MENTAL SYMPTOMS OF FOOD ALLERGY OR INTOLERANCE: OVER-STIMULATION OF THE SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
Over-stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system can produce psychosomatic symptoms such as diarrhoea, nervousness, tremors, high blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms. Whereas in the wild, the effect of a burst of adrenaline would be worked off by the strenuous exercise (running for your life) that followed, this does not happen when the adrenaline is generated by an unpleasant encounter with a bank manager or traffic warden. Our instinctive reactions seem to be rooted in the past and they are not always appropriate to twentieth-century living. To make matters worse, adrenaline production is encouraged by smoking and by too much sugar, alcohol or coffee.
Over activity by the parasympathetic can also result in bowel disturbances, or contraction of the bronchi producing asthma, or over-secretion of acid by the stomach eventually leading to stomach ulcers.
A third way in which symptoms can be produced is through mental tension being translated into muscle tension, especially in the muscles of the neck, jaw and head. Prolonged tightening of these muscles can produce headache, and possibly migraine.
In addition there are conditions where the psychological component is only a small part of the story – it can make the symptoms worse but not initiate the illness. This is true of eczema, psoriasis and most cases of asthma Exactly how the mind affects such symptoms is not known, except in the case of asthma where the autonomic nervous system can make the bronchi contract in reponse to anxiety or emotion.
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Tags: Allergies