Saturday, November 23, 2013

The Mystery Known as Depression, Part 5/12


5. THE KEY ROLE OF EPIGENETICS

Although genetics may be partly responsible for depression in rare cases, by and large it is early life experience (including experience in the womb and birth trauma), that is the root cause. What we see at work is epigenetics, the altering of gene function without changes in the underlying DNA sequence (Booij et al., 2013). Those alterations, or deviations, if you will, often involve a biochemical process known as methylation. And it is through methylation that psychological trauma is imprinted. Thus the trauma – which can be as simple as a lack of caring and love by the mother – becomes “fixed” in the system and endures. It is the imprint, the linchpin of depression. The biochemistry, and ultimately the brain have been rerouted, sealing in depressive tendencies. It is this imprint that ultimately must be addressed and resolved.

What the scientific evidence shows more and more is that gestation and birth events are critical for later disease. In a 2010 study conducted at the Hannover Medical School in Germany,researchers concluded that “epigenetics is of considerable interest for the understanding of early life stress in depression.” The study, published in the journal Current Opinion in Psychiatry, found, among many other things, that unloved and untouched children had a predisposition to depression. (Schroeder, Krebs, Bleich, & Frieling, 2010). Recent work by a team of Canadian researchers also pointed to the critical role played by epigenetics. (Booij et al., 2013) 

The following passage is from their article:
“The functioning of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and serotonergic (5-HT) system are known to be intertwined with mood. Alterations in these systems are often associated with depression. However, neither (is) sufficient to cause depression in and of themselves. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the environment plays a crucial role, particularly, the perinatal environment. In this review, we posit that early environmental stress triggers a series of epigenetic mechanisms that adapt the genome and program the HPA axis and 5-HT system for survival in a harsh environment. We focus on DNA methylation as it is the most stable epigenetic mark. Given that DNA methylation patterns are in large part set within the perinatal period, long- term gene expression programming by DNA methylation is especially vulnerable to environmental insults during this period. We discuss specific examples of genes in the 5-HT system (serotonin transporter) and HPA axis (glucocorticoid receptor and arginine vasopressin enhancer) whose DNA methylation state is associated with early life experience and may potentially lead to depression vulnerability. We conclude with a discussion on the relevance of studying epigenetic mechanisms in peripheral tissue as a proxy for those occurring in the human brain and suggest avenues for future research.”
It seems that the fastest changes in methylation occur early in our lives, at the very least in the neonatal period, though this thesis is subject to further study. What is important now is that certain genes which should not be silenced, are. Thus, certain means of expression are suppressed, which is often the case in depression. None of this means that methylation “causes” the affliction but rather, there are adverse events very early in life that increase its production.


Though the Canadian researchers emphasize the perinatal period, we have found the imprint to lie earlier, as well. If the neonate is especially sensitive to environment insults, it surely is possible that those insults can occur earlier and form the primordial imprint that later gives rise to depression. Methylation, in brief, offers the primordial event that sets the prototype for later inhibition and repression; thus, high methylation may be a predictor for later depression. It means that certain key genes which should find expression are silenced, especially due to modification of the genes promoter region. The tendencies for no or difficult expression are imprinted.

My opinion is that some of these changes in physiology occur during our life in the womb, when the set-points of so many hormones are being established, including thyroid hormone. Indeed if we give a small does of thyroid medication to depressive patients there is a transient improvement. One may think that such deficiencies are genetic but there are events that can cause them that are not always obvious. They are only obvious when the patient in therapy descends down to the far reaches of the unconscious where the crucial explanation of one’s depression lies. One again relives the birth experience, the suffocation, strangulation, the hopeless battle to get out – the unutterable and ineffable despair. Of course, it is not given a name until years later but the feeling is there engraved in the nervous system. We can feel hopeless without giving it a label. In the face of adult adversity, the old imprint – wanting to give up – appears and is now called depression.

We give it that name because we have not seen the generating sources of deep imprinted despair, something we have observed many times. We name it depression because we do not know the hopelessness inside that makes us miserable. We give depression the name of the defense instead of its cause – pain.

3 comments:

  1. Graduates brain can be likened to being a safe ... a locked safe defending the key possible open it with.

    Their whole life will consist of an eternal quest for the key! They are looking for something they can not possibly find because they have closed the door without thinking about what was lost and how it happened!

