EMOTIONS AND NUTRITION

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, changes to
healthier diets may not 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. Psychosomatic disease is better named neurogenic. Psychological
factors do not affect physical disease; rather, psychological factors
and physical disease co-exist and stem from toxicosis in the brain.

Because of toxicosis in the brain 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, such as colds and other acute problems,
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. Experiential
therapy is provided by the Caron Family Services in Wernersville, PA.,
www.caron.org There is a lay version of the article entitled THE BIOLOGY
OF EMOTIONS: SELF-HELP FOR ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION on the Primal
Psychotherapy Page at:

http://home.att.net/~jspeyrer/toxicmnd.htm

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.

My best,

Ellie