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ENDOCRINOLOGY

Two regulatory systems keep the balance among all body functions: the nervous system and the endocrine system. The nervous system uses electrical and chemical signals to interact with the body’s organs, muscles, glands, and senses. The endocrine system uses chemical signals—hormones—that may target virtually any part of the organism. Hormones are secreted by the following endocrine glands: the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal cortex, pineal, and thymus, as well as by parts of the ovaries, testes, pancreas, kidneys, stomach, small intestine, and placenta. As for the exocrine glands (like digestive glands and sweat glands), their products are secreted not into the bloodstream, but instead toward the outside or toward body cavities.

ADRENAL CORTEX

Above each of the two kidneys sits an adrenal gland, each of which has two distinct regions: the adrenal medulla and the adrenal cortex. The adrenal cortex produces hormones that regulate carbohydrate and fat metabolism as well as salt and water balances in the body. The adrenal cortex also mediates the body’s stress response. The discussion that follows pertains to the middle cortical layer, the part of the adrenal cortex that produces cortisol.

It is worth noting that the adrenal cortex and the gonads are very close in their embryologic nature, having a common origin. Both manufacture cortisol and sex hormones.

Figure 4.1. Endocrine system

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

Problems with the adrenal cortex and cortisol production relate to a fear of taking a wrong turn in life. This fear of having gone in the wrong direction, of being on the wrong path, whether it’s a real, imaginary, or symbolic one, may result in a loss of self-esteem for not having found the right road. The feelings of being lost may also relate to having strayed from the flock.

When a lost animal, in search of his flock, takes the wrong road, nature deadens the adrenal cortex so that the gland no longer works. This means that although the animal wants to be active and run, he no longer has the strength to continue along the wrong way. He stops, exhausted. (It’s the absence of the secretion of cortisol that produces this fatigue.) The result is that he cannot continue to distance himself from the flock. This is a life-saving mechanism, keeping the animal close to the flock so that he has more chance of finding it again. When the animal is back on the right track, a healing phase happens. The necrosis of the adrenal gland is quickly reversed and the animal can find the flock again at top speed. While you would expect the animal to be tired in the healing phase, nature produces an “injection” of cortisol, facilitating the return to the flock. Nature is capable of inventing an adequate response to any situation. Biological meaning is found just as much in the conflict phase as in the healing phase.

Figure 4.2. Structure of the adrenal gland

Example:

At the first consultation, Ms. M parked in front of the office door and then walked off looking for the office elsewhere. She had seen several therapists over a period of three years because her energy had been depleted.

Ms. M had never left her family. When her mother died, she took her mother’s place. She told me that her goal was to find the right path. In December 1991, she was in a job that she didn’t like because she didn’t feel she belonged there. In January 1992, she began a degree in social relations. In June 1992, she realized that the program wasn’t what she expected, yet she continued for three years without believing in it.

While Ms. M was looking for the right path, she produced an adrenal conflict that resulted in a drop in cortisol and its accompanying fatigue.

Neuronal connection: Brain marrow

Embryologic origin: New mesoderm

PANCREAS

The pancreas contains exocrine cells, which secrete digestive enzymes into the small intestine, and endocrine cells, which secrete hormones that help regulate blood sugar balance. The following discussion pertains only to the endocrine cells of the pancreas, called the islets of Langerhans.

Specific Disorders of the Pancreas

The two main disorders of the pancreas’s endocrine function are hypo- and hyperglycemia.

 

Two Types of Blood Sugar Imbalance

For right-handed people:

resistance right male ectoderm beta cells insulin hyperglycemia loathing left female ectoderm alpha cells glucagon hypoglycemia

The opposite applies for left-handed persons.

 

Hyperglycemia

Hyperglycemia is an increase in plasma glucose (blood sugar), which can turn into a complex medical condition if not treated promptly and adequately. Symptoms of hyperglycemia are an excess of urine and excessive thirst and hunger. Hyperglycemia is usually the first sign of diabetes mellitus. Hyperglycemia involves the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas and beta cells.

Hyperglycemia and its associated health problems are related to an essentially male conflict of the right hemisphere. The conflict is one of fear and resistance with regard to someone or something. I have seen this conflict emerge in people who were hospitalized unwillingly or had an abortion against their will, for instance. This is a conflict of feeling pushed into doing something horrible, like harming oneself. In each of these conflicts, it’s necessary to prepare for action, so the body puts sugar in the arteries to make it available quickly to the muscles when they have to act. After a certain point, if this mechanism is overused, the function will have trouble starting up again.

