body, such as the spontaneous remissions, and healing from illnesses that were thought to be incurable or a “death sentence”, that are not understood by conventional/western medicine.” This spontaneous healing happened to ME! Once the offending source was removed from my immediate environment and with little more that just some new found hope and peace, I was no longer testing positive for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, nor were my inflammatory markers (SED rate and CRP) showing excessive or even moderate inflammation! I was feeling so much better! Now, at the time, I did not know that it was this removal of the offending source, new found hope and inner peace that were automatically healing me without me even realizing it. That is right, it wasn’t until after I started healing that I went on this enormous journey to educate my self to have an understanding of what happened to me. After discovering the newer sciences that are able to explain this process, a whole new world opened up for me!
In the book, Chopra goes on to discuss his belief- “these extraordinary , but few forms of healing are related to the understandings of quantum physics and consciousness. Just as quantum physics aims to describe physical phenomena normally hidden at the subatomic level, so quantum healing is a directed to healing at that level a well.”
Chopra talks about how the “quantum level is the smallest most fundamental scale of the energy and matter in the entire universe.” So it is at this level that Deepak postulates shifts and alterations can be made, which heal the body. In other words, “this concept suggests that purposeful alterations in our energy field (biofield) can directly influence our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.”
It is within this fact that I can validate and make a solid case for the existence of the opposite- “quantum hurting”- the negative energy/freq/vibe, place, act of, process, as well as the cumulative effect of it. Simply put, if there are positive energies/freq/vibes out there and they have the ability to create positive effects and therefore outcomes, then the same would be true of the negative energies out there.
After I had this little (big?!?) epiphany/download, I had another quick download that told me to “trademark, the term, “Quantum Hurting” and secure the domain name”, so I did both! The universe knows what it’s doing…
🎆FIRST ENTRY FOR QUANTUM HURTING🎆
Here it is, October 18, 2023 and now I understand why “something” was blocking me from returning to my book writing, which I left off in 2019, I remember wanting to get back to it but every time I’d look over at my writing nook, it’s like there was a big brick wall there blocking my access to it. I could see it in my head, a big gray wall…cinder block to be exact.
That didn’t really make much sense to me at the time, all I knew is that “something” was preventing me from simply, physically walking over to my writing nook, where my desk was located, sitting down and resuming. Weird! Never in my wildest could I imagine what that reason might end up being. It was actually a tremendous realization! Now I know the “WHY” and how that all ties into the big picture of what my book is about, the direction I want to take it, and the many messages it is trying to convey and the newer sciences I am helping to introduce. Had I continued where I left off at the time (approx. 5 yrs ago), I would have missed what I believe to be the absolute under-pinning of the “root cause” of WHY people really develop auto immune diseases. Let me repeat that, I am not just talking about identifying the root cause of these full blown auto immune diseases but going much deeper than that and identifying the “why” behind your body’s reaction to trauma/adversity, in the first place, especially when the offender is a parent, family member or trusted superior and the abuse is sustained over a prolonged period of time. I looked to the quantum field. It was here that I found my answers. The quantum field, specifically the Quantum Hurting part (180* opposite of Quantum Healing), is where auto immune diseases lie in wait. It’s the place where science, religion and spirituality all intersect and we are learning more about it everyday.
I think at this point, most of us have learned that auto immune diseases are driven by inflammation. OK, but what is “initiating and driving” such a massive amount of inflammation (and what’s causing that , by the way) that your body switches into “self-attack/self betrayal” mode? It’s not because you’re eating too many fries or not exercising enough or being too sedentary. Sure, those things can cause and exacerbate inflammation but not the massive amount and type that it takes to brew up these internal storms known as autoimmune diseases. Well, so far, I have researched toxic materials and metals such as; lead and none of those studies clearly show a cause and effect relationship between any of those and the sustained illness of a full blown autoimmune disease. There are correlations/associations, but no distinct causation listed in any of those studies. I’ll go even a step further by adding that not only is there not a clear cause and effect relationship established but none of those studies properly controlled for trauma/abuse/adversity within their test subjects (which turns out to be the biggest cause of these illnesses after the fact). So doesn’t that make those studies inherently flawed and therefore invalid anyway?!?
Since I couldn’t write the last few years, due to a severe case of writer’s block, I kept my self very busy. I went to real estate school and am now selling new homes for a major builder in a new community here in Southern Arizona. I knew writing, publishing and marketing a book would be very costly so I needed a way to fund my venture! I also ended up absolutely loving my new career and company and in the meantime, I continued my truth finding journey….What I learned was astonishingly deep. Because of my personal experiences and previous research, I had learned that when an individual develops an auto immune illness from the abuse/trauma of a loved one, specifically their caretakers, their “spirit/soul” becomes damaged and eventually broken, as a result the body begins developing the same overall set of symptoms, which eventually end up as a full blown auto immune disease. A psychoanalyst researching abuse in children, by the name of, William Niederland, developed the term “soul murder” as the effect it had on its young victims. An effect that was the “erasing awareness and cultivating denial are often seen as essential to survival, but the price is that you lose track of who you are, of what you are feeling, and of what and whom you can trust.” Not to mention, that is exactly what it feels like. That always stuck with me because that is exactly what the perpetrator/abuser is doing (on purpose). They are trying to badly injure and even kill your spirit, your very essence and therefore soul. Their abuse is designed to get you to try to doubt yourself and then hate yourself and make you believe you have all types of deficiencies and are therefore bad or faulty. They want to breed self directed anger, dislike and hatred, within you. Now being very spiritual, I came to a massive realization that with the above in mind, does that not make auto immune diseases SPIRITUAL AILMENTS/ILLNESSES, FIRST, before they even physically manifest?!? Hmmmm….
During this time, I also had to come to the harsh realization that there is an awful lot of evil in this world. No, I mean deep dark evil that goes beyond anything we could have ever imagined. And it is real and it is powerful. Those that partake literally enjoy imparting harm and destruction on good, God loving and innocent people and watching their pain, may times with a twinkle in their eye. Now with that in mind, doesn’t that sound an awful lot like attempts to purposefully annihilate someone’s spirit and inner happiness? That is actually the overall big picture dynamic of the Good vs evil war, isn’t it?
