Understanding the Psychic Roots of Disease

There is currently a shift occurring between new medicine and traditional medicine in the understanding the psychic roots of disease. On the forefront of this paradigm shift is the work of holistic physicians who are changing the perspectives of how disease starts.

As a healer and practitioner, with one foot in the Western medical realm and one foot in the world of Holistic medicine, I find myself fascinated and curious by the rapidly growing realization that not all is at it seems as it relates to our understanding of the human body and disease.

As a nurse working in mental health, I have become highly attuned to recognizing patterns of behaviours and outcomes that are predictable. This skill has translated across to the work I do in trauma recovery, and much of what I see is what I call 'textbook' presentations. I have, over the years, collected a range of case-studies, gathered with consent, which highlight these patterns quite boldly, all of which align with the work of practitioners like Louise Hay, and physicians and philosophers like Aaron Antonovsky (1923–1994), Viktor Emil Frankl (1905–1997), and Abraham Harold Maslow (1908–1970), and more recently Steven Porges, Gabor Mate, Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk, Christienne Freche and so many more. One day, I hope to complete my own body of research on the fascinating correlations between the psyche and disease, as experienced in my own practice, utilizing my hybrid approach to trauma recovery.

Of great interest and many queries by Western medical researchers is the dive into the connection between suppressed strong emotions, particularly anger, and the correlation to Cancer. In a recent analysis of the current body of scientific literature in this area, the authors discuss studies done on sample groups of adults where the researchers had a 78% success rate of predicting Cancer based on anti-emotional ways of behaving, as well as denial of strong emotions and a strong need for harmony (Thomas et al., 2000). The personality characteristics studied by the researchers included the degree of introversion/extroversion, conflict-avoidant personality styles, and repressive coping styles (Thomas et al., 2000). In all cases in the studies conducted by Thomas et al., the participants that were positively predicted for Cancer, all self-reported NOT having anger, but positively testing for strong repressed emotions (2000).

In the work of Dr. Hamer, a former controversial German physician, who, during his time of practice, was heavily chastised and labelled as a 'quack' in his holistic research of cancer and the psychic implications on disease, much of the same underpinnings emerged. In his work, he defined 5 Biological Laws of Nature, of which two have recently been substantiated by Western science, while the other three have been noted, as of an analysis done in 2005, to warrant the need for further research to qualify and quantify his findings, (along with the suggestion of releasing his name from his tainted reputation) (Ventegodt et al., 2005).

Hamer's First Biological Law of Nature is referred to as The Conflict, where Dr. Hamer identified that the formation of a significant disease, which he referred to as a Significant Biological Special Program (SBS), was instigated by "a biological conflict: a highly acute, dramatic and isolative conflict-shock experience on three levels: psyche-brain-organ" (Eybl, B., 2018). This aligns with the findings of Steven Porges and his theory of neuroplasticity, as well as the wonderful work of Dr. Bessel van Der Kolk, most notable for his work in trauma recovery. It is during this shock phase that the body instigates the fight, flight or freeze trauma response, and initiates a cascade of neurological and chemical events that attempt to process the incoming stimuli, that ultimately results in an emotional response. If we are unable to fully process this response, the energy that is created essentially has no where to go, and becomes 'stuck' in our bodies which, in itself, causes a whole new cascade of chemical and neurological messaging that continues to trigger constant release of neurotransmitters, hormones and nerve responses that simply put, are not supposed to be a long-term response. It is this long-term triggering that leads to a state of dis-ease in the body. Hamer noted in his work that if stress, concerns and worries stay lodged in the body long enough, they become lodged in the body as biological conflicts (Eybl, B., 2018).

In psychology, we see this presentation as 'disassociation', which leads to impaired memory, loss of/ or skewed sensory perceptions, and ultimately, disease. It is also noted, that the earlier the conflict occurs (as in childhood), the more concrete the disassociation is. Psychology has long identified this state of disassociation or 'freeze' and many therapists work at 'thawing' this response in order to coax the nervous system to a baseline of regulation once again. Of note, this is where the addicted person sits: in a constant state of disassociation or freeze, in an attempt, via self-medication, to avoid the strong emotions that put them there to begin with. It becomes a journey of brave steps to allow one's self to venture through those strong emotions, in order to return to a state of equilibrium: often, one of which few are able to successfully do.

Armed with this understanding of the trauma cascade, we can then see how an individual with repressed emotions can elicit a toxic combination of neuro and biological chemistry to be constantly released into the body systems, and thus create the perfect environment for things to go awry. In the study by Thomas et al., they suggest that practitioner and clinicians must be aware of the pitfalls of unraveling old anger and strong emotions, and cautions against those experiencing Cancer on becoming involved with what they term "leaderless" support groups, where the facilitator is ill-equipped to help one deal with the dearth of strong emotions that may arise: detrimental to their healing process if not mitigated properly (2000).

In conclusion, our psyche is a powerhouse of control over every system in our body, of which our emotional realm is not sovereign. The more we strive as individuals to garner deep understandings of how our psychological health impacts our physical health, the more autonomy we gain from believing that only 'experts' hold the power over our ability to heal.

References:

Thomas, S. P.,Groer, M., Davis, M., Droppleman, P., Mozingo, J., and Pierce, M. (2000). Anger and Cancer: An analysis of the linkage. Cancer Nursing 23(5):p 344-349.

Ventegodt, S., Andersen, N.J., and Merrick, J. (2005). Rationality and irrationality in Ryke Geerd Hamer’s System for holistic treatment of metastatic cancer. The Scientific World Journal 5, 93–102.

Eybl, Bjorn (2018). Five Biological Laws of Nature: The Psychic Roots of Disease. 7th Ed. Thirty-Three &1 Publishing.