Emotions influence everything we do. I am sure at some time or another you have been frustrated, joyful, or maybe even embarrassed. So where do emotions come from? Your limbic system in your brain.
You can find the structures of the limbic system buried deep within the brain, underneath the cerebral cortex, and above the brainstem. The limbic system is the part of the brain involved in our behavioral and emotional responses, especially the fight, flight, or freeze response to threats.
This horseshoe-shaped area is thought to control your emotions and other brain functions related to memories and instincts. Research has found a connection between your limbic system and feelings of motivation, reward, learning, and memory. Also, it produces hormones that regulate your autonomic nervous system.
The four main structures of the limbic system are the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and cingulate gyrus. Ideally, they all work together to keep your body going at its physical best and your mental and emotional states stable. One or more parts of your limbic system can become dysfunctional.
The amygdala is made up of two almond-shaped structures located right next to the hippocampus. It plays a central role in your emotional responses like feelings of anxiety, pleasure, fear, and anger. The amygdala is responsible for identifying and categorizing stimulation. It determines what is a threat, what can be ignored, and what is desirable. It also attaches emotional content to our memories, which is how we powerfully store those memories. We tend to remember the things that are tied to strong memories best.
Your amygdala responds immediately to any internal or external threats and sends out the message to your body to activate that fight, flight, or freeze response. It will trigger the release of stress hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, and epinephrine which cause physical symptoms like making your pupils dilate, and your muscles get tense. Your blood pressure will rise, your heart rate will increase, and you will breathe deeper.
The hippocampus is beside the amygdala. This is how we learn and remember information. The hippocampus forms and stores new memories and solidifies short-term memories into long-term memories. It connects your emotions with your senses which is why you associate some smells, tastes, or sounds with certain memories. The hippocampus stores information related to past traumas as well. Therefore, you can hear, see, or smell something that triggers a panic attack.
Chronic stress and high levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, can physically decrease both the size of the hippocampus and the number of neurons in the area. That “brain fog” you have or when you are constantly forgetting things might be from the changes to your hippocampus under stress. The good news is that the hippocampus can regenerate. It’s a process called neurogenesis.
Your hypothalamus is one of the busiest parts of your brain, it takes in and sends out much information. The hypothalamus regulates the hormones that guide your autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for things like your pulse rate, blood pressure, and breathing. The hypothalamus also plays a role in hunger, thirst,
metabolism, sensory processing, sex drive, your sleep/wake cycle, and more.
Your cingulate gyrus is part of the limbic cortex, and it provides a pathway from the thalamus to the hippocampus. It plays many roles and seems to be responsible for your emotional response to pain, in cognitive and attention processing, and for associating memories to smells. Your cingulate gyrus helps you focus your attention on threatening stimuli and generates protective behavior like fight, flight, or freeze.
Your limbic system might become hypersensitive because of multiple traumas and stressors. This chronic, maladaptive stress response affects the brain and body. Just mold illness alone, because of the brain inflammation, can trigger this.
Your limbic system goes all out of balance when your body has reached its limit of all the stressors it can handle. Your limbic system causes many bodily functions to go off balance including your autonomic nervous system. You might be experiencing multiple symptoms that affect many different body systems when your limbic system becomes dysfunctional or hypersensitive.
Typical symptoms related to limbic system hypersensitivity are:
- Increased sensitivity to light, sound, touch, smell, or taste
- Brain fog, decreased focus, or memory problems
- Fatigue
- Headaches and unexplained pain or discomfort
- Speech problems
- Sensitivity to electromagnetic fields
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Difficulty regulating body temperature
- Unexplained fluctuations in blood pressure and heart rate
- Unusual reactions or sensitivity to chemicals, supplements, or medications
- Digestive issues such as constipation, diarrhea, bloating, and gas
- Mood swings and irritability
- Anxiety, depression, and panic attacks
Understanding your limbic system’s role in your health is vital to recognizing how trauma and chronic stressors have created dysfunction and contributed to your many symptoms in your body.
Step 1 to help your limbic system out of dysfunction
The first thing we need to do to get well from mold illness is to cultivate a positive mind set for healing. One way to do that is to take total responsibility for your healing. Commit to doing whatever it takes to get well. Believe that you will heal. Take it one day at a time.
Create a vision of the future you want and work toward that. That means you need to remind yourself of that future and why you want it. This can be done by keeping a journal of all your wins, even the little ones, maybe even rewarding yourself for having done what it takes..
Step 2 to help your limbic system out of dysfunction
Next, you need to break free from the negative neural patterns. It is important to stop doing things that support the negative patterns that cause your symptoms. No more dwelling on the symptoms you are having but keep your eye on your healthy future. Stop talking about your symptoms to others, stop looking up new ways to fix your symptoms, quit looking for the why you have this or that symptom. All of those things release more stress hormones in your body which just keep the loop going. Give your mind and body a break, they deserve it. Think like a healthy person. They don’t monitor every little thing they are eating, sleeping etc.
This means you also need to avoid stressful stimuli. We don’t want anything that triggers that stress response if possible. Don’t be around toxic people, don’t try to control things you can’t, stay away from the news, horror movies, etc. Instead, surround yourself with encouraging, loving, supportive people, good news, gratitude over every little thing, healthy pass times, learn something new on your bucket list, laugh as much as possible. Protect your positive state.
Step 3 to help your limbic system out of dysfunction
Another step is to work on your vagus nerve. This nerve starts at your brain stem and goes all the way to your gut. Great name for a nerve that does this since the name means “wandering”.
Information goes both directions along this nerve. Toxins, infections, and gut inflammation trigger inflammation of this nerve. So, this inflammation will keep the stress loop going. So make sure you take great care of this nerve, because it literally can help you to get well.
So in conclusion, take steps to make sure you get well by committing to doing whatever it takes to get well, freeing yourself from negative neural patterns, and taking care of your vagus nerve.
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