Maybe we need to do less needle injections and pill popping and work on modalities that heal and nurture that badly broken spirit and soul, such as, positive affirmations, long walks in nature, light yoga, stretching, self-care activities, purposeful and restorative nutrition (biohacking), restoring your positive self image and self talk and possibly most important of all-self LOVE. Forgiveness is also an incredible healer as well. Bottom up type therapies are very effective. Much of this is what helped me spontaneously heal, unknowingly at first, until I noticed it. I only started investigated when I mysteriously began to heal after my divorce from a marriage of almost 30 yrs.
Then I dove even deeper…I wanted to know about the worst of the worst, what the most depraved psychopaths are capable of and sadly I learned about the horrific systematic ritual abuse of children. Done in the name of Gods that most of us don’t pray to. Abuse beyond imagination that is designed to “split” the child’s psyche. Done for the purpose of greatly increasing the likelihood of the victim developing multiple personality disorders, etc. Abused to the point that when they look in the mirror, they no longer recognize themselves! On a deeper level, these spirits have been so obliterated (on purpose), that they NO LONGER RECONGIZE THE PERSON STARING BACK AT THEM IN THE MIRROR! Sounds like an awful lot of spirit and soul murder going on here. At the very least, this is a spiritual crisis of epic proportions that goes back to the basic fundamental battle between good and evil. The perpetrator is never good, well intentioned or having your best interests in mind but rather, intentionally tear you down and then revel in the pain you’re enduring in a sadistic way with little to no remorse. They watch, very pleased with themselves, as you are reduced to nearly nothing. This has EVIL written all over it, while quite the opposite is true of the victim. They are usually children or at the very least, vulnerable or meek and terribly overpowered by no fault of their own. “God’s” sweet little angels sent from heaven, ya?!? The central nervous system and immune system can only make sense of such an opposing and insidious intrusion into itself by going into fight or flight, which in turn begins the process of creating a pro-inflammatory environment within the immune system which in turn begins to attack the body. Yes, the body betrays itself. It self. SELF. THE SELF. But it is not confused. It takes that corresponding message inward and starts mimicking what it’s been enduring on the outside but inwardly directed at that new/stranger that it now dislikes and maybe even despises. Probably not the first time you’ve heard that notion. The spirit and essence of that child has been so battered that it no longer recognizes itself as “itself”. It now becomes part self and part stranger, especially to the immune system, which now identifies this “stranger” element/ invader, an antagonist, if you will, within us that it feels it must attack it and continue a prolonged and ongoing attack.
I believe this makes autoimmune diseases both a paradox and a living contradiction. paradox because it truly defies logical and expectations. A contradiction because the body contradicts itself. Betrays itself because part of it has become alien, an intruder. Part something that the “whole” doesn’t like/want and this certainly can get much worse.
Now I have a question for you-which emotion can we usually associate with betrayal? We would feel a level of sadness, bitter, etc ultimately leading to the big bad emotion of Anger. Yes, now we are on to something! Could it be that the person being beaten down begins to believe and therefore internalize the messages being fed to them by their perpetrator? You’re a terrible person, you are worthless, If you had done that then I wouldn’t have had to do this, I wish you were never born and worse, much, much, much worse. The victim starts taking on this hatred for self and begins the bitter descent into self-disgust, self-disappointment, and eventual full blown self-hatred because I can tell you that the perpetrator WANTS YOU TO START DISTRUSTING AND HATING YOURSELF. Evil trumping good, on a spiritual level. And because we are spiritual beings made of vibration, frequency and energy, manifested as the human body, it does cause malfunctions in the body. OF COURSE, IT DOES! This all eventually manifests into the set of symptoms they call auto immune diseases. They don’t start out as full blown autos, however, they like to creep up on you disguised as such things as Fibromyalgia, IBS, PTSD, Thyroid issues, chronic fatigue syndrome and other gut/GI issues, muscle pain/stiffness, headaches and the like. As the inflammation increase in the immune system, things worsen, and disease develops.
THE CHAIN OF EVENTS (In progress-New components added weekly!)
How negative energy/frequency & vibration from the quantum field/a person's biofield, is transferred to another's biofield and affects their body chemistry enough to cause inflammation and autoimmune diseases, specifically.
1.) THE QUANTUM FIELD
2.) THE BIOFIELD
3.) INTEROCEPTION
4.) METABOLISM
5.) INFLAMMATION
6.) AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE
THE QUANTUM FIELD
*Where science, religion, and spirituality all intersect. Where the smallest unit of measurement can be found.
*Where quantum and emotional entanglement takes place.
*The place trauma originates and manifests from. (QUANTUM HURTING).
*Where the invisible energy around us lies in wait to be manifested, either positively or negatively into this 3D universe.
*The ever present field or sea of vibration that permeates the world we exist in-energy at the smallest scales, typically, atoms and subatomic particles are at play.(Medium.com-Article-Quantum Mechanics and Spiritual Consciousness: Navigating the Confluence of Science and Mysticism)
*This higher source of intelligence is what our consciousness taps into through focused thought, meditation and intention, etc. from a spiritual perspective.
*Quantum superposition provides a scientific basis for the above spiritual principle, demonstrating the world is malleable and therefore filled with opportunities to be manifested.
* Quantum entanglement, quantum superposition and the observer effect, demonstrate how quantum physics and spirituality, can relate.
*Spirituality’s place of “Oneness” and profound interconnectedness.
THE BIOFIELD
*Also referred to as the aura, it is an electromagnetic field which extends about 5 feet outward from the body itself. It sustains life and interacts with other energies, both positive and negative. The biofield holds emotions (emotional energy) and manipulates the chemical and metabolic reactions in our bodies.
*The point where the body intakes the energy and decides whether or not to accept, reject, deflect, absorb or transmute it.
*Mirror neurons and mitochondria scan this and surroundings to detect the outside environment for how to react internally at the chemical level. If detecting danger, it can cause trauma to the body within the internal systems by causing dysregulation.
*Conduit for information transmission
*Connected to consciousness
INTEROCEPTION
*Our “8th sense”
* The internal feelings we experience which is the foundation for our emotions.
*The point where the being/body has accepted the energy and begins to internalize it in the form of chemical and metabolic changes.
