More Examples of Psychological Reactions to Detox & the IUD
Emotions & Psychology
Excess copper accumulation lowers nutrients needed for serotonin production, can lead to the emotional numbing effect of the "calcium shell", and can increase anxiety and panic reactions - especially when being mobilized into circulation.
As such, copper toxicity can be a major underlying catalyst of relationship problems / withdrawal and emotional health changes.
"Copper toxicity often leads to the destruction of relationships. Sometimes they don't realize it because their feelings are numbed so much by the buildup of excess calcium and copper, they're not even aware that their feelings are numbed, deadened, and cut off, and they're basically operating at a cognitive level and not a feeling level, and yet cognitively they can convince themselves that they're thinking their way through their emotional life. And that's simply not the way it works, psychologically. I would venture to say that divorce courts are loaded with people whose relationships were destroyed by copper toxicity. Because the role of copper toxicity impacting the emotions, thought processes and behaviors is not understood, it leads to a lot of animosity and anger and resentment, and revenge - a lot of flare-ups of the 'Judge' [a state of the ego-mind] psychologically - that ultimately winds up destroying the relationship."
~ Dr. Malter, Ph.D.
"Copper lowers dopamine (a neurotransmitter that controls the brain’s pleasure and reward centers) and increases norepinephrine (another neurotransmitter that also functions as a stress hormone) in the brain. Imbalances in these important neurotransmitters are related to anxiety and panic disorders, depression (especially postpartum), bipolar disorder, ADHD, autism, violence, and paranoid schizophrenia."
~Dr. William J. Walsh, PhD,
Author of 'Nutrient Power: Heal Your Biochemistry & Heal Your Brain'
Why Copper is Called the 'Emotional Mineral'
Copper, at a healthy level, helps in the release of endorphins that contribute to normal feelings of love and euphoria. Ancient cultures made this connection, and manufacturers today of certain copper products use these concepts as a benefit in their marketing, including calling copper a 'love mineral'. Where the misinterpretation comes is that the human population today is far more prone to copper toxicity than it was thousands of years ago, and when copper accumulates too much in the body, the beneficial effects reverse, and love can be shattered. The higher that the bio-unavailable copper level becomes, especially when compounded with adrenal exhaustion, the more that feelings of love are diminished and numbed... at the same time as the risk for depression, irritability, and even violence increase. Meaningful memories may also be affected (due to zinc's effect on the hippocampus), with recall impaired. Excess copper indeed affects the emotions, but not always in a loving way that could easily be misinterpreted by the connotation of 'emotional mineral'.
THESE 'EMOTIONAL' EXPERIENCES CAN BE FULLY SEEN IN THESE CASES AND STORIES.
The dichotomic emotional effect of copper is perfectly summarized in the book 'Energy: How it affects your emotions, your level of achievement, and your entire well-being' , an excerpt from which discussing the destructive role that copper and adrenal burnout play in relationships, is provided on the Adrenals page.
While it's true that copper increases the 'emotional states' of humans, this should not be confused with feelings of love and positivity. Emotions also include depression, anxiety, fear, anger, resentment, etc. Science shows that high levels of bio-unavailable copper trigger those negative emotional states (fear, anger, irritability, etc), while at the same time deadening positive feelings of love.
As copper plays a role in MAO-A and MAO-B enzymes (these enzymes in turn affect serotonin, adrenaline, dopamine, tryptamine, noradrenaline, melatonin etc...) it therefore plays a major role in brain health.
"Copper toxicity has been observed in association with major psychological problems including hyperactivity,depression, attention deficit disorder,memory problems, anxiety and panic attacks, violence, and emotional deadness.
~J.Casper, L.Ac
"Anyone who becomes highly copper toxic will begin to experience a deadening of his/her feelings."
~from 'The Strands of Health', by Dr. Rick Malter, PhD.
