A Hopeful Message for those Affected by Health Problems Associated with Stress and Childhood Emotional or Physical Abuse

 

An excerpt from the Afterword
"The Body's Silent Weeping"

by Cindy Kunsman

in Hillary McFarland's

Quivering Daughters:

Hope and Healing for the Daughters of Patriarchy

(Note: This copy of my pre-edited text

which was not previewed by the editor of the book

may differ from the published version.)

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~~ I encourage all to read the book which contains many more recommendations and additional information about specific ways to heal, but I wanted to send an additional message of hope to follow up after the previous post. ~~

There are many options available to bring healing after loss.  I would like to encourage you to remind yourself that emotional healing is different from physical healing.  Emotions heal in layers, and you will often find yourself “backtracking” to what seems like lessons you learned before, as though you are failing to make progress.  Think of emotional healing like peeling an onion.  As the onion grew, the framework of every layer drew water and nourishment from the same source, putting some of those nutrients into each layer as it grew.  

As you progress into deeper levels of healing, each layer will greet you with reminders of the old paths of pain that shaped your past.  When you peel each new layer, your eyes will burn and tear with the grief over the disappointments and loss concerning that past.  This is normal and healthy, and it is not something to be feared.  That is just how emotional healing takes place.  There will always be a few tears of grief as you mature, getting down into the deeper places when deep calls unto deep.  This is a good sign of positive growth, something that should encourage you with hope.

Physical Health Problems Experienced by Adults Who Suffered Childhood Mental and Physical Abuse

An excerpt from the Afterword
"The Body's Silent Weeping"
by Cindy Kunsman

in Hillary McFarland's

Quivering Daughters:

Hope and Healing for the Daughters of Patriarchy

(Note: This copy of pre-edited text 

which was not previewed by the editor of the book may differ

from the published version.)

Depression precipitates neurohormonal imbalance in the brain which heightens the experience of pain and fatigue, and the physiologic effects of depression are also associated with a cluster of other physical health problems. There is a strong correlation between depression and overlapping health problems in children who live in highly stressful conditions.  For example, parents with personality disorders that cause erratic parenting styles have children with a high incidence of allergies, asthma, gastrointestinal disorders, and headaches.  These types of findings were general and based upon anecdotal information that was not specifically subject to statistical analysis.  New research indicates also specifically that children who experienced neglect, mistreatment and abuse also manifest a higher incidence of both migraine and osteoarthritis. ^{1, 2}

Other studies that require more intensive and specific investigation report strong preliminary correlations of childhood mistreatment with cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and inflammation associated with elevated C-reactive protein which mediates all sorts of cardiovascular disease such as heart attack and stroke. ³

Based on what we now understand about the effect that our emotions have on our body medicine now recognizes that our minds and our emotions are intimately connected to our physical health.  As one specialist in trauma notes, “the body keeps score,” ⁴ and our physical bodies will grieve and mourn if we do not deal effectively with our psychological and emotional baggage.  Our bodies will cry through illness and pain if we do not learn to do so ourselves.   

Unfortunately, it seems that once our minds learn to translate our emotional pain into physical illness, the damage can never completely be undone. The body then learns to cope by way of disease and this survival and coping mechanism opens up a Pandora’s Box of health issues with lasting consequences.  Because we tend to fall back to our more basic weaknesses and "paths of least resistance" when under great stress, translating emotional and psychological stress into pain and illness tends to recur for those who experience it, an immature but familiar means of coping that the body tends to recall.   A person can best deal with this tendency by working through their underlying emotional and psychological pain and by sharpening their emotional and physical awareness, learning to see this tendency as the body's way of voicing what may go unrecognized. Unfortunately, many parents have caused physical diseases in their children despite their best intentions of fostering their child's spiritual wellbeing.

1. Fuller-Thomson E, Stefanyk M, Brennenstuhl S. A robust association between childhood physical abuse and osteoarthritis in adulthood: findings from a representative community sample. Arthritis Rheum. 2009 Nov 15;61(11):1554-62.
2. Tietjen GE, Brandes, Jl, Peterlin BL Eloff A, Dafer RM, Stein MR, Drexler E, Martin VT, Hutchinson S, Aurora SK, Recober A, Herial NA, Utley C, White L, Khuder SA. Childhood Maltreatment and Migraine (Part I). Prevalence and Adult Revictimization: A Multicenter Clinic Headache Study. Headache 2010; 50:20-3
3. Danese A, Moffitt TE, Harrington H, Milene BJ, Polycanczyk G, Pariante CM, Poulton R, Caspi A. Adverse childhood experience and adult risk factors for age-related disease: depression, inflammation, and clustering of metabolic risk markers. Arch Pediatri Adolesc Med 2009 Dec; 163 (12): 1135-43.
4. Van der Kolk B. The body keeps score: memory and the evolving psychobiology of post traumatic stress. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 1994 Jan-Feb; 1(5):253-65.