*Emotions driving this process are sadness, anger, hopelessness and even deep unfamiliar emotions difficult or unable to identify and process (Alexithymia)
*The driving forces behind the above detrimental emotions are usually major life circumstance, traumas and adversities, such as the loss of a loved one, especially when sudden and expected, partial or total loss of the soul/spirit and disharmony within one’s self due to conflicting inner values and external behaviors and actions (often times do to the influence of others.)
*Uses mirror neurons, as well as, mitochondria and photons to assess the external environment and scan for any dangers.
*Mirror Neurons- Created by the frontal lobes. Considered “neural wifi” specialized cells in the cortex, which allow a person to “feel into” someone else and their energy. Pick up subtle ques from another’s emotional state, physical movement, and possible underlying true intention. Crucial in healing from trauma/abuse. Help explain empathy, synchrony and imitation. Allows a person to life vicariously thru watching another’s actions. Involved in alexithymia. (TBKTS – pg 58)
*Mitochondria-the Powerhouse of the cell and make energy for cellular processes. Programs cell death (apoptosis affects nearly all metabolic processes). Stores and releases energy.
*The way these “spiritual antennaes” contribute to autoimmune disease, specifically, is that when they become stressed, non functioning or get damaged, they begin to release damaging substances that can cause autoimmune diseases. They not only release their own mtDNA, but also, modified self-antigens, and danger associated molecular patterns (DAMPs).
*People already traumatized will perceive potential danger in their surroundings much more often than those not traumatized, which is problematic and keeps the body in the stress response mode. Perception matters. (Article: Mitochondrial Health: Introducing the “Powerhouse of the Cell)
*This process involves the amygdala, vagus nerve limbic system and the anterior insular cortex, which has shown to help with encoding and the representation of interoceptive information.(Website; elife.com /article-“Anterior Insular Cortex Plays a Critical Role In Interoceptive Attention”.)
*The incoming information during this process is incorporated within and causes chemical changes in the body which effect the metabolism as well as the immune system.
METABOLISM
*Quantum Metabolism-the sum of all the chemical reactions systematically taking place in the body, which break down food molecules into energy to aid in tissue repair and support. (Website; https://www.deepakchopra.com/ video;” How To Stay In Touch With Your Quantum Body”)
*The stage in the process where the internalization of the energies, be it pos. or neg. begin to manifest physically at the smallest levels.
*The de-coherence of quantum physical systems take place. This puts forth a reasonable framework for the appearance of wave-function collapse. Decoherence is needed to understand why a quantum system begins to obey classical probability rules after interacting with its environment.
*Quantum Metabolism takes place-the sum of all chemical reactions that happen inside the body. These reactions break down food molecules into energy and help to build and repair tissue.
*Mitochondria-(coming soon)
*Nano scale molecular motors leads to negative entropy kicking off the chronic stress response, leading to the production of proinflammatory cytokines in the immune system.
INFLAMMATION
*The chronic stress response and the corresponding messages being sent both afferently and efferently, from the vagus nerve to the gut and brain are causing an overload of proinflammatory cytokines to develop within the immune system.
*Before the inflammation begins causing full blown autoimmune diseases, it will cause such illnesses as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, HPA Axis issues as well as IBS, PTSD and gluten sensitivity , to name a few.(At this stage, inflammation is causing physical symptoms but not severe enough to have proinflammatory cytokines develop in the immune system-or not enough to be detected in bloodwork.)
*When inflammation is severe and chronic enough, the immune system will begin to develop antinuclear antibodies for a specific autoimmune disease. (the exact disease developed is believed to have a genetic component, possibly dictated by a systems or genetic weakness.)
*Main corresponding emotions which drive the inflammatory process are mainly ANGER (outward and self directed), also sadness and hopelessness.
AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE
*Once the immune system has started creating antinuclear antibodies for a specific autoimmune disease, it will begin its internal attack on the body. The immune system targets specific systems, organs, etc. depending on which disease develops.
*Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, tends to attack both the joints as well as organs, namely the kidneys and liver. Rheumatoid Arthritis tends to attack the joints as well and can also attack internal organs. Multiple Sclerosis tends to attack the myelin sheaths that protect nerves, and so on…
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NEW ARTICLES COMING SOON!
THE NEUROCHEMISTRY OF EMOTIONS
How emotions affect our bodies at the chemical level.
(Excerpt from book-QUANTUM HURTING)
Emotions occur as neurochemical reactions in our bodies which are felt as abstract internal sensations. Our “8th sense”, interoception, actually determines which state or “feeling”, we will experience and is the seat of our emotions. These sensations then direct us or motivate us in a specific way. Especially in higher order animals, such as “us”, this internal emotional signaling serves as a prompt to modify behavior to benefit the survival and “thrival” of the person. A simple example of this would be fleeing when you sense a dangerous person or situation nearby (or a bear or man in the woods, which seems to have social media perplexed right now as to which is scarier). This tells us that emotions are a crucial component and contributor in learning, decision making and future behaviors, by appropriately categorizing them as either positive or negative and then modifying and adjusting our beliefs and behaviors accordingly.
There are 5 basic emotions that have been studied to some extent. They are happiness, fear, anger, love, and sadness.
HAPPINESS, which can mean different things to different people, and is no doubt subjective, can ultimately be seen as the absence of negative emotions and fear as well as the ongoing process of desiring, reward seeking, and experiencing pleasure. A pretty odd way to think about happiness!
The actual chemicals, hormones, and neurotransmitters that come into play when a state of happiness is obtained, are, oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and endorphins.
Oxytocin, sometimes referred to as the “love hormone”, is a peptide hormone (has a shorter amino acid chain than protein hormones), is created in the hypothalamus and released into the bloodstream when engaging in friendly, loving , and bonding type activities and behaviors such as hugging and kissing. It can also be released through music and exercise. Oxytocin allows for increased empathy and trust, which helps to facilitate deeper and more long lasting relationships, both platonic as well as intimate. This hormone also creates a calmness within the nervous system and helps to lower stress and anxiety.