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Though copper mostly accumulates in the liver initially, once the liver is overburdened, copper then gets stored in secondary storage locations, including the brain. Copper stimulates the diencephalon or old 'emotional' brain (the part of the brain based on quick emotional decisions such as anger/fight and avoidance/flight). Zinc on the other hand is needed for the new brain (cortex) - the brain associated with the “higher emotions” such as reasoning, compassion and love. As zinc drops and copper rises, these higher emotions are weakened and the person tends to revert to using the old brain - triggering a wide array of negative emotions and behaviours. Copper toxicity causes "excessive emotions of many types such as anger, rage, frustration and others"[3] Additionally, copper is largely deposited in the limbic brain which contains the hippocampus (affecting memories and emotions) - the cells of which have been shown to die when deprived of zinc.
Copper is also a key factor in PMS symptoms. We already know estrogen's intimate connection to copper as we talked about here. As estrogen rises during the premenstrual cycle (or during pregnancy), copper rises. Not only does this lead to copper induced zinc deficiency during the luteal phase (when PMS symptoms occur), but it also in turn increases sodium. This increase of sodium increases the Na/K stress ratio, and the individual becomes more prone to short fuse reactions to even the slightest stressor. Meanwhile, calming nutrients which can ease PMS symptoms such as zinc, magnesium, and B6 are, not coincidentally, reduced as copper increases. Copper toxicity and magnesium deficiency (the former contributing to the latter) are two big contributors to depression and anxiety.
With the drop in the zinc level as copper increases, so too drops the level of NGF (nerve growth factor). Elevated NGF plays an important role in early stage romantic love (first 1-6 months of a relationship) [38]. Copper toxicity occurring to a partner during this early relationship phase can really play havoc as heightening copper lowers zinc and in turn NGF, suffocating those feelings of love. Added to this, high copper also leads to a state known as the 'calcium shell'. This rise in the tissue level of calcium is a defence mechanism against increasing and overwhelming stress which aims to reduce the adrenal response but in doing so blocks feelings and awareness, potentially leaving one emotionally numb.
"Mental diseases and symptoms linked to high inorganic copper levels are low-histamine schizophrenia, postpartum psychosis, depression, senility, autism and hyperactivity. Paranoia and hallucinations are prevalent in younger schizophrenics and depression in older ones." [36]
"An adequate copper level is what gives a woman her 'warmth'. Copper is involved with the production of estrogens - the female hormone. Women who lack 'AVAILABLE' copper tend to be cold and sometimes either secretly or openly hostile to men."
~ Chatsworth & Eck
"Excess copper in the system can cause paranoia."
~Gabriel Cousens M.D., M.D.(H.), N.D.(h.c.), D.D.
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"The present data indicate that serum copper is a 'trait marker' of unipolar depression." [41]
"Sequentially, you get higher and higher and higher levels of copper concentration, which now will affect brain capacity, processing, and thinking and make anxiety and depression worse. This is what we see in post-partum depression and in post-partum psychosis. Many times, you hear the stories about women who have shot their husbands and drowned their children, et cetera. If you notice, most of these women have had multiple children, usually three to four, sometimes even five, before these events have occurred. These women were copper-toxic females who could not get rid of copper, it affected their brain functioning, their nerve-conduction and in actuality caused a huge electrical short-circuiting of mental processes. We’d be amazed at the knowledge of how many individuals who are in prison systems are there really because of a poor detoxification process involving copper."
~Dr. Albert Mensah
(on emotional impairment in those using oral contraceptives (OC) [which raise Cu])
"It is noteworthy that women with OC use showed the most pronounced impairments in emotion recognition during the processing of expressions that were difficult to recognize...Women with OC use were less accurate in emotion recognition than women without OC use. The ability to recognize others’ emotional expressions is essential for the initiation and maintenance of interpersonal relationships, in particular intimate ones (Schmidt and Cohn, 2001). As an inaccurate recognition of others’ emotional expressions may lead to interpersonal conflicts...