Hyperglycemia can develop when one is coasting along through life and then suddenly a frightful ordeal happens. It’s hard to move into action, but the sugar is ready—it’s waiting there in the blood. At first the body resists the struggle, halting the secretion of insulin until the moment of “combat.” It’s during this resistance that hyperglycemia occurs. Later, when the moment of combat happens, the sugar is ready to be used immediately by the muscles. For the left-handed person in particular, hyperglycemia relates to issues of fear and loathing.

Hyperglycemia also relates to conflicts of softness and authority. Insulin is associated with authority and sugar with softness. The diabetic seeks softness, softness and nothing but softness, in all relationships. This individual feels confronted by authority and unable to resist it, but he wants affection. Certain diabetics are occasionally susceptible or have an inclination to be very slightly paranoid when it comes to remarks made by those around them.

Within the word diabetes we find dia, meaning “across” or “through” and suggesting a division in two, and bete, suggesting beith, which means “house” in Hebrew. In cases of diabetes, there is often a house that is cut in two. The individual feels excluded from affection and separated from the home. This causes a sense of injustice and feelings of being on the outside while all of the softness and affection is inside.

The therapist working with someone with diabetes needs to look at issues of softness vs. authority and resistance vs. action to determine if these pairs are balanced.

Examples:

Mr. G was an immigrant from Spain. He was the only one in his ninth-grade class who wouldn’t be taking the skiing class, since his family couldn’t afford the expense. In front of the whole class he had to say that he wasn’t going. He resisted doing this. He had a fear of speaking in front of everyone and he lost sleep over it. He finally moved into action, because he had to. He described to me how the rest of the class would take advantage of the softness of the snow, but he wouldn’t be able to; he remained on the outside with no access to the softness. A few days later he was hospitalized for a diabetic coma.

Mrs. X was afflicted with hyperglycemia. She told me about reluctantly taking a trip to Thailand that she didn’t want to take. She didn’t like the country and she felt nauseous and a great sense of loathing at the teeming population. She felt that everything was depraved. She saw prostitution and other shocking sexual scenes. She saw people eating grasshoppers, she saw cobras, and she saw crocodiles being raised in dirty water. She saw it as the end of the world and was very fearful. She regretted taking the trip.

Mrs. X was heavily influenced by the Catholic education of her childhood and the notion of heaven and hell. She equated Thailand with hell and its sin, dirtiness, and impish devils. Her husband was her angel who protected her from hell. However, even though they lived under one roof, they led separate lives; the house was cut in two.

Neuronal connection: Cerebral cortex, in frontal position to the right of the diencephalons

Embryologic origin: Ectoderm

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is a low level of plasma glucose (blood sugar). It’s a dangerous condition because glucose is the major source of energy for the brain. The causes of hypoglycemia can vary but it generally occurs after insulin excess and/or inadequate glucose intake. These situations are common in people with diabetes who receive too much insulin or who don’t eat enough.

Glucagon is secreted by the alpha cells of the islets of Langerhans. It is released during hypoglycemia and causes the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose and release it into the bloodstream (elevating the level of sugar in the blood). The action of glucagon is thus opposite to that of insulin, which instructs the body’s cells to take in glucose from the blood in times of satiation.

Hypoglycemia concerns conflicts of anguished loathing, fear, and disgust. It often involves something imposed on an individual that is met with resistance. The individual refuses to absorb this “sugar.” For left-handed people in particular, hypoglycemia is symptomatic of conflicts of fear and resistance.

Note: If after a single emotional shock, there is a central conflict without aggregation or resolution, the two pathologies may exist together: hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. But one will predominate.

Examples:

Mrs. N believed she was obese. When she saw herself in the mirror, which happened several times a day, her body disgusted her. This provoked hypoglycemia, which provoked increased appetite. She became caught up in a cycle in which she ate, put on weight, and felt self-loathing.

Mrs. Y had a fear of bacteria: they gave her a feeling of disgust and of loathing—like touching something dirty. She also mentioned to me that her mother never touched her. Mrs. Y had frequent episodes of hypoglycemia.

Neuronal connection: Cerebral cortex, in frontal position to the left of the diencephalons

Embryologic origin: Ectoderm

PARATHYROID GLANDS

The parathyroid glands are small endocrine glands located in the neck, on the posterior surface of the thyroid gland. Through their production of parathyroid hormone (PTH, also known as parathormone), the parathyroid glands maintain the body’s calcium level so that the nervous and muscular systems can function properly. PTH is a small protein that has effects antagonistic to those of calcitonin (a hormone produced primarily in the thyroid that reduces blood calcium).

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

Calcium accelerates certain vital biological processes. Conflicts related to the parathyroid glands are about not managing to do what is necessary to attain and integrate that which is desired or needed—not being able to catch or to swallow “the morsel.” Conflicts of the parathyroid gland also relate to wanting to build up oneself—as PTH does with calcium in the body. This also relates to finding balance with parents who may be trying to exert their authority.

