Brain Body Relationship

BRAIN BODY RELATIONSHIP

Psychosomatic Problems and Holistic Medicine Solutions

John W. Loeff, Ph.D., D.Univ.

Psychodynamic Counselor

Text copyright © 2017 John Loeff

All Rights Reserved

© 2017 John Loeff

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from both the copyright owner and the publisher.

Cover design and formatting by Triomarketers.

Contents

Forword

Chapter 1 - Neurotic Building Blocks

Introduction

Anxiety

Frustration

Procrastination

Loneliness

Abuse

Neurotics

Chapter 2 - Emotions

Introduction

Contemporary Perspective

Handbook of Emotions

Tolstoy

David Viscott

Daniel Goleman

Stress Management

Hans Selye

L.Moss

Ernest Jones

Relax & Reflect

Chapter 3 - Self-esteem & Success

Introduction

Perceptions

Coopersmith

McKay & Fanning

Self-psychology

Developmental Stages

Nuclear Self

Goals & Objectives

Wishes & Needs

Ego psychology

Ashner & Meyerson

Depression

Cognitive Model of Depression

Interpersonal Relationship Model

Somatoform Disorders

One Executive Suicide

David D. Burns

Feeling Good

Self-interest, Assertiveness & Self-actualization

Success

Happiness

Chapter 4 - Psychosomatic Disorders

Introduction

Historical Perspective

Rational vs Irrational

Openness

Self-Devaluation-Loop

Alexander & Selesnick

Luce Lopes de Mello

Howton, Salkovskis, Kirk & Clark

Otto Fenichel

Ornstein & Sobel

Chapter 5 - Holistic Medicine

Introduction

Kenneth Pelletier

Simonton, Matthews-Simonton & Creighton

Cancer

Friedman & Rosenman

Heart attack

Deepak Chopra

Obsessive-Compulsive

Your Soul

Philosophical Approach

WebMD

Bibliography

FOREWORD

The objective of this book is to point out some individuals who need help; lots of it. Chapter one describes various directions your life could take. What went right and what went wrong in your developmental process? Did I take the right turn when I came to that intersection? How did you make out in kindergarten? Do you remember any major issues like sharing toys or getting along with other children? Was abuse an issue in your family? Be honest! Next, we have to learn to deal with anxiety and frustration. Is it possible that you are a neurotic personality? What are you doing about it? Lots of questions, but no answers yet!

Chapter two shows the importance of emotions in your life. Do emotions dominate you or do you have control over your emotional reactions? Another hot topic in this chapter is dealing with all the stress in your life. Yes, we have lots of it, but the question remains, what are you doing about it? The next chapter tries to find out who you are. What is self-esteem and do you have it? Would you like to find out if you have self-esteem? Another interesting topic is your goal and objective in life. What are you trying to achieve in life? Philosophical questions, but perhaps we should investigate if we have other interests than just making money and paying the bills. Chapter four deals with psychosomatic issues related to neurotic individuals and others. What physical problems do you have that could be traced back to anxiety, stress, or your personality? For how long have you had these medical problems? What can be done about it? Perhaps a trip to your family physician or a nurse practitioner if you live in an isolated area might be your first step. That brings me to the final chapter, holistic medicine. Yes, we pay attention to body, mind, and soul and see which one or all of them need some help. This final chapter might surprise some people.

John W. Loeff, Bright's Grove

Chapter # 1

NEUROTIC BUILDING BLOCKS

Introduction

I would like to discuss some factors and experiences that could steer you in the direction of a personality that needs some work. Not only do you need some work, but there is a very good chance that - down the road - some medical issues show up as well. So, let's go back to your childhood and see - if any - factors could have caused turmoil for you. What went wrong and when are some of the questions. Do you remember your childhood and do you want to talk about it? Let me rephrase that sentence. Would you like to remember all your childhood memories or do you prefer to keep some of them in the closet? Be honest! Thinking about your health in the long term, I would suggest getting everything out of the closet. Can you do that? Many individuals have a problem answering this question. Well, where do we begin?

ANXIETY

Unfortunately, many individuals have to deal with anxiety and sometimes, lots of it. Why not begin this chapter with anxiety and learn some of the details? Anxiety also plays a very important part in neuroticism and this is another reason for discussing this topic. Neurotic individuals will be discussed at the end of this chapter. What is anxiety and what – if anything – can be done about it? Why do not we start with a quote that explains very clearly the issue at hand!

"We have met the enemy and he is me."

Peanuts, Comic strip

How true it is! Are you your own worst enemy? This is a loaded question, but it is an unreasonable question? Let's delve into this challenging topic and perhaps we come up with some answers? I would like to give the reader a wide perspective on this topic and therefore I have included feedback from a variety of specialists in this field. They are medical doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, philosophers, and psychoanalysts. This way we get a view from many angles. Another reason is that any discussion about anxiety is resisted in many corners; so, the more angles explained, the better chance we have for acceptance.