[source]
"...as a person's stress level increases and intensifies, s/he is more likely to develop a calcium shell, especially if s/he is in a constant highly stressful situation," [ie: demanding job, intense academic pressure...] "This is because, under stress, a person tends to lose magnesium and zinc from their cells and tissues. As magnesium is lost from cell and tissue storage, more soft tissue calcification is likely to occur and the Cal/Mg ratio will increase. These mineral changes lead to increased muscle tension, more unstable blood sugar levels, diminished awareness of one's feelings, and lower energy levels. Depression and anxiety may also increase in frequency and intensity. Since zinc antagonizes copper, a drop in zinc allows copper and calcium to increase even more."
~'The Strands of Health', Dr. Rick Malter, Ph.D
Neurotransmitter Connections
A high copper level induces stress, anxiety, and fears. When a stressor happens that brings up some past emotional pain, cortisol is triggered to help us do whatever is necessary to avoid that pain again. With proper rationalizing, we are able to tell which current 'dangers' are real, and which aren't (most aren't - our current fear is almost always a reflection of some past programming projected on to some future event that hasn't even happened). Under normal conditions, oxytocin steps in to regulate these bad feelings while the (neo)cortex part of our brain rationalizes that the triggered fear or anxiety is not real...and we get back to life as normal without over-reacting. This isn't the case however when copper levels become high (or during detox) - fears from the past may be brought to the surface, and the neocortex is weakened and the brain's ability to determine if the fear is real or not is compromised. The natural response may then be to run away from whatever or whoever even innocently triggered that past emotional pain.
As copper builds up higher and higher, the adrenals get 'weaker' (or rather, move more into hypofunction) and cortisol production often slows. When cortisol production is low, especially near adrenal burnout, you are 'constantly going into hypoglycemia, which can result in depression, irritability, mood swings, poor concentration, poor memory, dizziness, fatigue, sleepiness and many more unpleasant effects.'(source) Also keep in mind that as the body approaches adrenal burnout while facing hypoglycemia, it increases adrenalin in an attempt to correct the hypoglycemia. Adrenalin is an anxiety and panic hormone, and the reactions of anxiety and panic can amplify then when copper is mobilized and enters the bloodstream (ie: through detox). Subsequently, when adrenal function is jump-started through an aggressive detox protocol, cortisol production once again rises. In addition to the diminished feelings of romantic 'love' and compassion brought on by the calcium shell and neocortex, the newly heightened cortisol level kills memories and emotions even further, all of which can profoundly lead to relationship issues and emotional changes.
"Chronic stress, adrenal fatigue, and PTSD triggered the cortisol-adrenaline-oxytocin disconnect and it made me unconsciously walk away from things and people I loved". ~Dr. Anna Cabeca
Oxytocin, known as the 'love hormone' or 'cuddle hormone', is important for behaviours including sexual arousal, recognition, trust, and bonding. As stress goes up (externally from various factors or internally caused by rising copper (and other toxins), along with weakening of the adrenals, and/or a heightening fight-or-flight response, our bodies in time become more and more oxytocin deficient. In other words, as copper toxicity builds up and the adrenals become 'burnt' out, or likewise with sudden increased adrenaline or fight-or-flight, oxytocin levels generally drop, and the sexual arousal, recognition, trust and bonding that once existed between partners can become diminished. Symptoms of oxytocin deficiency can include generalized depression, heightened anxiety, social isolation, mistrust, resistance to intimacy, affection and relationships, phobias, panic attacks, and sleep difficulties to name a few. Meanwhile, other neurotransmitters also come into play…
Serotonin is a calming neurotransmitter and helps control anxiety. Serotonin receptors seem to be directly involved in the normal function of hippocampus in mood regulation and memory formation. Serotonin also influences sexual desire and some social behaviour. The problem is that copper oxidizes serotonin and therefore stops it from doing its job. Furthermore, if serotonin is under-methylated, serotonin becomes inactive and further depression may ensue. While there is certainly more to depression than just neurotransmitter imbalance, the connection should at least be considered. Zinc, B6 and Vitamin C are all essential for serotonin production, yet all three of these nutrients are reduced in the presence of excess copper. Consider the link between depression and low zinc:
A meta-analysis published in December 2013 in Biological Psychiatry analyzed 17 studies and found that depressed people tended to have about 14 percent less zinc in their blood than most people do on average, and the deficiency was greater among those with more severe depression.' [58]
GABA (Gamma Amino Butyric Acid) is one of the body’s most inhibitory neurotransmitters, helping to maintain calm and relaxation - balancing against glutamate (the body’s main excitatory neurotransmitter). Excess copper, by way of slowing the thyroid and impairing cellular energy production, inhibits the conversion of glutamate into glutamine and GABA, resulting in high glutamate levels. This in turn contributes to copper's excito-toxicity effect along with symptoms such as impaired speech, high irritability, anxiety, aggressiveness, GI inflammation, and neuronal destruction. It should be noted that depression has long been associated with deficiencies in serotonin, dopamine, and GABA [39] ...all of which are impaired by excess copper. Neurotransmitters are not the only contributing factor of course, yet to ignore the basic science of these mineral-neurotransmitter connections adds a limit to greater understanding.
Consider this information (and copper's link to estrogen and the Pill) in the staggering increase in the rates of depression and use of anti-depressants. Anti-depressant usage has increased 65% between 1999 - 2014 [57], with twice as many women on the medication as men. And not surprisingly, the biggest benefit to the medication is the placebo effect. Anti-depressants further throw off the body's delicate mineral balance, and certainly do nothing to teach about, address, or rectify the copper connection.]
When significant psychological symptoms still persist after making targeted dietary and nutritional adjustments, investigating one's methylation status can provide further clues. Methylation affects not only the neurotransmitters, but also the body's ability to detox.
"It is well understood that neurotransmitters play a role in psychiatric conditions... when copper is elevated, dopamine levels decrease and norepinephrine levels rise. Having these neurotransmitters out of balance can result in a whole range of problems including anxiety, panic, paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, ADHD, and autism."
~Courtney Snyder, MD, Psychiatrist
"Copper also affects neurotransmitter production. It actually pushes the conversion of dopamine, that lovely, warm, fuzzy feeling neurotransmitter into that excited neurotransmitter, norepinephrine. So, all that norepinephrine cause the heart to race, it can cause anxiety, it can later cause depression and it can later cause adrenal fatigue."
~Dr. Albert Mensah
"The main hormone that mediates stress response is cortisol which is directly toxic to nerve cells in the part of the brain (the hippocampus) that mediates memory and emotion - it kills them."
~ Dr. Andrew Weil
"Copper and zinc are regarded as neurotransmitters and are in high concentrations in brain hippocampus. As a result, elevated copper and depressed zinc have been associated with hyperactivity, attention deficit disorders, behavior disorders, and depression. Also, many of those labeled with autism and paranoid schizophrenia have elevated blood copper levels in addition to other biochemical imbalances."
Jeremy E. Kaslow, MD
The Damaging Toll on Relationships
Without an understanding of how and why these psychological changes occur, a person no matter how mindful, a relationship no matter how loving, can be derailed, or taken out. When the emotional state is altered (by all the ways explained above), the person is then operating more from states of fear, anxiety, depression or panic. The mind accepts, believes, and surrenders to those thoughts, and a new storyline is created. The storyline can be amplified further depending on past programs and/or whether the calcium shell is present.
"I could see in myself the severity of my moods, Jekyll and Hyde, but occasionally glimpses appeared of the happy fun person I was, but it too, was forced. Arguments between my husband and I became unbearable.. He told me certain things that in my mind I thought he was saying out of spite and to hurt me...I'd become defensive, angry and honestly believed that he was trying to make me crazy because he resented me being sick all the time.. I completely shut down my feelings towards him, as after 13 years together I thought this was just the path of the relationship. And many times was "ready" to let go of the relationship. How can something like copper toxicity make me feel so shut off and take all logic out of the equation?" ~M.A.