    How should a small child in an adult's body trained to be an academics be able to stand up and tell his mother what it lacks? It to possibly be able to open the safe... a key... as the safe safely holding?

    Frank

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Paul!

    Why I do so persistently believe that something can be achieved through the courts!

    If we do not try we will never know the resultetat! If we try... we will present Janovs primal therapy to the rest of the world!

    If we hitter the right lawyers with the right rhetoric to perceive what primal therapy offers so we have won an incredible deal!

    Not to mention how Arthur expresses himself in so many cases... what even our own thoughts itself can be surprised by... in order to understand more than what our thoughts can do to defend their own sentences. It is akin to math... a mathematical vocabulary equations as he expresses "depression is not a feeling... it is a reaction because we do not experience the feeling" what arguments can one have to bypass that???

    There are a plethora of these arguments Janov has mentioned... which is impossible for the defense to get past!

    What do we have to lose? That is a question that occurs to me!? There is no one that can convince me otherwise... possibly if someone puts a gun to my head and says "regret what you said."

    ”I don't know you all”... how can a question of something so clear become an issue… "which brain do I talk to"?

    Your Frank,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Frank: Talk to the brain with all the money. Art

      Delete

Review of "Beyond Belief"

This thought-provoking and important book shows how people are drawn toward dangerous beliefs.
“Belief can manifest itself in world-changing ways—and did, in some of history’s ugliest moments, from the rise of Adolf Hitler to the Jonestown mass suicide in 1979. Arthur Janov, a renowned psychologist who penned The Primal Scream, fearlessly tackles the subject of why and how strong believers willingly embrace even the most deranged leaders.
Beyond Belief begins with a lucid explanation of belief systems that, writes Janov, “are maps, something to help us navigate through life more effectively.” While belief systems are not presented as inherently bad, the author concentrates not just on why people adopt belief systems, but why “alienated individuals” in particular seek out “belief systems on the fringes.” The result is a book that is both illuminating and sobering. It explores, for example, how a strongly-held belief can lead radical Islamist jihadists to murder others in suicide acts. Janov writes, “I believe if people had more love in this life, they would not be so anxious to end it in favor of some imaginary existence.”
One of the most compelling aspects of Beyond Belief is the author’s liberal use of case studies, most of which are related in the first person by individuals whose lives were dramatically affected by their involvement in cults. These stories offer an exceptional perspective on the manner in which belief systems can take hold and shape one’s experiences. Joan’s tale, for instance, both engaging and disturbing, describes what it was like to join the Hare Krishnas. Even though she left the sect, observing that participants “are stunted in spiritual awareness,” Joan considers returning someday because “there’s a certain protection there.”
Janov’s great insight into cultish leaders is particularly interesting; he believes such people have had childhoods in which they were “rejected and unloved,” because “only unloved people want to become the wise man or woman (although it is usually male) imparting words of wisdom to others.” This is just one reason why Beyond Belief is such a thought-provoking, important book.”
Barry Silverstein, Freelance Writer

Quotes for "Life Before Birth"

“Life Before Birth is a thrilling journey of discovery, a real joy to read. Janov writes like no one else on the human mind—engaging, brilliant, passionate, and honest.
He is the best writer today on what makes us human—he shows us how the mind works, how it goes wrong, and how to put it right . . . He presents a brand-new approach to dealing with depression, emotional pain, anxiety, and addiction.”
Paul Thompson, PhD, Professor of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine

Art Janov, one of the pioneers of fetal and early infant experiences and future mental health issues, offers a robust vision of how the earliest traumas of life can percolate through the brains, minds and lives of individuals. He focuses on both the shifting tides of brain emotional systems and the life-long consequences that can result, as well as the novel interventions, and clinical understanding, that need to be implemented in order to bring about the brain-mind changes that can restore affective equanimity. The transitions from feelings of persistent affective turmoil to psychological wholeness, requires both an understanding of the brain changes and a therapist that can work with the affective mind at primary-process levels. Life Before Birth, is a manifesto that provides a robust argument for increasing attention to the neuro-mental lives of fetuses and infants, and the widespread ramifications on mental health if we do not. Without an accurate developmental history of troubled minds, coordinated with a recognition of the primal emotional powers of the lowest ancestral regions of the human brain, therapists will be lost in their attempt to restore psychological balance.
Jaak Panksepp, Ph.D.
Bailey Endowed Chair of Animal Well Being Science
Washington State University