Dopamine, often referred to as the “pleasure hormone” is a big driver of happiness from a pleasure, motivation, and reinforcement perspective. Meaning, happiness can be achieved by way of those 3 components. When there is a deficiency, or when it is inhibited, let’s say for example, by serotonin, it can lead to negative emotional states. Serotonin must regulate as well as inhibit dopamine to an extent in order to ensure addictive behaviors don’t develop since much dopamine is derived from such things as, sex, spending money, smelling and tasting good food and the like.
Serotonin, which was discussed earlier in the article, helps to regulate several emotions, which includes promoting feelings of contentment, confidence and positive self esteem. Estrogen hormones have also been shown to increase serotonin formation.
GABA (Gamma Amino Butyric Acid) is the largest contributor in achieving and maintaining a calm state within the nervous system. This is crucial because the nervous system seems to favor being in a more alert state. This makes sense and is probably a good thing because it causes behavior that is favorable to the person avoiding danger, and unsafe situations, circumstances and people. When the nervous system does become overactive, it manifests as more stressful and negative emotions. Similarly, the hormone. progesterone has the same effect as GABA, in terms of relaxing the nervous system.
Endorphins, are peptide hormones (short chain amino acids), are correlated with pleasurable emotional states and pain relief. Engaging in activities like laughing, exercising, playful activities, being in love, eating chocolate (and supposedly oysters), all release endorphins into the system.
Now we’re getting into inflammation and possible autoimmune disease territory…..
LOVE is a very complex emotion, as it involves many compatible and conflicting feelings and states combined, which makes it a bit of a paradoxical emotional state. The quick and simple explanation is that love can be seen as mainly a combination of pleasure, joy, reward, (components of happiness), attachment and bonding, as well as stress. It also connects the stress centers of the brain to the reward-seeking circuits. NO wonder it causes people to go crazy!
Once we have identified someone specific that makes our “Spidey senses” tingle, and an attraction begins, our stress response is activated to a degree and we are in a stress state. When love is unrequited, (loving someone who doesn’t love you back), it usually results in a degree of anger, then sadness. The reason is because when we first realize that the other person (our reward) is not interested, anger arises because your “reward” has been blocked. After processing some of this, we can move into sadness because we become disheartened and discouraged. We can also turn to self criticizing and punishment as well. (I am not good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, etc.) You know, the usual self beatdowns…
Studies have shown time and time again that love begins as more of a stress response than anything else. As I sat here and thought about very few times I thought I was “in love”, it sure felt stressful. It all makes sense now! Once we have identified someone specific that makes our “Spidey senses” tingle, and an attraction begins, our stress response is activated to a degree and we are in a stress state. This doesn’t sound like a good thing because it involves the word “stress”, but this is a good thing as it motivates us to behave in a way that encourages us to spend time with this person and build a bond and relationship. This also facilitates the anticipation of reward. The more we spend time with this special person, the initial stress response relaxes because the familiarity, comfortability, and trust increases with time. The stress response to love is actually a pleasant one, as the specific neurotransmitters involved in stress are being constantly moderated by ones that promote security and trust. Many studies have shown that when someone suffers from heart ache, a broken heart, or the like, it sets off a cytokine storm in the immune system. This, of course, results in not only massive inflammation within the heart muscle itself but the heart sends out these inflammatory signals throughout the body. Studies have also shown that this specific type of emotional upheaval actually suppresses parts of the immune system. So, not only is massive inflammation circulating around the body and heart, but this state also keeps part of the immune system from helping out and doing its job to its fullest capability. A study done by Ohio State University, showed that people who recently got divorced were more likely to contract and fall ill from viruses such as the Epstein Barr virus. They were also shown to produce less natural killer cells, which are crucial for fighting diseases. We are definitely headed into “pre-autoimmune disease and autoimmune disease territory. here. When any type of prolonged abuse happens between loved ones, such as psychological and emotional, (assaults on the soul and spirit vs. the physical body), child or adult, the intense polarizing emotions of love and hate (the alternating hatred experienced, either for the person or the acts committed), causes massive amounts of inflammation that will eventually manifests physically.
FEAR, (which includes anxiety), happens when we are faced with either a real or perceived specific threat that will require us to either “fight” of “flee”, and sometimes “freeze”, and is a sympathetic nervous response. A swift response is necessary here!
Anxiety, on the other hand, can be described as more of a generalized feeling (in the absence of an external provocation), which usually comes from an internal place of being worried/concerned about a future event and feeds “catastrophizing”, where a person ruminates about the worst possible outcome regardless of how small the probability of it occurring, statistically speaking. Sometimes it happens for no apparent reason. It is for this reason that anxiety is thought to be a product of “fear- based learning”. This means it helps us prepare for possible future negative events by using the brunt of our energy to think about (in this case, ruminating) how we need to modify or adapt to prepare. When this becomes worse in frequency and depth, anxiety disorders begin to manifest.
It appears that through evolution and facing the profound dangers our ancestors had to face on the daily, our waking hours are controlled by the stress hormones. Some level of stress chemicals and hormones are necessary for all emotions. What they do is provide the necessary energy to increase it from its baseline level, in order to motivate the body into taking action. Disproportionately low levels can lead to such feelings as lethargy, boredom, and restlessness. Obviously the opposite happens when there are too many stress chemicals surging throughout the body, it causes stress symptoms and volatile emotional levels.
Whether or not a person interprets an external stimulus as a threat, has much to do with the amygdala. (“the amygdala that cried wolf”). The amygdala plays a crucial role in identifying the threat and the degree of threat. Based on the type of threat, the nervous system will respond accordingly. For example, when faced with what is perceived to be an inescapable threat, the nervous system will typically go into the “freeze” state. When someone is faced with what they perceive to be an escapable and lower level threat, it may provoke their anger and they go into the “fight” response, to fend off the threat.
The neurochemicals that drive fear are mainly, adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol, serotonin, and GABA.
Adrenaline and noradrenaline, in this case, these hormones are the main driver behind the “fight, flight” response, as well as activate the corresponding coping mechanism.
Cortisol, the adrenal hormone that controls our state of arousal and becomes increased when the person perceives danger and the fear response is set in motion.
Serotonin, in context to the fear response, can promote fear in certain parts of the brain while actually inhibiting it in other areas. Serotonin’s role in fear is a regulatory and facilitative one and is partially responsible for the feelings of dislike, avoidance and even disgust, when faced with something perceived as off-putting.
