Syndromes of Disrupted Homeostasis (and Video)

Syndrome of Disrupted Homeostasis (reichandlowentherapy.org)

REFLUX: This is where acid flows back from the stomach into the esophagus which unlike the stomach, is not lined in a way that resists acid, so damage and pain results. It may be thought that the sphincter has become incapitated. But the spincter is supposed to open when food goes from esophagus to stomach and close when the stomach contracts. The problem is one of mis-coordination, an autonomic problem.

ULCERS: Ulcers have long been associated with stress by everyday observation. In the modern era, where strong attempts are being made to rehabilitate stress as good, other causes are being blamed.

IBS, ETC: The basic cycle is between ischemia and reperfusion engorgement and inflammation. Think of the damage that arises when frostbitten tissue thaws. The ischemic periods are not recognized often and are seen as 'good' periods or remissions. The reperfusion periods cause irritation and diarrhea and intense pain, and are seen as the flare-ups.

INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS: Most symptoms are ultimately from inflammation, which is caused by reperfusion after ischemia.

ASTHMA: Asthma has been intuitively understood to be related to stress for a long time. The exact mechanism is still obscure. Perhaps the bronchiolar walls are supposed to constrict and expand slightly rhythmically to aid the breathing mechanism, and if this gets out of balance, asthma results. Chronic hyperventilation also plays a part.

MITRO VALVE PROLAPSE: This can sometimes be a structural defect but is most commonly caused by a discoordination between the chambers of the heart, and high blood pressure.

FIBROMYALGIA: This is an extremely complex syndrome which is also extremely common. The progressive myofascial shortening and stiffening effects causing pain, and dorsal vagal symptoms are most credited, but impaired interpersonal relationships probably stem from unappreciated chronic fight or flight effects on the limbic system.

MIGRAINES: A period of vascular insufficiency (usually in one side of the brain) causes 'aural' symptoms and then vascular engorgement follows a s a rebound and causes the pain. Ironically, the aural symptoms would be worrisome for a stroke in todays contest of heightened awareness of early stroke signs, were they not to occur in this context.

https://reichandlowentherapy.org/Content/Vegetative/sodh.html

 https://reichandlowentherapy.org/index.html site by Michael Samsel

Trauma Soma - Home (weebly.com)

Dr. Robert Scaer on Trauma – Thriving Now

Robert Scaer: Understanding the brain, and what happens in stress and trauma - Active Pause

Robert Scaer’s Trauma Model

"Syndrome of Disrupted Homeostasis (SODH) is a term coined by Robert Scaer MD to describe many diseases that are characterized by an alternation between an exaggerated sympathetic response and an exaggerated dorsal vagal response. Each swing of the pendulum 'causes' the return swing, but instead of increasingly smaller swings, the swings become greater over time. This causes symptoms to appear and disappear, to vary in intensity, and to vary in location. Eventually static and unchanging organ damage occurs."

"Questions of human misery and happiness are dealt with in all types of philosophy, psychotherapy, and self-improvement movements, often with brilliance and some accuracy, but rarely with any real change or benefit. Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowen broke the change barrier by addressing something obvious that had been overlooked: the visible unhealthy state of the body in which the person and the misery lives. At the same time, they kept a focus on lifestyle limitations imposed or encouraged by the larger society or the family in early life, and then later imposed by the person onto him- or herself. In sum, the limitations in physical capacities and lifestyle limitations reinforce each other, and together lead to a life with diminished total feeling, a strong predominance of bad feelings, diminished energy, and little enjoyment of relationships."