Healing the Limbic System
An important part of healing from chronic illness involves helping the adrenal, nervous, and limbic systems return to their calm, pre-illness state. The limbic system is a complex network of nerves and structures in the brain. Its primary function is to regulate bodily functions and hormone production in response to the environment, as well as create emotions and memory. I think of the limbic system as a filter, monitoring and interpreting our surroundings to determine how we react moment to moment.
A limbic system response happens without conscious control or input. Seeing a bear in the woods leads to a huge surge of adrenaline and fear as the limbic system activates the flight or fight response. These responses are part of our primal survival mechanisms and happen instantaneously. There are no decisions, or choices. Unfortunately, sometimes the body responds as if seeing a bear, when a lesser reaction would be more appropriate. This is common in chronic illness.
Chronic health issues can hijack normal limbic system function. When the limbic system is amped up, people experience huge physical and emotional reactions to mild stimuli, including light, sounds, fragrances, touch, and even electromagnetic fields. For some people with tick borne infections, mold exposure, severe allergies or multiple chemical sensitivity, just getting through each day without a massive bodily response becomes a major accomplishment.
Both the underlying illness and the limbic system’s reaction can affect the entire brain – often leading to confusion, forgetfulness, and difficulty processing information or making decisions. And it’s not just the brain that is involved – physical symptoms including increased sensitivity to pain, digestive problems, skin reactivity, insomnia and fatigue all have links to a hyperactive limbic system.
Limbic involvement can make the ill person seem changed. Because the limbic system regulates emotions in addition to our physical reactions, a dysfunctional limbic system can leave people susceptible to extreme states of anxiety, negativity, depression, hopelessness and fear. Doctors and loved ones often react to these changes as if the ill person has become irrational, manipulative, or controlling. This looks like mental illness. In reality, the person whose limbic system is hijacked is quite literally suffering from brain damage.
Sadly, our medical system can make matters worse. Too often, when people have unusual symptoms, encounters with our health system leaves them feeling confused, unsupported, dismissed, or even blamed for their problems.
I believe limbic dysfunction from illness is a form of PTSD, and should be treated as such.
Symptoms that Suggest Limbic Dysfunction
- Anxiety, irritability, or panic attacks when exposed to specific odors or chemicals
- Rapid onset of brain fog, fatigue, headache, nausea, or neurological symptoms from mild exposure to triggers
- Unexplained severe pain or discomfort
- Increased sensitivity to Light, Sound, Touch, Smell, Taste, WiFi or other EMFs
- Heightened sense of smell or taste
- Increasing intolerances to food, medications, or supplements
What Can You Do?
Getting Professional Help:
Severe cases of limbic dysfunction require professional assistance. Rewiring the brain’s responses is a complicated task that requires commitment and guidance. A program I recommend to help with this process is Rewiring The Brain, developed by Dr. Hopper. This program relies on research into neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to change and involves several simple techniques taught in videos. These techniques are similar to those used to treat PTSD and at leadership seminars. The recommendation in the case of limbic hyperactivity is to commit to working at least 30 minutes a day for several months, as repetition is critical to developing new limbic patterns. I have seen this program return many people to full joyful living after years of illness.
Dr. Hopper hosts an on-site program, but it is not available during COVID. It is also expensive and involves travel, which makes it complicated for many of my patients. However, her DVDs or the streaming option she offers work for most people.
For more info, visit: Dynamic Neural Retraining System
Things You Can Try on Your Own:
Some people cannot commit to Retraining your Brain right now for financial or logistical reasons. If this is true for you, here are some exercises you can do on your own to help you feel better until you are in a place where formal assistance is feasible.
Be Patient: Calming limbic reactions takes time and repetition – lots and lots of repetition. You are building a new path, one stone at a time.
Write It Down and Toss It Out: This technique helps to remove energy from a negative loop. Get a piece of paper and write for 15 minutes. Write everything that worries, frightens, or frustrates you. Use strong words – let yourself vent! Without reading what you have written, tear it to shreds. You have removed some of your energy from the problem. There are other techniques similar to this one – try searching on the web. If you find something that works for you, keep doing it!
Focus on the Positives: Most of us walk around ruminating about problems we cannot fix. Try to reclaim control of where your attention goes. If you focus on positives, you are more likely to notice them in the future. Maintaining a healthy balance in where you put your attention is critical. Think of things and people that make you feel happy and alive.
Only Forecast a Happy, Healthy Future: Many studies show that when we pay attention to negative things from the past or forecast problems in the future, we wire our brains to notice and create negative situations. We’re telling our brains to amplify inputs that are keeping us in a place of suffering. Train yourself not to put words to any negative feelings or pain about the future. Only forecast positive things.
(Sidenote: the brain doesn’t understand the word no. If you say “tomorrow I will not have a headache”, all your brain hears is “tomorrow…headache”. Instead try to say “I’m going to feel amazing tomorrow”.)
Set Goals: Try to keep coming back to what you want to be well for, how it will feel, and how you’re going to get there. Imagine yourself feeling great, walking a marathon, playing with family and friends, living without constraints. Imagine it in as much detail as you can. Your brain will work with you to get you there.
Distract your Mind from Pain and Other Symptoms: We know from brain mapping that people who have chronic pain have larger areas in the brain devoted to the painful area than people without pain. It takes discipline to ignore uncomfortable symptoms, but even severe pain will become less bothersome as you move your focus elsewhere in your body. You can focus, for example, on the sensation of your breathing, of slowly rubbing your hands together or twirling your hair. Over time your brain wiring will actually change to shift away from negative feedback from your body.
Avoid Stories: It’s important to stop attaching stories to your symptoms: Simply acknowledge how you feel without interpreting or trying to understand why. For example:
A story: I think I got exposed to mold in my friend’s car – it is on my clothes, I’ve contaminated my house, and it’s making me sick. I am having a panic attack, my eyes burn, and I think I’m getting a headache. Something is wrong with me. I bet I am not going to be able to sleep and I’ll feel even worse tomorrow.”
An acknowledgement: I don’t feel good. My heartbeat is too fast, I’m frightened, my eyes are burning.
The acknowledgement is far better at helping your limbic system calm itself than the story. Try to avoid narrating your past, and projecting into the future. Acknowledge how you feel in the moment, then do what you can do to put your focus on something that makes you happy.