MHM Magazine

Issue 5 | 2021 | MENTALHEALTHMATTERS | 31 MHM to the sensory information, it’s doing so based on your perception of reality and need for a stress response. This will activate shifts within the delicate balance of the autonomic nervous system (more neurotransmitters involved) and influence how the different parts of the myofascial system activates to respond. Within the myofascial system there will be hypertonic and hypotonic responses with varied degrees and layers of compensation patterns. In practicality we’ll have the same person coming into the office with the same distortion pattern but a different tonal characteristic as their previous visit because of their current stressors and emotional attachment to it. Which means the same “treatment protocol” will have a different impact on that person. There are three known stress response – fight, fright and freeze, with totally different myofascial activations. Think for a moment what muscles you would use to fight someone, compared to muscles required to run away, versus muscles that would freeze you to the floor. Remember, within the myofascial system there are those components that provide antigravity muscle tone and those that control and direct movement patterns. Each person doesn’t necessarily respond the same way to each stressor they face, however certainly past programmes and habits do influence the automation of these responses. In clinical manual therapy practice, it’s common to see patients with the same repetitive patterns of distortion and the same automated pattern of stress response. On personal interaction with patients the conversation reveals similar repetitive emotional attachments to their current circumstances; their “body holding onto emotions”. This naturally leads to an understanding of how strongly connected our emotions are to our perception of reality and our movement response to reality. In terms of mental health, I believe that myofascial treatment should be a significant part of the care plans. Myofascial work, as I see it, should: 1. Be a positive tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive stimulus on the current concentration of neu- rotransmitter and even if tempo- rarily, alter the emotional state of the person. 2. Release the distorted length-ten- sion ratios and clear over time the habitual distortions patterns and resultant patterns of neurochem- istry. 3. Through spinal stimulation create balanced tone to the autonomic nervous system. The upper cer- vical vertebrae are biomechani- cally very intimately linked to the Vagus nerve. The sacrum has biomechanical influence over the pelvic splanchnic nerves. Thorac- ic spine manipulation has been shown to have an immediate effect on the autonomic nervous system activity. 4. Restore effortless and fluid mo- bility and movement of the body that allows better response to the environment and its regular challenges. 5. Bring the person into a conscious connection of how current stress- ors are affecting their movement patterns and behavioral respons- es; helping them to consciously choose a different response. To take this one step further into an understanding of Chiropractic: Chiropractic has been shown to alter cortical somatosensory processing and sensorimotor integration. To explain this we have to be reminded of the homunculus and the maps of how the brain visualises the body from a sensory and motor point of view. Certainly, in chronic conditions, the person will have fixated distortion patterns and tonal imbalances which over time chronically alter the brains visualisation of the body leading to a constant skewed perception of sensory information and therefore ineffective body responses and the cascade of neurochemistry that goes with that. I have certainly noted this in practice; as we begin the process of chiropractic adjustments, effectively relieving pain and restoring functional ability, the person has a different perception of their reality and therefore is able to make consciously different choices of how they move. It’s a well-known, researched fact that movement and exercise optimise neuroendocrine and physiological responses to psychosocial and physical stress. I believe through this mechanism people who move better have a positive mechanism of dealing with their emotions and the effect of neurotransmitters over the body. I acknowledge this is certainly not a complete model of the mind-body connection, however it’s an effective model for clinical manual practice and explaining what is happening to the patient.