PITUITARY GLAND

The following material relates specifically to the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, also called the adenohypophysis. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the anterior pituitary produces and secretes several hormones that regulate many physiological processes, including stress, growth, and reproduction.

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

In an attack on the pituitary, the part of the gland that is affected has meaning. If the problem relates to the hormone prolactin, it is associated with an inaccessible partner or an inability to nourish related to the breasts. One woman who consulted me believed that she didn’t know how to nourish her family. Her body increased its secretion of prolactin, which resulted in a large production of milk.

Problems involving the secretion of ACTH (the hormone that stimulates the adrenal cortex) relate to conflicts of feeling unable to be dynamic enough, of feeling that you don’t have what it takes to find the right direction. This conflict occurs particularly in relation to plans.

Problems that involve the secretion of the human growth hormone, hGH, relate to feeling inadequate to reach that which you desire. I call this “the giraffe complex,” and the associated conflicts can relate to height literally or to feelings of inadequacy and not feeling “up to” the circumstances. This sometimes involves perfectionists who feel that they don’t have the right to make a mistake in the eyes of their family or of society.

Individuals with severe growth disorders related to growth hormone deficiency may fear having to haul themselves up or extend themselves to reach that which they desire. These disorders also relate to issues in which a child is forbidden to grow up or there is some perceived danger in growing up.

Examples:

Mr. C suffered from acromegaly, a hormonal disorder in which the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone. One of the symptoms of this disorder is enlarging hands. Mr. C described to me his need to use his arms and hands to defend himself and to impress others. He told me, “I must always be stronger than others.”

Mr. J experienced impotence related to a pituitary disorder. He had emotional conflicts around pleasure and feelings of inadequacy.

A couple had committed to buying a house with a large loan. The woman ended up leaving her husband, saddling him with a monthly payment close to the size of his monthly salary. He couldn’t bring himself to sell the house and took on the payments. But some years later, his former wife demanded a larger amount of alimony. The man experienced a shock. He explained, “I had to drag myself up, fight to manage to keep my head above water, to win the battle.” He said that after this blow, he “couldn’t make any mistake.” In fact, he had left only what he needed in order to eat. During this time, he developed a pituitary problem.

A student who came to see me experienced stunted growth after being unable to move up to the next grade with her classmates.

Neuronal connection: Right brain stem

Embryologic origin: Endoderm

THYROID

The thyroid is located on the anterior side of the neck, over the trachea, at about the same level as the cricoid cartilage. This butterfly-shaped gland is one of the largest endocrine glands in the body. By producing thyroid hormones, the thyroid controls how quickly the body burns energy and makes proteins, and determines the body’s sensitivity to other hormones. Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) and hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) are the most common problems of the thyroid gland.

Figure 4.3. Thyroid gland

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

The issues covered in the following Thyroid section are also relevant to parathyroid problems.

Thyroid symptoms relate to conflicts of not being fast enough to catch what is desired or not quick enough to incorporate or make the best use of what is desired. This may relate to food—causing the individual to feel the need to eat more and more quickly—or to something entirely different.

Specific Disorders of the Thyroid

• Exophthalmos: This is a bulging of the eye, anteriorly out of the orbit. Swelling in the orbital tissues causes the eye to be pushed forward. This condition is one of the symptoms of thyroid eye disease, an autoimmune eye condition that, while separate from thyroid disease, is often seen in conjunction with Graves’ disease (a common form of hyperthyroidism).
      This condition is related to the conflict of the prey that enlarges its field of vision in order to see danger coming and get away in time. There is pressure to catch the image of danger as fast as possible. This can also be the conflict of wanting to catch the “morsel” with the eyes, wanting to see something come about, or “having eyes that are bigger than one’s stomach.”
• Hyperthyroidism: Someone with hyperthyroidism will experience accelerated metabolism and the compulsion to act more quickly. This relates to feeling that events pass one by, either because of fatigue, or from an inability to manage or organize oneself, or from the fact of having several equally urgent things to do at the same time. This conflict relates to the common worry of adults regarding children: “He’s going to fall. I won’t get there in time.” This is also the conflict of “the river fish,” a carnivorous fish who waits in the river to capture his prey. But all too often a bird eats the mosquitoes and flies before they reach the river and the fish. The conflict for the fish is, “I always have to be faster or else I’ll die. So I activate my thyroid.” In response, the thyroid gland produces more thyroxine, causing hyperthyroidism.
• Hypothyroidism: The signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism vary widely, depending on the severity of the hormone deficiency. Problems tend to develop slowly, often over a number of years, and the first signs are often fatigue and sluggishness. But as the metabolism continues to slow, more-obvious signs and symptoms are likely to develop. An underactive thyroid has been damaged by conflicts that have gone on for an excessive period of time.