My first perspective is an overview of Rollo May’s perspective on anxiety in his book The Meaning of Anxiety originally published in 1950. We live in what Rollo May - a psychologist - calls an age of anxiety and I think that most people would agree with this statement. Why? Well, for a starter, we live in a complicated, conniving world and unfortunately, technical efficiency is far more important these days than any personal values. How efficiently do we run this car plant? Even at home, how efficiently do we run the household? Yes, we need schedules, plans, clocks, and iPods. What has changed in the world in the last twenty seconds? Do I know about it? And if the answer is NO, the sky will fall in. Everything should be organized like a Swiss watch; flawless, without any interruption. Is this the only reason for anxiety? And the answer is NO. Yes, it is a combination of a whole range of factors. Here we go.

Anxiety states

The National Institute of Mental Health has shown that anxiety disorders are the number-one mental health concern for women in North America. About 10% of the population suffers from panic attacks, phobia, or anxiety, and only a very small portion of these people receive some type of treatment. Do you feel defeated, defective, deserted, or deprived? When you look in the mirror, which one applies to you? Is stress in the modern world a major factor for anxiety and phobias? The answer is Yes. Panic disorders tend to develop during late adolescence or early to late twenties. Let’s look at some other reasons for developing anxiety.

We have changed in the last 30 years more than in the previous 300 years.

Look at all the technological changes in the last 10 years.

Did I say the last ten years; well, make that the last ten days?

A lack of consistent values and morals as prescribed by religion in the 'old' days is gone.

Some people do not have a purpose or direction in life; except money. Are you one of these individuals only interested in money?

Panic and Generalized Anxiety

Anxiety is an inevitable part of everyday life. Many situations come up every day in which it is appropriate to react with some anxiety. If you did not feel any anxiety in response to the many challenges, something would be wrong with you. The term anxiety state refers to pervasive and mostly internal anxiety, which is not restricted to specific external situations – like fear - and it is not associated with consistent and extensive avoidance behavior which characterizes phobias.

A subjective state of apprehension and uneasiness might be a better explanation. This could also be called free-floating anxiety or anxiety from which the source is not recognized. Beck (1976) challenges this view because this free-floating anxiety is based on the point of view of the client; not that of the observer. Good point! Let me refer you to a book written by Beck & Emery, titled Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective, published in 1985. How do you process information is one of the key questions in this book? Do you have an open mind when you store your personal information? These two authors - a psychiatrist and a psychologist by trade - see anxiety as an emotional state marked by physical symptoms like tension, sweating, and perhaps an increased pulse rate. Anxiety acts like an attention-getter because it draws away from other concerns you have. Anxiety feels like a pain, but there is no pain. How do you react? Where do we go from here as a counselor? The objective is to assist clients in identifying, evaluating, and modifying their unrealistic appraisals of danger and the behaviors maintaining these behaviors. Anxiety can affect you physiological, behavioral, and psychologically.

Most maladaptive assumptions center around the issues of:

Acceptance

How do you react to the situation?

Do you accept the situation without any questioning?

The world is caving in and there is not much I can do about it. How realistic is that?

Competence

Do you have the skills and character to improve the situation? Why not?

How is your self-esteem?

How negative are you in your outlook?

Control

How do you control similar situations in the future?

Are you perhaps getting paranoid?

We have two types of anxiety states:

Recurrent Panic Attacks

This can occur unexpectedly in almost any situation. An intense feeling of apprehension or impending doom will take over. It is like a roller-coaster feeling. One moment you feel okay, but 30 seconds later you have a panic attack. Sometimes, we see this behavior in individuals who like their lives to be organized in a planned and rigid order. Please, no changes! But when a change occurs, the roller-coaster ride starts. What do I do now?

Unrealistic and excessive Anxiety and Worry

It could be that you worry almost every moment of the day and you might be wondering if you are depressed. Your thinking is associated with not being able to cope; no matter what. You always anticipate a negative evaluation from others. Freud called these two types neurotic anxiety.

In both examples, the sky is falling in and the world is coming to an end. This feeling is associated with a wide range of distressing physical sensations like freezing, fainting, fight, or flight. Take your pick!

What are you doing about it?

Freud came up with two additional anxieties:

1. Objective Anxiety

Objective anxiety is related to the pressures from the environment.

When an individual is under heavy pressure to pass an examination, he or she experiences objective anxiety.

Nothing wrong with that!

2. Moral Anxiety.

When your ego experiences pressure in the form of guilt from the Superego, moral anxiety is the result. Premarital sex might create guilt when you are brought up in a strict religious environment.

Some Generalized Anxiety might have a sudden onset, but many have a more gradual onset, starting anywhere in adolescence. The central theme in cognitive models is related to the expectations and interpretations of events and not the event itself. You say to yourself:

I must / should / have done this or that, but at the same time you are saying to yourself:

"I cannot do it."