Dr. Janov’s essential insight—that our earliest experiences strongly influence later well being—is no longer in doubt. Thanks to advances in neuroscience, immunology, and epigenetics, we can now see some of the mechanisms of action at the heart of these developmental processes. His long-held belief that the brain, human development, and psychological well being need to studied in the context of evolution—from the brainstem up—now lies at the heart of the integration of neuroscience and psychotherapy.
Grounded in these two principles, Dr. Janov continues to explore the lifelong impact of prenatal, birth, and early experiences on our brains and minds. Simultaneously “old school” and revolutionary, he synthesizes traditional psychodynamic theories with cutting-edge science while consistently highlighting the limitations of a strict, “top-down” talking cure. Whether or not you agree with his philosophical assumptions, therapeutic practices, or theoretical conclusions, I promise you an interesting and thought-provoking journey.
Lou Cozolino, PsyD, Professor of Psychology, Pepperdine University


In Life Before Birth Dr. Arthur Janov illuminates the sources of much that happens during life after birth. Lucidly, the pioneer of primal therapy provides the scientific rationale for treatments that take us through our original, non-verbal memories—to essential depths of experience that the superficial cognitive-behavioral modalities currently in fashion cannot possibly touch, let alone transform.
Gabor Maté MD, author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction

An expansive analysis! This book attempts to explain the impact of critical developmental windows in the past, implores us to improve the lives of pregnant women in the present, and has implications for understanding our children, ourselves, and our collective future. I’m not sure whether primal therapy works or not, but it certainly deserves systematic testing in well-designed, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trials.
K.J.S. Anand, MBBS, D. Phil, FAACP, FCCM, FRCPCH, Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Anatomy & Neurobiology, Senior Scholar, Center for Excellence in Faith and Health, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare System


A baby's brain grows more while in the womb than at any time in a child's life. Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script That Rules Our Lives is a valuable guide to creating healthier babies and offers insight into healing our early primal wounds. Dr. Janov integrates the most recent scientific research about prenatal development with the psychobiological reality that these early experiences do cast a long shadow over our entire lifespan. With a wealth of experience and a history of successful psychotherapeutic treatment, Dr. Janov is well positioned to speak with clarity and precision on a topic that remains critically important.
Paula Thomson, PsyD, Associate Professor, California State University, Northridge & Professor Emeritus, York University

"I am enthralled.
Dr. Janov has crafted a compelling and prophetic opus that could rightly dictate
PhD thesis topics for decades to come. Devoid of any "New Age" pseudoscience,
this work never strays from scientific orthodoxy and yet is perfectly accessible and
downright fascinating to any lay person interested in the mysteries of the human psyche."
Dr. Bernard Park, MD, MPH

His new book “Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script that Rules Our Lives” shows that primal therapy, the lower-brain therapeutic method popularized in the 1970’s international bestseller “Primal Scream” and his early work with John Lennon, may help alleviate depression and anxiety disorders, normalize blood pressure and serotonin levels, and improve the functioning of the immune system.
One of the book’s most intriguing theories is that fetal imprinting, an evolutionary strategy to prepare children to cope with life, establishes a permanent set-point in a child's physiology. Baby's born to mothers highly anxious during pregnancy, whether from war, natural disasters, failed marriages, or other stressful life conditions, may thus be prone to mental illness and brain dysfunction later in life. Early traumatic events such as low oxygen at birth, painkillers and antidepressants administered to the mother during pregnancy, poor maternal nutrition, and a lack of parental affection in the first years of life may compound the effect.
In making the case for a brand-new, unified field theory of psychotherapy, Dr. Janov weaves together the evolutionary theories of Jean Baptiste Larmarck, the fetal development studies of Vivette Glover and K.J.S. Anand, and fascinating new research by the psychiatrist Elissa Epel suggesting that telomeres—a region of repetitive DNA critical in predicting life expectancy—may be significantly altered during pregnancy.
After explaining how hormonal and neurologic processes in the womb provide a blueprint for later mental illness and disease, Dr. Janov charts a revolutionary new course for psychotherapy. He provides a sharp critique of cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, and other popular “talk therapy” models for treating addiction and mental illness, which he argues do not reach the limbic system and brainstem, where the effects of early trauma are registered in the nervous system.
“Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script that Rules Our Lives” is scheduled to be published by NTI Upstream in October 2011, and has tremendous implications for the future of modern psychology, pediatrics, pregnancy, and women’s health.
Editor