How Psychological Abuse Contributes To Your Toxic Load.

“ … in order to thrive we must receive the raw materials that we need to carry out our biological processes and we must stay away from influences that are harmful and which impair our machine from functioning normally.” — Stephen J. Genuis & colleagues.

Psychological and emotional trauma is not only mentally taxing, but it's also a physiological load on every inch of your body. Once your kidneys, liver, and lymphatics are overworked, the rest of your body begins to struggle too.

Many toxins, including heavy metals and pesticides, are not able to be flushed and remain in our elimination organs, though I will discuss these in future, today’s story is mostly about the toxic buildup that can occur from stress and trauma.

“Stress is a condition whereby environmental factors tax or exceed the adaptive capacity of individuals to a point where psychological and physiological responses may place them at risk for disease.” — Dr Marino A. Bruce & colleagues.

A lot of information is available on how kidney and liver disorders lead to psychiatric disorders, though the research on the bi-directional relationship is still relatively new.

What is psychological abuse?

Abuse is deliberate and mostly repetitive, there are breaks in between, though that is part of the abuse. Victims are broken down and then put back together to be broken again.

A victim doesn’t become a victim by leaving. Instead, victims are groomed till they believe without a doubt that their abuser would never hurt them, then when they do hurt them, their abuser quickly blames the victim, assuming a position of teacher and saviour.

An abuser will bandage the cuts on their own victims while saying, “You shouldn’t have made me so angry.”

People are becoming far more familiar with terms like passive aggression, smear campaigns, projection, black & white thinking, and grooming, yet emotional abuse is still common, and the problem seems to be rising.

Psychological abuse is normally behind closed doors, though public shaming and gossiping about that person are abusive, too. The power and control wheel covers some examples of psychological violence:

Allostatic load.

Stress or trauma becomes toxic when it is prolonged and there is no support. Humans have made recoveries through some of the most devastating traumas in history with strong support systems.

The total amount of clinically measurable stress that a person has undertaken at any point in time is referred to as that person’s allostatic load.

“Allostatic load refers to the cumulative burden of chronic stress and life events... Allostatic load is identified by the use of biomarkers and clinical criteria.” — Jenny Guidi & colleagues.

When the body has suffered considerable stress and can no longer maintain homeostasis, the person may present with both of the following clinical criteria for allostatic overload.

Repressing emotions effectively suppresses immunity and increases your risk of illness. With a suppressed immunity and sluggish elimination system, the body is at greater risk of inflammation and kidney and liver disease.

Your Kidneys & Liver Under Stress.

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) responds to prolonged stress by increasing the heart rate and blood pressure which in turn reduces vascular reactivity and constricts the arteries to the kidneys.

Anyone who has experienced abuse knows that increased heart rate only worsens over time if you don’t leave.

Increased blood pressure causes the kidneys to release renin to constrict the arteries, however, prolonged stress leads to long-term tissue damage to the arteries and kidneys. Elevated blood sugar levels and stress hormones also contribute to the risk of kidney damage.

When the kidneys can’t filter blood efficiently, uremic toxins accumulate. Ureic toxins have neurotoxic effects and are linked to behavioural changes, fatigue, increased sensitivity to stress, and depression.

“… accumulation of IS (indoxyl sulphate) led to behavioral alterations, including apathetic behavior, increased stress sensitivity and reduced locomotor and exploratory activity.” — Ziad A. Massy.

Researchers recommend monitoring the kidney function of people who are diagnosed with stress-related disorders (psychiatric disorders developed as a result of stress) because of their increased risk of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Psychological stress releases stress hormones, elevates gastrointestinal lipopolysaccharide, and decreases blood flow and oxygen to the liver, which all lead to long-term liver damage.

Liver immune tolerance prevents foreign substances from entering the liver and activating the immune system under normal circumstances, however, when the body is under psychological stress, excess toxins cause overactivation of the immune system and inflammation of the liver.

Prolonged stress activates the SNS to respond to alterations of liver and intestinal blood flow by increasing the susceptibility of tissue to inflammation under stress.

Maintaining a healthy body will always involve managing a healthy mind and that means creating an environment where stress is manageable and motivating.

Thank you for reading.❤

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