Additional related information

from a previous post at Under Much Grace:

Thoughts on Physical Disease

and the Effects of Stress of Cultic Groups and Relationships

Our thoughts and emotions have a profound effect on our automatic body systems, and these systems are regulated and balanced in a steady state or “homeostasis” by the Autonomic Nervous System or “ANS.” This information from our thoughts and emotions informs the ANS, automatically preparing to help us adapt and survive. When we feel threatened or if we think about and anticipate circumstances, our mind stimulates the immediate release of certain neurotransmitters and/or “stress hormones” that are mediated by the ANS. Our neurotransmitter levels fluctuate to help our bodies respond, doing things like raising our heart rate so that we can pump plenty of blood and oxygen to our muscles in order to run from danger. Our pupils widen so we can take in more light and see more clearly. Our bowels can either become less active or more active, depending on our emotions and how the ANS responds to threat or information (like worrying about taking a test the next day). The ANS stimulates the adrenal glands to release both epinephrine to bathe the whole body in stimulation as well as cortisol (a natural steroid) which regulates inflammation and affects blood sugar, making more fuel immediately available for energy production. The system works quite well when we experience only limited episodes of periodic excitement and when we have the opportunity to discharge the energy that our body produces in response to this excitement.

Chronic stress is quite different, and it creates a high degree of ANS stimulation all the time. Some of these symptoms are more well known, contributing to problems like high blood pressure or irritable bowel syndrome, all due to the stimulation of these body systems by the ANS, a system informed by the mind and the emotions. Healthcare is now learning more and more about the “less immediate” effects of stress on body systems that are effected by this high degree of ongoing stimulation, particularly on the hormonal system. This includes high cortisol production and altered action of insulin, now a major problem in the US because of the dramatic rise in obesity, diabetes, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and immune system disorders like chronic fatigue (all of which are also aggravated and exacerbated by poor diet). Cortisol in high amounts alters how the body regulates sugars, insulin release, blood pressure, immune function, and inflammatory response. The release of too much cortisol on a continual basis results in diabetes, immune system disease, heart disease, arthritis, chronic pain syndromes, autoimmune diseases, headaches, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, female reproductive disorders and depression. We see effects of this kind of chronic stress in populations of people like children of parents that have certain personality disorders. For example, children of parents with Borderline Personality Disorder demonstrate high degrees of allergy, asthma, headaches/ migraines and irritable bowel syndrome, likely owing to the effects of chronic high levels of cortisol (Roth, Friedman & Kreger, 2003).

Researchers have identified a new field of study of “Heart Rate Variability” (HRV) as an indicator of the function of the ANS in order to identify those at high risk for later development of diseases such as heart disease and diabetes (diseases linked with high cortisol and stress). HRV measures certain subtle electrocardiogram findings and characteristics, evaluating the electrical impulses generated by electrical system in the heart. Certain groups of professionals with high degrees of daily stress manifest greater degrees of HRV, as do those who suffer with certain psychological problems including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and panic disorder. Based upon more than 30 years of the objective, rigorous scientific study of thought reform, we know that those who emerge from certain controlling relationships and spiritual abuse settings demonstrate high degrees of PTSD and other related psychological disorders such as anxiety and panic. Though no studies have focused on spiritual abuse victims and survivors directly, we can speculate that because of the overlap in findings between the psychological symptoms of spiritual abuse with those who experience documented high levels of chronic stress, PTSD, anxiety and panic disorders are also subject to a similar risk for the development of cortisol-related physical disease.

Additional References
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Funari, L. Born or Raised in High-Demand Groups: Developmental Considerations. ICSA E-Newsletter 2005, 4:3.
Gasde, I, Block, RA, Cult Experience: Psychological Abuse, Distress, Personality Characteristics, and Changes in Personal Relationships Reported by Former Members of Church Universal and Triumphant. CSJ 1998, 15:2, 192-221
Haines AP, Imeson JD, Meade TW. Phobic anxiety and ischaemic heart disease. Br Med J 1987; 295: 297-299.
Kawachi I, Colditz GA, Ascherio A, Rimm EB, Giovannucci E, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC. Prospective study of phobic anxiety and risk of coronary heart disease. Circulation 1994a; 89: 1992-1997.
Kawachi I, Sparrow D. Vokonas PS, Weiss ST. Symptoms of anxiety and risk of coronary heart disease: The Normative Aging Study. Circulation 1994b; 90: 2225-2229.
Kawachi I, Sparrow D, Vokonas PS, Weiss ST. Decreased heart rate variability in men with phobic anxiety. Am J Cardiol 1995; 75: 882-885.
Kumar V, Fausto N, Abbas, A. Robbins & Cotran's Pathologic Basis of Disease, 7th ed. St. Louis: Saunders, 2004.
Kristal-Boneh E, Raifel M, Froom P, Ribak J. Heart rate variability in health and disease. Scan J Work Environ Health 1995; 21: 85-95.
Lakusic N, Fuckar K, Mahovic D, Cerovec D, Majsec M, Stancin N. Characteristics of heart rate variability in war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder after myocardial infarction. Mil Med. 2007 Nov;172:11, 1190-3.
Lalich, J.A. Dominance and Submission: the Psychosexual Exploitation of Women in Cults. CSJ 1997, 14:1, 4-21.
Lalich, J, Tobias, M. Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships. Berkeley: Bay Tree Publishing, 2006.
Langone, MD, ed. Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse. New York: W.W. Norton, 1993.
MacHovec, FJ. Cults and Personality. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Pub Ltd, 1989.
Martin, PR, Langone, MD, Dole, AA, Wiltrout, J. Post-Cult Symptoms As Measured by the MCMI Before and After Residential Treatment. CSJ 1992, 9:2, 219-250.
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The Long Term Costs of Abuse