Such experiences as above are extremely common. It's heartbreaking to read some of many cases and stories here, with very few of these women ever being counseled by their practitioner on the damaging role that excess copper (or the copper IUD) can have on relationships. Even independent of each other, copper toxicity and adrenal burnout both individually can lead at more advanced stages to withdrawal, apathy, irritability, anxiety, memory problems, and depression. When both are experienced together, the results are amplified, and it can be devastating on relationships. The highly copper toxic individual shuts down emotionally (compounded by the calcium shell, and especially even more so if adrenal burnout occurs). As Dr. Eck explains in the Energy book, "No matter how much they truly love you - when they go into burnout they really want to be independent." Often, the patient is not even aware of what their feelings really are. The lack of energy reduces awareness to the true extent of the problem. In fact, many of the symptoms of copper toxicity at this stage are the same as those commonly seen with adrenal burnout, and the issue is just as much about the burnout as it is with the copper. If both are present, the symptoms can be amplified. It is highly improbable for a person who has experienced adrenal burnout, especially when copper toxicity is also at play, to be acting as one's true self emotionally in the period following burnout. Too many factors are acting together to make a person shut down. This short discussion from the aforementioned 1985 "Energy" book provides an excellent starting point in understanding the relationship withdrawal commonly occurs during adrenal burnout. The effects of copper and the calcium shell then add to this withdrawal.
Sexually the person is not only mentally, but also biologically forced to withdraw when burnout occurs - the body is trying to preserve its energy and so the sex hormones, being not as critical, are put on the back burner. It can seem to the patient that they no longer desire their partner, not understanding that this feeling is simply a survival mechanism and not their true self. The closer and more intense the relationship, and the more intense the copper-induced burnout, the more intense the opposing negative withdrawal reaction often is toward that person. Relationship OCD and paranoia become common. Beyond the stories and cases here, forums across the internet (such as this one) are also filled with stories of how the Pill and IUD have devastated relationships. Is it not a tragedy that a product such as the Pill or IUD, designed to bring people closer together, is effectively contributing to tearing those same people apart!
Unless this connection (as described above or in this short clip by Kirby Amour), is properly understood, a person can very easily misinterpret their increasing sexual and emotional withdrawal from their partner (more examples below and here) as a relationship issue, rather than a consequence created by adrenal burnout and the emotional cataract created by heightened copper and calcium.
A Clinical Case Example of How This Information Could be Successfully Applied:
"In my clinic yesterday a visibly frustrated husband attended with his wife. The wife had come in two weeks earlier and had her hair sample taken so I had her HTMA results in front of me. I sensed the husband was eager to tell me all that was 'wrong' with his wife, the 45 year old mother of his four children. But before he had the chance to speak, I told both of them what the HTMA was showing [image on right]. I explained what the results were indicating and the physical and psychological effects of this profile, namely experiencing a racing mind, mood swings, emotional outbursts, tearfulness and hypersensitivity to criticism. I also described how insomnia was likely to be an issue as were chronic muscular cramps and heart palpitations, not to mention profound fatigue despite the racing mind and anxiety.
They were both stunned and asked how could I know all this from the 'piece of paper' in front of me? And this is where the profound shift took place for the husband, where his frustration dissolved as the penny dropped - his wife was in a state of mineral and thus biochemical chaos. Of course this woman had been on a copper IUD for the past 6 years following the birth of their daughter, and of course, there was ZERO informed consent regarding the side effects of this device which had seemingly devastated this woman's physical and mental health, her marriage teetering on the edge."