GABA is a neurotransmitter that helps calm and stifle the fear response. If there is too little, it can cause an ongoing feeling of fear and anxiety.
Now we are really getting close to inflammation and autoimmune diseases!
ANGER (including the lesser forms of frustration and irritation), is an emotion that can be a real trouble maker! It can be described as a combination of stress, hostility and usually but not always, aggression. Common associated feelings are disgust, dislike, judgment, dislike, and criticism.
Since the sympathetic stress response is the most studied component of the emotion of anger, we know it has its neurochemical origins from fear. Because fear is seen as a product of “fear-based learning”, anger is taking that one step further, as “an adaptive survival mechanism”, which prompts the person to motivate to defend itself. Because humans have a more advanced nervous system than animals, it allows us the ability to experience anger, process it and dissipate it in a way that does not always lead to physical aggression. The frontal lobes of humans allow us to reason things out and come up with better solutions than aggression.
People can have various things that cause them anger but usually most people become angry when faced with some type of personal or social injustice, bullying, or faced with their dreams, goals, etc. being blocked, stifled or redirected.
When the emotional brain and limbic system are caught in the anger response, our conscious brain has little to no control over it and this can lead to explosive bouts of physical aggression and violence without the person even realizing and feelings of remorse, afterward. Anger usually will dissipate on it’s own by itself but when a person is in this state, their cognitive functions go offline to varying degrees and their mental processing becomes much faster, which allows a person to do a couple of things, either find more reasons to be angry within the situation, (often times with a skewed angry perspective and point of view), especially as it unfolds and the situation progresses. Regardless, the high speed cognitive processing can also allow us to work towards other options besides physical aggression, such as, verbal arguments, and the use of negotiation tactics and strategies. The prefrontal lobes, specifically, allow a person to
A common component of anger but not always, is aggression. It appears to be the result of low emotional control and an increase in the perception of threat, coming from the prefrontal lobe and emotional centers of the brain. The prefrontal lobes allow a person to engage in reflection and re-evaluation of the situation, which allows for real-time behavior modifications and adjustments. If the threat is perceived to be severe enough, however, those emotional control centers in the brain will likely generate the “fight response”.
Frustration as well as irritation, are lesser degrees of anger. Frustration is seen as failed reward seeking attempts usually and irritation is experienced as a generalized version of anger (as anxiety is to fear) and can occur with little to know external provocation. Someone can merely “wake up”, irritated. Possibly from a bad dream or hold over thoughts of negative events.
The neurochemicals involved in anger are mainly, serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline, noradrenaline,
Serotonin-an increase in this neurotransmitter, has been proven to be a main component of anger, especially aggression involving anger.
Dopamine has a role in anger, particularly when the anger is a result of an anticipated reward or goal not being met. This causes a drop in dopamine in relation to serotonin, and when that happens, feelings of frustration, anger and worse can develop.
SADNESS-the simple definition is that emotional reaction to some type of real or perceived “loss” in their life. There is nothing simple about this emotional state, however, as the exact neurochemistry is still being debated upon. The main reason appears to be because sadness can be in relation to varying things like distress, anguish and fear. When faced with a loss of such things as goals, dreams, a career, or a person, it causes a neurological reaction that not only interrupts the reward seeking pathways, but also inhibits feelings such as creating and appreciating humor and engaging in laughter and happiness. Because it has been found to inhibit the reward seeking pathways, it has been theorized that sadness has an evolutionary benefit of making the person remove focus from “not being able to receive that future reward”. This is known as the “sadness theory”.
Interestingly, even though sadness can be linked to other emotional states, it has a distinctive connection to anger, neurologically speaking. Sadness inherently promotes a strong sense of punishment, usually encouraging a strong sense of penalizing and punishment. Mainly self directed, which overlaps with anger, mainly experienced as frustration, in brain regions that sadness shares with anger.
Now, if sadness is also experienced with a profound surprise, such as the common death of a loved one, it can easily send a person into “fight or flight”, which can end up being prolonged and therefore causing increased and ongoing inflammation in the immune system. Intense sadness even modulates the brain in a way that it sends the body a signal to produce real physical pain. This would be why we feel real physical pain, usually in the heart and chest area, when experiencing the sudden loss of a loved one. It can also happen after divorce from a long marriage. Think of it like this, even though we are having these experiences in a physical 3D world, it is the soul and spirit that are profoundly affected here, so of course it is going to manifest as physical symptoms, here in this physical world. An autoimmune disease percolating, no doubt….
There is still much research to be done to figure out exactly which chemicals are doing what, but they have identified the following, serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline, and noradrenaline.
Serotonin, in this case, when elevated, promotes punishment type mentality, dislike, and behaviors that align with antagonizing the reward pathways.
Dopamine, in this case is low, which results in the reward pathway being inhibited
Adrenaline and noradrenaline, could be elevated or decreased, depending on if the fear is coupled with surprise or shock. In this combination, the fight or flight will be set off to varying degrees for varying lengths of time depending on several factors.
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✨INTEROCEPTION...Our 8th Sense?!?✨
WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL THAT ENERGETIC INFORMATION THAT BOMBARDS OUR BIOFIELD ON A DAILY BASIS?
It wasn’t too long ago the term, “interoception”, had little traction in the medical world and was an often misunderstood concept. Now we know better…Traditionally we have been taught that we have 5 senses and that they are, sight, smell, touch, taste and sound. As the sciences have progressed, we have come to know at least 3 more-vestibular, proprioception and interoception.
Interoception, can simply be described as, “the feeling of knowing what is happening inside your body, and according to Wikipedia, “Interoception is the collection of senses providing information to the organism about the internal state of the body. Interoception refers to the processing of visceral-afferent neural signals by the central nervous system, which can finally result in the conscious perception of bodily processes.” According to a study done on Interoception and stress, by a group of researchers, which is posted in the National Library of Medicine, “Interoception, refers to the processing of visceral-afferent neural signals (neural impulses/information, which travel from sensory organs/receptors to the central nervous system) by the central nervous system, which can finally result in the conscious perception, of bodily processes.” The sensory organs are considered to be, the skin, eyes, ears, nose, and tongue. They provide us with a way to learn about and “take the temperature” of the outside world and our immediate surroundings and incorporate that into the senses within us. The study goes on to explain that interoception can, therefore, be described as a “prominent example of information processing on the ascending branch of the brain–body axis. This can be both conscious and subconscious.” Our interoceptive system allows us the ability to know what hunger, thirst and sadness feel like, so we can easily identify them when those internal feelings arise.”
