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The Broken Heart Syndrome
Two articles by Carl
Weisbrod
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| We like to
think of our
uniqueness, but in many ways we function exactly the same. . Certainly this is the case in the way our bodies deal with injury. Here is an example: . Imagine you're on a skiing trip and in a nasty fall you end up with a broken tibia in your left leg. *ouch* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's not necessary to know much about the individual to make a pretty good guess that immediately after the bone snapped there would be more numbness than pain along with symptoms of physiological depression. This is the trauma stage of a severe injury. Within a few minutes you would progress from trauma to the acute phase of the injury. There would be muscle spasms, internal hemorrhaging with swelling, and, of course, horrible pain! But the good news is that by the next day, or soon thereafter, the injury would enter its healing phase. So first there's the trauma that progresses rapidly into the acute period, and then into the healing phase. Are you with me so far? With a broken leg, in a few months, the tibia would be completely healed, and better yet, the bone mass at the site of the break would be stronger than before. Nature adds a layer of new bone over the break for good measure. And that's generally how injuries go, whether in the skeletal system, a soft tissue injury, or even within a system of consciousness...but I lost you with this last statement, didn't I? I've heard all the arguments. I'm frequently told that there's a difference between an injury within the mind and one within the body. With something like a broken bone there's damaged muscle and bone, but a broken heart "causes no tissue damage at all." There was a time when even physicians believed this to be true. But over the past 30 years, computerized diagnostic machines, such as the CT Scan, have shown something else to be true. An emotional trauma--such as a broken heart--disrupts goals and dreams, and this can cause a serious neuropeptide (brain protein) imbalance. With high-tech machines, such as a Positron Emission Tomography (PET Scan), or the latest computerized technology, the Spec Scan, the damage can be viewed just as the old-fashioned x-ray machine can see a broken bone. So why doesn't the acute pain of a broken heart progress to the dull ache of healing and then, in a relatively short time, allow our life to carry on as before? Let's go back to the imaginary broken bone. If you jumped up and kept right on doing what you were doing, what would happen? That's not unheard of. Highly competitive athletes have been known to stay in the game oblivious to a serious injury. But just as harmful, imagine what would happen if you lay where you fell and refused to move. At the time of any injury, whether it's muscle and bone or emotions and goals, there are necessary steps that must be taken for healing to begin. First, the trauma must be acknowledged. Competitive athletes train themselves to rely on adrenaline to carry them through a serious injury. They sometimes even go into denial and continue to perform. This dysfunctional system will trigger more pain as the body escalates the message that there's an injury that requires attention. Taking it a step further, think what would happen if you refused to immobilize the imaginary broken bone and attempted to walk around as if nothing had happened. It can happen exactly the same whether the injury is located in the leg or within a cognitive function of the brain. Can you see the possibility of prolonging the acute phase indefinitely? Making such errors of thinking can either block the healing process, or stretch it out from weeks into months or even years. When this happens, the injury is said to be chronic. Continued at the right side column >click< |
There are three basic types of cognition: (1) Emotionally Based (2) Logically Based (3) Deductively Based. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The emotionally-based style of thinking is wonderful for falling in love--but not so good for falling out of love. Using this mental process, thoughts can spiral into a sense of remorse or can even turn into anger and resentment. Love can't survive in a vacuum even though it sometimes offers that illusion. The best kind of love flows between two people within a powerful feedback loop. If that loop is broken, it can be extremely traumatic as the individuals regress into painful emotions. This makes it very difficult to move into the logical pattern of thought that is necessary to initiate healing. But even a logical thought processes may not solve the broken heart problem. Often, the skills necessary to start a healing process simply have yet to be learned. When this is the case, the mind tends to bounce back and forth between logical and emotional patterns of thought, and a painful cyclic pattern can develop. This is the point that the acute phase of a broken heart is at risk of becoming chronic. The solution requires the Deductive Based process of thought: Today's buzzword for the deductive process is thinking outside the box. It's interesting that this type of thinking is powerful when positive, but equally so when negative.
If you are presently broken hearted, it's a reasonable guess that you are either caught in a cyclic thought pattern or lack the necessary information necessary to begin the healing process... ...and my job as a therapist is to first talk you out of the painful cycles of thought and then provide the information that will allow the healing to start. I do that through an eBook, a workbook, an audio cassette, and one-on-one consultations by email, messenger board, or your telephone. This program isn't free, but thanks to the Internet, the cost is minuscule compared to in-office private psychotherapy sessions. You can check it out at this link: >click< Also check out the WDS E-Zine series. Topics include e-commerce, website building, world events, rip-offs, hypnotism, victim's issues, problem solving, etc. You can browse these e-zines at: >click< Questions? Here's my personal email address: >click< Aloha, Carl Weisbrod http://www.wdslibrary.com |