Part of the conscious says do it, but the unconscious says do not do it. This thinking causes anxiety, emotions, anger, or sadness. In a depression, the loss of a relationship, status, or efficacy creates the problem. This negative thinking is perceived as a physical or psychological danger. Your response could include:

Changes in automatic arousal as preparation for flight, fight, or fainting. Inhibition of ongoing behavior.

Selectively scanning the environment for possible sources of danger.

Two different levels of disturbed thinking will develop:

Automatic negative thinking

Dysfunctional assumptions and rules about the world and yourself.

These beliefs or dysfunctional assumptions are related to issues of acceptance, competence, responsibility, control, and the symptoms of anxiety themselves.

Anxiety State

Perceived threat => Apprehension => Body sensations =>

Interpretations of sensations as catastrophic =>

The world caves in.

Clarke, 1986

Learning about the causes of Anxiety Disorders can give you insight into how an anxiety problem develops, but such insight is not necessary to overcome that particular anxiety. As detailed in this section, there are various possibilities. Many times there is more than one cause.

(Biological, psychological, physiological)

Let’s look at some of them.

Hereditary

Are Anxiety Disorders inherited? You do not inherit anxiety, but you inherit a personality that might be overly anxious. You might have a personality that is volatile and very emotional. Your nervous system is set off very easily by threatening experiences and this could be the beginning of anxiety or a phobia.

Childhood

Let's go back to kindergarten and bring Kardiner into the picture. He proposes that since the Middle Ages, we have lost very slowly the control of keeping children in line. Growing up means that you have an idea of what you can do and what you cannot do. Did this ever sink in for some young people? Aggression and hostility are no longer held in check by parents, religion, or teachers. Spent some time in the military – which I did - and you get the picture of what discipline means. What did I learn a few years ago?

Military example:

Every Friday afternoon, before we went home for the weekend, we had an inspection and a short parade of the whole battalion. Parading meant walking up straight and swinging your arms up to a horizontal position. This was not quite my specialty and I used to move my arms just a little bit. Well, my sergeant-major did not like exactly what he saw and he stopped the marching. I was called out with some other ‘misfits' and in front of the whole battalion, we had to parade for about fifteen to twenty minutes until we did it right. To make a long story short, the next time we did it right because we received heck from the other soldiers because their girlfriends or wives were waiting at the bus or train station and now they were late. Yes, I learned! But when I was asked at the end of my conscription to sign up for a military career, I declined politely. No, it was not exactly my cup of tea.

Many parents do not want to discipline children because discipline means the strap. So, we raise children who can do whatever they want and if they go out of line, we put them on Ritalin or call the cops. Why should children obey their parents or pay attention to rules? I must be from the ‘old' school and ‘crazy' at the same time! Let them do whatever they prefer to do. When your parents sign you up for soccer, baseball, or piano lessons; complete the season signed up for. If you have to play in a soccer or baseball tournament, your coach is counting on you. Do not cop-out, because you are in a bad mood. The same applies to attending a piano recital at the end of the season. Learn responsibility and if required your parent(s) should step in there and show you what responsibility is.

Example:

Unfortunately, we see this with some parents as well. The couple divorced, but the children are still in a music lesson or soccer. A recital or game is lined up for a certain day and one parent - who is trying to get back at the other parent - refuses to bring the child(ren) to the final game or recital. They come up with an excuse and the child misses the recital. How mature is this parent? Time to see a psychiatrist!

You cannot tell your employer ten years from now, today I feel fine to work, but tomorrow I do not feel like working. You have to learn this somewhere! Yes, I am a bit from the ‘old' school, but we have rules and regulations in a society that all people have to follow; not just for the old folks. I do not remember seeing laws being passed in Western countries that state one set of rules for people under the age of twenty and another set of rules for people over the age of twenty. We all need a driver’s license to drive a car on the road. Frankly speaking, we do not need institutions that keep us in line; we can do it all on our own. I do not need anybody else to tell me what to do; no matter what age I am. The world has to adapt to me! Okay, enough BS! Lots of work for the mental health professionals and lawyers!

Before I get carried away on this topic, I should point out that anxiety is usually related to internal factors and fear is related to outside factors. (Adler) I would like to emphasize three major fears most people have.

We hate to lose a competition and this could be a game or not getting a promotion.

Another important fear is loneliness.

Last, but not least is the fear of death.

Combine fear with anxiety and you have a major issue on

your plate. Do you have one issue or perhaps both?

What were your childhood experiences?

Did you have a difficult time when you were separated from your parents? How long did it last? Your parents were overly cautious; perhaps helicopters parents. Do not do this and do not do that! Were you allowed to do anything on your own?

Your parents were overly critical.

Perfectionists' parents set very high standards and you have a difficult time measuring up to these standards.

You are constantly trying to please your parents but to no avail. As a result, you feel very insecure and dependent.

Insecurity

Death, divorce, abandonment, neglect, and sexual abuse are some examples that create emotional insecurity and turmoil for a child. Abandonment and neglect could occur from three directions.

First, this could come from one or both