Health Effects of Child Abuse Continue for Decades

A long-term study of more than 3,000 middle-aged women discovers women abused as children spend up to one-third more than average in health-care costs.

“What’s remarkable is that women with an average age in their late 40s still suffer consequences from abuse that occurred decades ago,” said Amy Bonomi, associate professor of human development and family science at Ohio State University, who led the study at Group Health in Seattle.

“No other study has found that before.”

Women who had no history of abuse spent an average of $2,413 a year (in 2004 dollars) on health care costs. Women who were sexually abused only paid an average of $382 a year more, those who were physically abused spent $502 more, and women who suffered both types of abuse spent $790 a year in additional health care costs.

Read the full article HERE.

National Instittute of Mental Health Connects Childhood Maltreatment with Long Term Health Problems In Adults

Back in February, I completed my contribution to Hillary McFarland's book, "Quivering Daughters," a section that became the "Afterword" which addressed physical health problems that arise from the consequences of how children are treated when they are young.

In this previous post on Under Much Grace, I noted that research had started to confirm that cortisol and the investigation of heart rate variability in PTSD suggested strongly that physical health and emotional health were more strongly connected than previously suspected.  By the time I worked on the material for "Quivering Daughters," several new strong research studies connected both physical and verbal/emotional abuse to several specific health problems in adulthood

I wish that NIMH had released this statement so that I could have included this material in Hillary's book, and it is something that parents and adult children should both consider.

It's well known that early life experiences can affect a child's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development. A recent study funded by NIMH takes this link one step further showing that negative childhood experiences, such as abuse or neglect, can affect a person's physical health as well. Published in the February 24, 2009, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study suggests a history of child abuse or neglect can lower a person's overall immunity and ability to manage stress, and that this effect may be long-lasting..  (Read more.)

Visit the Quivering Daughters Blog and find *hope* and *healing*.   Read Chapter One HERE.

Connections Between Illness and Discipline in Childhood

"A research team in San Diego in the 1990s asked a total of 17,000 people, with an average age of fifty-seven, what their childhood was like and what illness they had suffered in the course of their lives.

The study revealed that the incidence of severe illnesses was many times higher in people who had been abused in their child than in people who had grown up free of such abuse and had never been exposed to beatings meted out to them "for their own good."  the latter had had no illnesses to speak of in their later lives.

The title of this brief article was "Turning Gold into Lead."  The author [Dr. Vincent J Felitti] who sent me [Alice Miller] this article, commented that these findings are unambiguous and highly eloquent, but at the same time covert and hidden.

Why hidden?  The reason is that they cannot be published without leveling accusations at the parents."

Excerpt from (pp 29 -30)
Alice Miller
The Body Never Lies:  The Lingering Effects of Hurtful Parenting
WW Norton, New York, NY (2004)

From the article 
"The Relation Between 

Adverse Childhood Experiences
and Adult Health: 
Turning Gold into Lead" 
by Vincent J Felitti, MD: 

"The ACE Study reveals a powerful relation between our emotional experiences as children and our adult emotional health, physical health, and major causes of mortality in the United States. 

Moreover, the time factors in the study make it clear that time does not heal some of the adverse experiences we found so common in the childhoods of a large population of middle-aged, middle-class Americans. 

One doesn’t “just get over” some things.

Processing Emotional Pain Brings Relief to the Body

From Alice Miller's

"The Body Never Lies":



Children have no choice.  They must repress their true feelings if they have no "helping witness" to turn to and are helplessly exposed to their persecutors.

Later, as adults lucky enough to encounter an "enlightened witness," they do have a choice.  Then they can admit the truth, they can stop pitying and "understanding" their persecutors, stop trying to feel their unsustainable, dissociated emotions, and roundly denounce the things that have been done to them.

This step brings immense relief for the body.  It no longer has to forcibly remind the adult self of the tragic history it went through as a child.  Once the adult self has decided to find out the whole truth about itself, the body feels understood, respected, and protected.   (pg 27)

Excerpt from
Alice Miller
The Body Never Lies:  The Lingering Effects of Hurtful Parenting
WW Norton, New York, NY (2004)