(Contributed by: Abdul Saad, Clinical Psychologist)
"In Phase C of Adrenal Exhaustion, the body can become extraordinarily sensitive to stressors. Mundane activities may act as triggers in this phase while they normally do not behave as triggers in early stages of Adrenal Fatigue… The first symptoms to show up usually represent the organ system to be turned off first as it is not required for basic survival. Reproduction is considered a luxury and not a vital function when survival is at stake. Libido as a result is lowered. Sex drive becomes non-existence.
~ Dr. Michael Lam, M.D., M.P.H., A.B.A.A.M.,
"Excess copper has also been reported to cause fearful thoughts."
~Dr. Amy Yasko, Ph.D., NHD, AMD, HHP, FAAIM
“Since copper raises the hair and tissue calcium level, women, in particular, with very high copper levels or hidden copper on their hair analyses, often lose interest in sex. Their energy declines and the body can become a bit “numb” because excessive tissue calcium tends to render the nervous system less sensitive.”
~Dr. Lawrence Wilson
"A tired person is fearful, and an exhausted couple is more prone to doubt each other. One partner wonders ‘Will she (or he) always love me as I am?’ and the other is thinking the same. As the fatigue settles in, the joy goes out of being together. You get so tired, you don't want to be touched and you don't enjoy touching - much less lovemaking. You can get so on edge that just the turning of the pages of the daily newspaper or the squeaking of a chair can irritate you. You are so tired you can't enjoy anymore the little kindnesses you used to do for each other. You get too exhausted to even do them, and when totally exhausted, to even care. Apathy replaces joy, and life becomes boring. People start wondering if they really are meant for each other. They wonder what happened to the original feelings that got them together. Fatigue and exhaustion can do all of this and more. It can help destroy a marriage that should have lasted forever."
~ Colin and Loren Chatsworth, with Dr. Paul Eck
"Many people who have been out of balance for years have been unable to express their negative emotions, such as resentments, fears, anxieties, angers, and hatred. They have stored all of their emotional hostilities and anger in their tissues in the same way that money is stored in a bank. When some people start to improve, many of their hidden repressions and hostilities can come pouring out. This could possibly strain a loving relationship. The best thing to so when this happens to a close loved one is to just let it pass and sit out the storm."
~Eck & Chatsworth (1985 'Energy')
"Copper is one of those bad boys when it is leaving your system....if it’s coming out too quickly. You can indeed control the rate at which elements like copper are removed from the system through detoxification. And that’s extremely important, because believe me, you don’t want somebody or a family member calling you saying, “What did you do to my wife? She is not the same person and…” I’ve had that happen before. So we have to be very careful."
~Dr. Albert Mensah
“Can a HTMA save a marriage? Yes, it can. When it exposes the ravages of copper toxicity, stress overwhelm and rampant magnesium loss, you better believe it can save a marriage. When minerals are being brought back into balance, when NMDA receptor hyperactivity is being quelled, when the amygdala is no longer on rapid fire ready to pounce at the slightest provocation, when the blood sugar roller coaster is levelling out, a person can begin to express their virtues instead of their vices. A person can regain their composure as well as their dignity instead of remaining a wrecking ball. Anything which interferes with the mineral system of the body also interferes with its psycho-spiritual system.”
~Abdul Saad, BSc (Hons), MPsych (Clin)
The Chemistry of Relationships as Reflected in Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis
The article to the right was written back in 1995 by Registered Dietician Renee Nataro who, through hTMA research, quickly came to understand the characteristics of copper toxic individuals. The characteristics she describes are common when copper is mobilized ('dumped') too quickly causing the Na/K stress ratio to rise, as well as the pseudo-inversion of Na/K that reflects the intracellular loss of potassium that can also occur during an intense copper dump.
The Copper Toxic Society
Dr. Rick Malter, PhD, Licensed Nutritionist and Clinical Psychologist (retired), explains the copper toxicity epidemic that he has been seeing developing over his 4 decades in practice - and its implications on energy, emotions, relationships, and society as a whole.
TOGETHER...WE CAN INCREASE AWARENESS AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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