Our biofield feeds interoception, and it in turn effects our proprioception, aka. kinesthesia, and means body awareness, as in knowing where exactly your arms legs, etc are, at any given time in space. Not just their general location but in relation to your other body parts as well. Athletes, with all of their finely tuned and timed physical feats have extremely good proprioception as you can imagine. Think about those gymnasts that flip around on and above the 4 inch balance beam. Do you think they have a keen awareness of where their arms and legs are, not just in relation to the rest of their body parts but in relation to that 4 inches of horizontal flat surface they have to land their feet securely on! Interoception, creates our specific emotions and our emotions cause the chemical/metabolic reactions in our systems, as well as our thoughts, which dictate our behaviors.
Current concepts of the term describes it as “a sense of the physiological condition over the body, which includes a much wider range of physiological sensations, including, for example, muscular effort, tickling, or vasomotor sensations. These sensations are triggered by stimulation of unmyelinated sensory nerve endings (free nerve endings) that project to the insular cortex rather than to the primary somatosensory cortex which is usually considered as the main target of proprioceptive sensations”(Berlucchi & Anglioti 21010).”
The above article goes on to say that, “Feelings from these sensations not only have a sensory, but also an affective, motivational aspect and are always related to the homeostatic needs of the body. (the need to stay in perfect health with all systems running as they should and when they should.) They are associated with behavioral motivations that are essential for the maintenance of physiological body integrity.”
The article continues, “Interoception is generally describes as a perceptual process through which sensations coming from inside the body are perceived and integrated. (Craig 2003). Specifically, interoception is a process that gathers information form various bodily systems, such as gastrointestinal, visceral motor, cardiovascular, respiratory, genitourinary, thermoregulatory, chemosensory, and autonomic nervous systems (Khalsa et al., 2018: Vaitl, 1996). The main purpose of conceived asa conveyor of perceptual information related to the body’s physiological state, is to monitor the functional states of visceral organs and guide behavior towards satisfaction of basic needs (Craig, 2003: Dunn rt l., 2010:Tsakiris and Critchley, 2016). “Interoception also plays a very important regulatory role in which bodily sensations continuously interact with top down expectations related to prior knowledge and appraisal processes to adjust behaviors”(Craig 2009: Sennesh et al., 2022). The regulatory nature of interoception has been associated with an evolutionary advantage in maintaining homeostasis and supporting emotional balance (Craig 2013: Herbert and Pollatos, 2012: Seth, 2013). From the neuroanatomical point of view, there are several neural pathways known to be involve in interoception located in both the peripheral and central nervous systems (Critchley et al., 2004). The peripheral nervous system with its afferent and efferent pathways, is essential in conveying information from different bodily parts to the central nervous system and in controlling peripheral organ functions (heart rhythm, gastric motility, blood pressure) through the spinal cord for cranial nerves. The cerebral region primarily involved in processing the state of interoception system and its perceptual information is the insular cortex (Craig, 2003: Wang et al.,). In this region, bodily information is gathered, processes, and then integrated with exterocpetive information (Gogolla, 2017: Zu Eulenburg et al., 2013). The insular cortex is widely connected to different frontal and medial regions involved in attentional processes, modulation of the reward system, affective evaluation, and decision making. These regions include dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, orbital frontal cortex and amygdala (Shura et al., 2014). These interconnected regions constitute the interoceptive network. Considering the localization of the insular cortex and its complex connectivity pattern with regions involved in a large variety of functions, it is considered the brain location where internal states are integrated and joined with other perceptual information to provide a coherent experience of the internal and exterior external world at the same time (Kurth et al., 2010: Zu Eulenburg et al., 2013). Studies on neuroanatomical pathways and cortical regions associated with interception suggest that perceptual sensations arising from the internal environment of the body primary dedicated cortex receiving signals from the peripheral nervous system through neuroanatomical pathways and a wide range of connections in associative and frontal regions. This neuroanatomical structure is similar to that which underlies the classical 5 senses that convey information to the brain from the exterior-vision, hearing, taste, touch an smell, namely, exteroception.”(Critchley the and Harrison, 2013)
The vagus nerve, which is a component of the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system, plays a crucial role in the interoceptive process as well as the regulation and maintaining metabolic homeostasis. It controls gastrointestinal motility and secretion, heart rate, pancreatic endocrine and exocrine secretion as well as other visceral functions. It also is a major component/part of a neural reflex mechanism known as, the inflammatory reflex, which regulate the enormity and immensity of our innate immune responses.
The reason the above processes are so crucial here, is because according to an extremely insightful study titled: “The Vagus Nerve and the Inflammatory Reflex-Linking Immunity and Metabolism”(link; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4082307/), “the innate immune responses are activated by pathogen-associated and danger-associated molecular patterns that are recognized by sensors on the immune cell surface or in intracellular compartments. These cellular sensors include Toll-like receptors (TLRs), nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs) and other pattern-recognition receptors (Figure 1).4–6 Activation of signalling cascades downstream of TLRs results in increased production and release of tumour necrosis factor (TNF), IL-6 and other proinflammatory cytokines.1,7 In addition, activation of NLRs is associated with the formation of multimeric protein complexes, termed inflammasomes, which regulate maturation and release of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18.5 Proinflammatory cytokines, along with chemo-kines, reactive oxygen species, nitrogen inter mediates and other inflammatory molecules, are critically implicated in extracellular pathogen clearance, vasodilatation, neutrophil recruitment, increased vascular permeability and induction of acute-phase proteins, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), and coagulation molecules.1,5,7 Proinflammatory progression is balanced by the release of IL-10, TGF-β, soluble cytokine receptors and other anti-inflammatory molecules.”