Examples:

Mrs. Q never felt fast enough to get anything done. She produced a tumor on her thyroid, which increased the production of thyroxine and she became faster. This was the adaptation. When she recognized this pattern and accomplished some of her goals, healing followed.

Every time that Miss Y had to go to school, she would anxiously watch the clock because her mother always took her there late and she dreaded that. She always felt the sense of “I have to hurry.” As we’ve discussed, the part of the body that accelerates processes, that moves us into hyper-action, that reduces the time it takes to get things going, is the thyroid. It is from this process that hyperthyroidism arises.

Mrs. F complained because in her job, she was obliged to do quickly tasks that she disliked doing and that others in the company didn’t have to do at all. She developed an autoimmune system illness involving antithyroid antibodies.

Neuronal connection: Right brain stem

Embryologic origin: Endoderm

THYROID DUCTS

The following information pertains specifically to the excretory ducts of the thyroid and to ganglions on the anterior side of the neck.

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

Disorders of the thyroid ducts relate to conflicts of powerlessness, impotence, and fear—the feeling that something must be done and nobody is doing anything, or that there is too much that needs to be done in a limited amount of time. This is a conflict of not being able to act quickly enough, of having the hands tied, of not being able to do anything at a time when action is urgently needed. It may also be a case of waiting until the last minute to do something and then seeing that you haven’t left sufficient time. These conflicts relate to a fear of confronting problems—this may be a frontal fear in the face of danger, when one is unable to sound a warning but remains in the territory nonetheless. This is a fear of needing to fight and feeling impotent, or feeling that the battle ahead is insurmountable. In left-handed people in particular, there can be an associated fear of illness, a fear that your body is going to let you down. (See also Lymph Nodes of the Head and Neck in the next chapter.)

Specific Disorders Associated with the Thyroid Excretory Ducts

• Hashimoto’s disease (autoimmune thyroiditis): Hypothyroidism is most commonly caused by Hashimoto’s disease. In this autoimmune disease, the body’s antibodies attack the cells of the thyroid, causing gradual destruction of the gland and making it unable to produce the thyroid hormones the body needs. This disorder is related to a stress phase and conflict of impotence. It can also be associated with births that occurred under conditions that happened too quickly.
• Hyperthyroidism: This condition is related to the feeling that you must act quickly but that you will be able to make it.
• Hypothyroidism: This condition is related to the feeling that you must act quickly, but that despite all efforts, you’re not going to make it.
• Low levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH): The problem here is also related to intention versus core belief. The individual has the intention to get where he needs to go but does not believe that it will really happen.
• Myxedema and hypothyroidism: Myxedema is a skin and tissue disorder usually due to severe, prolonged hypothyroidism. Several situations are possible. These conditions can be associated with a recurrent tumor in the general parenchyma and a drop in the level of thyroxine T4 (an endodermic conflict); depletion of the gland (endodermic conflict); or a tumor affecting the ducts (ectodermic conflict), the necrosis of which aims for an accumulated and more-rapid release of thyroid hormones (T3 and T4). During repeated conflicts, through healing edema, the ducts are blocked and there is a marked drop in T3 and T4 levels. The ectodermic conflict is associated with the feeling: “I have to act fast and I’m not going to make it!”
• Thyroid nodule: Nodules may be related to a fear of strangulation. A “cold” nodule (composed of cells that are not making thyroid hormone) may occur in the healing phase after hyperthyroidism. The gland, having formerly secreted excessively, when the patient needed to be hyperactive, was hot during the stress phase. Then the solution happened and the thyroid cooled down and produced a nodule. There are as many different nodule scenarios as there are conflicts.
      In the case of a multi-nodular goiter, with hot zones and cold zones, the mind is in active conflict about certain events in everyday life while at the same time it is in a solution phase for other events from the past.

Examples:

Mr. U was a very gentle and mild foreman. When he presented with thyroid problems, he spoke of his experience of shock when there was an uproar in the factory where he worked in which stones were being thrown between employer and employee. He was stuck between the two and wanted to move but couldn’t. He said, “I had to act quickly. The situation was dangerous for everyone, but what was to be done? I didn’t want to take sides.” He had a feeling of impotence in the face of danger. He was ashamed that he remained passive. As soon as the conflict was over, he wanted to quickly change jobs. In addition, his son had a kidney disease that required a lifetime of treatment. He said, “They should have acted quickly; they didn’t do anything.”

Mrs. C had pulmonary metastasis of a thyroid tumor. She said to me, “I’m hurrying to live since my death is close. Death is going to arrive suddenly and is secondary to the thyroid problem.”

Neuronal connection: Cerebral cortex, left frontal position (very significant source area in size)

Embryologic origin: Ectoderm