MARY SHOMON: Q: Often, with thyroid disease, we are told that the holistic view of thyroid disease is that we develop this condition because of an inability to speak up, or speak out. (The throat connection is usually brought up.) That is why, in this particularly way of thinking, it also affects far more women than men, as women are more likely to feel unable to speak their mind. As someone who has absolutely no trouble speaking my mind, but still has a thyroid condition, I don't fit that particular view. But in general, I have a major problem with this sort of "blame the victim" sensibility in the holistic view of physiological diseases. But, at the same time, that doesn't mean that there aren't mind-body aspects or even causative elements in thyroid conditions. Do you have any thoughts on this?
JAN NICHOLSON, EdD: I have a problem also with any point of view that contributes to people feeling like they are being blamed for getting sick, and blamed for not successfully intending themselves well. At the same time, it is important not to throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. Mind-body interaction is such a critical factor in optimal health, healthy immune system functioning, and so on. It's always useful to think about symptoms and what they might be communicating to you. An excellent book to read on this subject is Awakening Intuition: Using Your Mind-Body Network for Insight and Healing by Mona Lisa Schulz, MD, PhD. A neuropsychiatrist and neuroscientist who works as a medical intuitive, she talks about how her own health concerns were the medium by which she realized it was imperative for her to make some changes in her life. She has Graves' disease (in remission) and is quite open about how she feels her psychological issues have influenced her thyroid condition. It is always good to look at both sides of any issue.
Dr. Schulz talks about how the throat area of the body is associated with communication (which means not just being able to speak up but also being able to be a good listener), with timing (knowing when and how to achieve what we want, sometimes pushing forward and sometimes having patience for things to unfold rather than always tending to push or always tending to wait), and will (knowing when to assert our own and when to comply with that of others). She sees herself as a bull in a china shop, essentially, which is the opposite of what we might think of when we think of a personality type that might have difficulty in the throat area. It is all about balance.
You can help yourself to be more aware of the emotional/psychological aspects of an illness through the use of mind-body techniques. For instance, attributing to a symptom a personality, then having a dialogue with it as if it is another person; when you put the ego aside and let your unconscious speak, wonderful insights can result. You can take a look at the cookbook approach which some authors take, such as if you have a thyroid problem then you have a problem speaking up, and see if that fits for you or not. If it does, then begin to work on being more assertive, more vocal, or as I was just saying, take a look at the more comprehensive approach of Dr. Schulz and see if the opposite tack would benefit you in your life--and therefore in your health.
Integrative clinical psychologist Jan Nicholson, EdD is a 1983 graduate of Harvard University’s Counseling and Consulting Psychology program, completing her predoctoral internship at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Additionally, she completed a two-year training program in Gestalt Psychology at the Washington Center for Consciousness Studies, and a semester in International Trauma Studies at NYU. Her passion has been to explore mind-body medicine throughout her career and to integrate such approaches into her therapeutic work, including meditative awareness, guided imagery, clinical hypnosis, coreSomatics, SomatoEmotional Release, Reconnective HealingTM, Reiki, and EMDR. She has a private practice with offices in both Alexandria and Falls Church, Virginia. You can read more about her work at her web site .