The inflammatory reflex works in a way that allows the afferent arm (the sensory arm) to sense, receive and convey visceral information regarding the status of the immune system, upwards to the brain. These specific afferents express cytokine-binding sites. Also, antigen presenting cells accumulate around areas of inflammation, receive information and then relaying it though visceral afferents using cytokine dependent as well as independent mechanisms. According to another academic article from the NCBI website, named: Interoception and Inflammation in Psychiatric Disorders”.
Once an emotional response is registered, especially an extreme one, it is either going to have a positive or detrimental effect on the immune system, depending on the duration and specific context of the emotion being experienced. These strong emotions have the ability to modulate cytokine production and cellular responses in many immune stimuli.
Anger, for example, produces a specific response when the response happens within the context of a marital dispute between husband and wife. Studies have shown that a marital argument causes “an increase in the production of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin -6 (IL-6) and circulating levels of C-reactive protein. (Article; As Above, So Below-The Interplay Between Emotion and the Immune System. website; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24943894/)
Interestingly, the effects of anger were also studied amongst a group of rugby players and after 2 and 72 hours after the match, a positive relationship was determined between feelings of anger, aggression and anxiety. The results also showed increased levels of IL-1B. It was also determined that the “memory” of anger-triggering events, significantly increased peripheral blood monocyte production of tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) and IL_6.
These findings show us how anger, in the right context can be useful. Think about how our distant ancestors utilized anger from an evolutionary perspective. It usually involved some type of violent act resulting in a degree of physical injury. A reactionary immune system, conjuring up all these proinflammatory cytokines, TNF’s, etc., was most likely very beneficial for efficient wound healing, however, when the immune system is hyperactive and continuously in this mode, it becomes detrimental. This continuous state, also known as “fight or flight”, is how immune system imbalance, dysregulation, and therefore inflammation, begins.
Context matters…the above studies demonstrated that the effects of anger, not just on the immune system specifically, but many other systems of the body as well, is much more toxic and damaging from interpersonal traumas/adversities than other contexts, especially where the feelings of anger and aggression were associated with a positive outcome or goal, such as winning a sporting event or important title.
The emotion of anger doesn’t just cover the emotion of “anger”, however. Often times, anger is a secondary emotion, meaning another emotion/s is causing the anger. Along with varying degrees of the emotion such as, fury, irritability, hostility, outrage, wrath, and resentment, there are also other preceding emotions like, sadness, which encompasses,, gloom, melancholy, grief, sorrow, despair, depression, as well as loneliness.
The other big contributor to anger, is the emotion of fear. This includes, apprehension, nervousness, anxiety, panic, dread and the like. If you have ever gotten into a severe argument or even fight with your significant other, then you know that you feel a mixture of and varying degrees of many of the above emotions, all funneling into the big bad volatile immune destroyer known as anger! A person or athlete is also unlikely to experience the emotions of loneliness, sorrow, or melancholy as a result of a sporting match or game, which would also be another reason interpersonal injuries or more damaging to the immune system. Sporting events and competitions are not usually personal.
The many studies that have been conducted on adults and kids that have had “adverse childhood experiences”, have also demonstrated that abuse not only causes inflammation in the immune system but is causing autoimmune diseases later in life. The effects for children experiencing these types of interpersonal adversities, is much worse on the body and psyche than adults facing these issues, as it is happening within the context of their developing bodies and minds. In one study, adults who had maltreatment experiences within the first ten years of life, showed a graded and significant elevation in all three of the clinically relevant inflammatory biomarkers, which were fibrogen, C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell count.
The damaging effects of childhood maltreatment/interpersonal adversities, does not wait until adulthood to manifest its symptoms, however. Inflammation within the immune system has already been detected in young children as well.
If you happen to ask the local Shaman (a medicine man) what causes all this volatility and imbalance leading to autoimmune diseases and they may very well tell you there are 3 main reasons they develop;
1.) DISHARMONY-This happens when we suddenly and swiftly lose a connection to life which is important to us or when it loses its meaning for us in some way. When we no longer recognize the landscape of what we once thought of as familiar and safe. A classic example of this would be an elderly couple who have been married forever and one of them suddenly passes and this passing causes the spouse who’s left behind to quickly spiral into a crisis situation that causes their physical health to seriously and rapidly decline and soon after, comes death. Suffering such a tremendous loss, not just of our “person”, but of a source of power, comfort, familiarity, and so on, for us.
2.) FEAR-When someone is going through life being in varying degrees of “fight or flight” mode, the corresponding chemical activity in the body is going to cause dysregulation and imbalances. Being in fight or flight, filled with anxiety and restlessness, quickly diminishes our ability to to feel safe and grounded in our world. Not to mention, fear feeds the powerful and volatile emotion of anger, and we’ve already learned what anger can do to our immune systems!
3.) SOUL LOSS-This is the “big bad one”, and usually happens as a result of trauma and mostly of the interpersonal type. When the trauma is severe enough and/or lost standing, a person feels as if they’ve lost their very essence an spirit. Their soul can feel any where from fragmented to completely obliterated to the point it becomes shattered or shut down completely. The most common and primary symptom of soul loss is depression. Depression is your body going into the “freeze” state of the “fight, flight or freeze” states. Where it feels it can neither fight nor flee the danger, perceived or real, so it shuts down.
