“We’re the general contractors of our health, and there’s so many micro-changes we can make towards flourishing.” - Donna Jackson Nakazawa
This audio is a brief excerpt of her interview video at the Reset Super Conference titled Trauma and immune responses in the brain.
The Conference site summarizes some main points, and gives a profile:
How chronic stress impacts our immune system
The tie between the brain’s immune system responses and mental health
Science-based practices to reprogram the brain
“Journalist and author Donna Jackson Nakazawa describes how chronic stressors can activate immune responses in the brain and cause anxiety, depression and even Alzheimer’s.
“Nakazawa is an award-winning science journalist, author of six books, and an internationally-recognized speaker whose work explores the intersection of neuroscience, immunology, and human emotion.
“Her book "The Angel and the Assassin: The Tiny Brain Cell That Changed the Course of Medicine" was named one of the best books of 2020 by Wired magazine. Her other books include Childhood Disrupted and The Last Best Cure.”
Learn about multiple programs by Donna Jackson Nakazawa, including “Your Healing Narrative: Write-to-Heal With Neural Re-Narrating™” and “Breaking Free From Trauma.”
See more in article How Trauma and stress impact our immune system and mental health.
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"Studies over the past 30 years show there is a greater likelihood of autoimmune disorders, mental health concerns, depression, anxiety, bipolar, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, and heart disease.
"There is almost not an illness, or medical concern, or mental health concern that is not tied to a history of Adverse Childhood Experiences."
⏩ See her full interview "Overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences" at the Anxiety Super Conference Sept16-22 + 28-30 (2024).
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One of her books is Childhood Disrupted [Bookshop.org] [Amazon]
Nakazawa writes:
“This book explores how the experiences of childhood shape us into the adults we become.
Cutting-edge research tells us that what doesn’t kill you doesn’t necessarily make you stronger.
Far more often, the opposite is true: the early chronic unpredictable stressors, losses, and adversities we face as children shape our biology in ways that predetermine our adult health.
This early biological blueprint depicts our proclivity to develop life-altering adult illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia, and depression.
It also lays the groundwork for how we relate to others, how successful our love relationships will be, and how well we will nurture and raise our own children.
My own investigation into the relationship between childhood adversity and adult physical health began after I’d spent more than a dozen years struggling to manage several life-limiting autoimmune illnesses while raising young children and working as a journalist.
In my forties, I was paralyzed twice with an autoimmune disease known as Guillain-Barré syndrome, similar to multiple sclerosis, but with a more sudden onset.
I had muscle weakness; pervasive numbness; a pacemaker for vasovagal syncope, a fainting and seizing disorder; white and red blood cell counts so low my doctor suspected a problem was brewing in my bone marrow; and thyroid disease.
Still I knew: I was fortunate to be alive, and I was determined to live the fullest life possible.
If the muscles in my hands didn’t cooperate, I clasped an oversized pencil in my fist to write.
If I couldn’t get up the stairs because my legs resisted, I sat down halfway up and rested.
I gutted through days battling flulike fatigue—pushing away fears about what might happen to my body next; faking it through work phone calls while lying prone on the floor; reserving what energy I had for moments with my children, husband, and family life; pretending that our “normal” was really okay by me.
It had to be—there was no alternative in sight.”
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