How Stress and Trauma Cause Autoimmune Illnesses
Book Review: The Missing “First Domino” In Autoimmune Conditions: Nervous System Dysregulation
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This eBook by Dr. Lori A. Parker is an excellent resource for understanding how the body reacts to stress. She uses simple language, clear graphics, and concise metaphors to enhance her discussions of the biology of stress and trauma.
Although this book can be read by anyone wishing to understand the mechanisms of stress and trauma, Dr. Parker focuses on the roles stress and trauma play in the formation of autoimmune disorders and syndromes, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, etc.
While Dr. Parker acknowledges that the etiology of syndromes is complex, at the beginning of the book she ponders two questions: “What causes the body to produce an immune response against itself? What are the circumstances, mechanisms, and triggers?” These questions set her off on her quest to find the “First Domino” in the sequence of syndrome formation.
What then follows is a Sherlock Holmes-like investigation into the role genetics may play, the nature of trauma, the interplay of hormones and body chemistry, the dance of the autonomic nervous system, and the sequence of internal events that occur in stress and trauma that lead to autoimmune illnesses.
This book is simple enough for the lay reader (I plan to suggest it to my clients) and thorough enough for a medical researcher. I can’t recommend it enough.
The horrific events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, remind us of the terror and uncertainty of trauma.
We are born pre-wired with a process for recovering from these symptoms. Think of an animal in the wild: after surviving an attack, the animal may tremble, but will eventually go back about its business. As humans, we have those same circuits; the problem arises when our bodies cannot complete these natural processes. The incident becomes stuck in our wiring and our body.
What would your life look like if you had no fear? Would you finally be be able to say “I love you” to someone? Or maybe you would be able to leave someone you should have left long ago. Without fear, would you ask your boss for a raise? Or would you leave your job and find something better? Maybe you would finally get the help you have been afraid to ask for but know you need.
It’s obvious that a fall from a ladder or down a flight of stairs can have serious consequences physically. But what about the more subtle effects they may have years later on the mind and body that could be classified as trauma? And what about smaller falls that we don’t think mattered? We have all had trips and falls that haven’t necessarily resulted in trauma. So what are the indicators that a fall has produced a traumatic effect on the body and mind?