QUANTUM HURTING IN THE WORKPLACE
WHY “I’M SORRY YOU FEEL THAT WAY”, IS GASLIGHTING AND A FORM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE
In the workplace, there are many places where quantum hurting can be found hiding. Usually in the dark toxic corners, maybe behind the printer machine where the dust bunnies like to congregate and gossip. One place it can be found hiding, is in the insidious response, “I am sorry you feel that way”. Insidious because of the deep harm it has on its receivers on many levels. Being gaslit even just once, depending on the situation, severity and duration, has negative lasting effects and consequences such as creating confusion, distrust, self doubt, fear, sadness, frustration and eventually anger, which are all low vibration emotions. These low vibrational emotions all happen to feed the volatile and motivating secondary emotion of anger and even worse, rage. Science has already demonstrated many times how anger causes a significant increase in the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and also Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) and Interferon (INF). All responsible for substantial inflammation in the immune system. The exact same kind that makes our bodies fall out of homeostasis and brews up nasty little storms in our bodies that keep us from peak performance in most all areas of our lives. (See my INTEROCEPTION section for more information)
Let’s make one thing clear…in no way is the world famous snarky response of, “I’m sorry you feel that way”, any kind of an apology. Not only is this non apology insensitive and glaringly empty but it is also designed specifically as a flippant deflection and attempt to place blame back on the other person or in some cases, evade blame or responsibility for something or to avoid dealing with an issue. This form of harassment is considered psychological abuse and manipulation because it does a few things; 1.) it causes the receiver to question their perception of reality, sanity, judgment, memories and perspective, 2.) it dismisses and attempts to invalidate or at the very least minimize the concern or issue, 3.) it nearly terminates any hopes of future discussion of the issue because of the broken trust and psychological harm imparted such as causing them to shut down and, 4.) causes the dangerous cognitive dissonance. This is quite harmful to the receiver because anytime a person has contextually valid concerns or complaints, especially when it comes to their safety and well being, minimizing, invalidating or trivializing their concerns is telling them in effect that neither they nor their issue are not important enough to be considered and their voice is not worth listening to. This can have devastating consequences. “For example: Rather than perceiving the act of standing up for their rights as just, professional, and necessary, an employee may be convinced to view their decision as “being too sensitive” or “acting crazy”. (Source:website www.donatilaw.com article: 6 Signs Your Boss Is Gaslighting You At Work)
Gaslighting is also bullying and a classic example of an abuse of power. It is also manipulation and can be so subtle that the receiver feels there’s something amiss but can’t quite put their finger on it. You, feeling something is not right, is your interoception processing (AKA 8th sense), noticing discrepancies and subtle red flags that you are not even aware of on the conscious level but you sure may feel it in your gut, head or joints. Your energy levels and concentration may become affected as well. Gaslighting can also be a cultural thing. For example, it could be part of the top down corporate culture that is done by higher level employees as a means of control and power over their subordinates but even so, this is an unacceptable management style. (Source: website- bullyinghelpline.co.uk article: Gaslighting at Work-Spotting Signs of Subtle Workplace Bullying)
Once it has been established that a person feels neither they nor their concerns matter or are important enough to be considered, addressed, or even acknowledged for that matter, a person begins to question their footing and value, not just their own personal worth but their value and importance in society. This is how, what is known as “soul murder” begins. And it is an epidemic.
Gaslighting and psychological abuse damage runs deep. You can ask any Psychologist, Psychiatrist or medical professional and they can explain to you how psychological trauma is the same as physical trauma. Once it enters your body, it begins to fester and become infected unless it is cleaned (think of a shard of glass or wooden splinter), bandaged and checked on periodically to ensure proper healing. Psychological trauma is the same. If not treated, it eventually becomes infected and manifests as heat and inflammation within the body and immune system. It also causes the concern or issue to become “infected“ and worsen as well. Victims of gaslighting are not silenced as is the goal but rather they become psychologically harmed.
Gaslighting in the workplace creates not only a hostile but also a toxic work environment which promotes negative behaviors and unhealthy competition that breeds spitefulness and contempt. And contempt begets contempt. One filled with emotional distress, confusion and severe distrust and fear. This in turn causes a spiral in employee morale and self esteem and therefore quality of productivity. When this is done in the workplace, it is often done for such reasons as to protect an alliance amongst people if someone is opposing one of their members, or one of the members feels threatened. It also creates confusion, creates and maintains a false sense of power inequity. Gaslighting is also used for job position competition and more.
Some telltale signs of gaslighting by your boss in the workplace are:
- They lash out at you and/or use abusive language in a way that makes you fearful to approach them again. This could also include aggressive or intimidating physical posturing or movements.
- They will knowingly and intentionally contradict themselves in order to confuse you so you question your judgment and sometimes your own sanity.
- They refuse to listen to or consider your concern or issue or attempt to minimize, trivialize or invalidate legitimate concerns, especially when concerns are regarding personal safety, and a safe and toxic free work environment.
- They intentionally act confused or perplexed about the issue or concern you bring to them just so they don’t have to address it.
- Lack of transparency or openness.
- Selectively choosing policies to follow and selectively choosing employees who should follow them and who does not have to.
- A reluctance to keep official meeting minutes. This way they can go back and flip flop on a topic or decision if they so choose.
- Typically will have a push pull dynamic with their behaviors and words in terms of a praise and abuse back and forth cycle. Meaning, after they lash out, minimize or invalidate your concern, etc., they will attempt to sooth you with niceness, praise, additional attention and other such methods of positive reinforcement in an attempt to minimize any damage they previously caused. Sadly, many times this becomes an even more toxic cycle and causes even more damage as it escalates to the gaslighting boss withholding the praise cycle until the victim incurs undue stress and is nearly on the brink of a nervous breakdown before the relent. A sure sign of an abusive narcissistic personality type with an obvious taste for sadism. (Source: website: www.donatilaw.com article: 6 Signs Your Boss Is Gaslighting You At Work)
- You are the victim of “kick the dog syndrome”, from which they usually are taking their aggressions from being “the dog” at home or in other areas of their life.
- The abusive boss personality type, typically likes to be the center of attention, talk a lot and dominate conversations.
What to do if you have been or are being gaslighted in the workplace:
- Trust in yourself and your positions or stance that it is at the very least valid or justifiable. If something “feels” off or not quite right, well that’s because it’s not!
- Please try to remember that the gaslighting is a reflection of their own issues or shortcomings, not yours.
- Distance yourself as far or as much and often as you can from them. This will show that you are not trying to instigate or escalate anything.
- Do your best to actively de-escalate the situation if engaging with the gaslighter and it’s best not to argue because they will be dishonest anyway. Besides, you do not want to be affected by the negative energy from those low vibrational emotions and feelings.
- Document as much as you can for tangible proof.
- Seek help from a trusted co worker, the HR department at your work or outside professional help such as an attorney to represent you claim, depending on the degree and severity of the problem.
- File a report if necessary.
Gaslighting is an extremely common tactic used in the workplace but goes highly unreported, mainly because the people being gaslit, do not have the proper knowledge of what it is, why it’s used and how it works. The other main reason is because of fear. Fear of retaliation, job loss, etc. Please stay vigilant and listen to your gut feeling!
Other sources:
Psychologytoday.com article: “I’m Sorry You Feel That Way” and Other Gaslighting Tactics”