THE BIOLOGY OF EMOTIONS

The following is the abstract of an article I have written for a medical
journal on the biology of emotional illness, including the food and
other addictions. This discovery was the result of correlating the
theory of toxicosis as the source of disease with fifty years of
research in biological psychiatry. The relevance of the toxic mind
theory to nutrition is paramount. If there is endogenous toxicosis in
the brain as a result of suppressing negative emotions, no diet can
bring optimal health. Since civilization has inadvertently caused most
of us to suppress emotions, there are hardly any persons who are free of
this endogenous toxicosis. When the hypothalamus, which controls the
pituitary gland and the autonomic nervous system, is clogged up with
endogenous toxins, the entire periphery is periodically under- and
overexcited, causing all kinds of disease.

Furthermore, the body cannot efficiently carry out the daily process of
detoxification, which contributes to cancer and other diseases. Women
with metastatic breast cancer were shown to live longer when they
entered therapy for the release of repressed emotions, and the patients
who died more rapidly were less able to communicate dysphoric feelings,
particularly anger. In recovery, detoxification events in the peripheral
organs are mild. Persons who have recovered from this endogenous
toxicosis by means of experiential therapy, primal therapy, and
self-help measures have been relieved of a variety of physical disorders
and generally enjoy good health. If anyone is interested in reading the
full article, which contains the evidence, I will be happy to send it by
regular mail. I do not have permission to send it by email. Please send
your address to me at [log in to unmask] There is also a lay
version of the article on the Primal Psychotherapy Page at
http://www.net-connect.net/~jspeyrer/ where there is much information
about recovery.


The toxic mind: the biology of mental illness and violence
In press, Medical Hypotheses, copyright 1998

E. VAN WINKLE
Retired, Millhauser Laboratories of the Department of Psychiatry, New
York University School of Medicine, New York, NY.

Abstract -- The continual suppression of emotions during fight or flight
reactions results in atrophy and endogenous toxicosis in noradrenergic
neurons. Diminished synaptic levels of norepinephrine are associated
with depression. During periodic detoxification crises excess
norepinephrine and other metabolites flood synapses. The norepinephrine
overexcites postsynaptic neurons and causes symptoms ranging from mild
anxiety to violent behavior. Some of the other metabolites, which may
include dopamine, epinephrine, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid,
peptides, amino acids, and various metabolic waste products, are bound
by noradrenergic receptors and alter neurotransmission. When they
prevent norepinephrine from exciting postsynaptic neurons, depression
returns. A mechanism is proposed for the binding of norepinephrine and
for the effects of the other metabolites, many of which have been
thought to be neurotransmitters. The diverse receptor proteins presumed
to be specific for false neurotransmitters may instead encode specific
memories. The shift in depressive and excitatory behavior is
characteristic of nearly all nervous and mental disorders, including
addictions, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and psychosomatic
disorders. When toxins accumulate in regions of the brain that control
specific activities, the symptoms observed will be related to those
activities, giving rise to supposedly distinct disorders that represent
the same detoxification process. Recovery can be facilitated by therapy
and self-help measures that involve the releasing and redirecting of
repressed emotions.