as a child of a mother with manic depression or as it is now known - Bipolar Disorder I have discovered some information on attachment theory. at 76, I am still learning ways to notice and overcome or circumvent inappropriate reaction / response to relatively benign actions or words of others. I look forward to your next instalment/
Thank you, Ed, for sharing your experience. Yes...it really starts with "noticing". Thank you too for pointing out that it is never too late. I think for many of us, this is ongoing and can be very satisfying. You may like the work of Carl Jung and how he talks about our "shadow." I like how he brings mythic and poetic language to this journey. Thank you again.
I've been really enjoying this entire series about the attachment styles. I also read the under-methylation article you linked in this post. I'm a holistic nutritionist, and I knew how important methylation is for cognitive health on so many levels (for starters, homocysteine itself degrades tight junction proteins in epi/endothelial linings, including the BBB, and actually binds to NMDA receptors).
I had never heard how under-methylation manifests as an attachment style and found this to be fascinating. Would you say that the obsessive/controlling aspects of the attachment style are partly caused by the excito-toxicity when an individual has impaired methylation? Is this based on research studies, or is this more your observations as a clinician?
Thank you for this comment. I'm glad you are enjoying this series. There are animal studies that suggest attachment impacts the expression of genes involved in methylation. To date, I don't know of any studies in humans. The traits of "undermethylation" (this comes out of the research of the Walsh Research Institute) very much align with those of a dismissive/avoidant attachment style. Biochemically, I would link the obsessive/controlling aspects of those with undermethylation to high histamine states (methylation breaks down histamine). High histamine increases activity at the NMDA receptor (and the reason I think there is excitotoxicity), and low serotonin activity (those who are undermethylated with depression and/or anxiety usually have high folate and low methyl - high folate results in low serotonin activity (by an epigenetic mechanism). This is why giving more folate to these individuals (a common practice to support methylation) often makes them more anxious, depressed or rigid in their thinking or behavior. Most of the undermethylated people that I see (all have brain symptoms), do not necessarily have high homocysteine. This is probably because they have relatively high folate, that would keep the homocysteine in check. I hope something here is useful. Thank you again.
Thank you so much for this reply! On a personal note, it's a lot easier after watching this series to have empathy for myself, my husband, and also my parents, imagining some of the early childhood nurture that led to our attachment style tendencies. I am so glad I stumbled across your blog/podcast.
as a child of a mother with manic depression or as it is now known - Bipolar Disorder I have discovered some information on attachment theory. at 76, I am still learning ways to notice and overcome or circumvent inappropriate reaction / response to relatively benign actions or words of others. I look forward to your next instalment/
Thank you, Ed, for sharing your experience. Yes...it really starts with "noticing". Thank you too for pointing out that it is never too late. I think for many of us, this is ongoing and can be very satisfying. You may like the work of Carl Jung and how he talks about our "shadow." I like how he brings mythic and poetic language to this journey. Thank you again.
I've been really enjoying this entire series about the attachment styles. I also read the under-methylation article you linked in this post. I'm a holistic nutritionist, and I knew how important methylation is for cognitive health on so many levels (for starters, homocysteine itself degrades tight junction proteins in epi/endothelial linings, including the BBB, and actually binds to NMDA receptors).
I had never heard how under-methylation manifests as an attachment style and found this to be fascinating. Would you say that the obsessive/controlling aspects of the attachment style are partly caused by the excito-toxicity when an individual has impaired methylation? Is this based on research studies, or is this more your observations as a clinician?
Thank you for this comment. I'm glad you are enjoying this series. There are animal studies that suggest attachment impacts the expression of genes involved in methylation. To date, I don't know of any studies in humans. The traits of "undermethylation" (this comes out of the research of the Walsh Research Institute) very much align with those of a dismissive/avoidant attachment style. Biochemically, I would link the obsessive/controlling aspects of those with undermethylation to high histamine states (methylation breaks down histamine). High histamine increases activity at the NMDA receptor (and the reason I think there is excitotoxicity), and low serotonin activity (those who are undermethylated with depression and/or anxiety usually have high folate and low methyl - high folate results in low serotonin activity (by an epigenetic mechanism). This is why giving more folate to these individuals (a common practice to support methylation) often makes them more anxious, depressed or rigid in their thinking or behavior. Most of the undermethylated people that I see (all have brain symptoms), do not necessarily have high homocysteine. This is probably because they have relatively high folate, that would keep the homocysteine in check. I hope something here is useful. Thank you again.
Thank you so much for this reply! On a personal note, it's a lot easier after watching this series to have empathy for myself, my husband, and also my parents, imagining some of the early childhood nurture that led to our attachment style tendencies. I am so glad I stumbled across your blog/podcast.
Thank you for saying that. I always hope that the education I provide helps with self compassion (and compassion for those in our lives).