In my work in the field of narcissistic abuse I have noticed the link between toxic relationships and autoimmune disorders. It is a link well worth exploring, especially if you are suffering from an autoimmune disorder.

The more I research healing on both an emotional and physical level, the more I see the connection between the two. Although I am a big believer that diet is important and the healthier our diet, the healthier our body, there is also an emotional component to consider.

Louise Hay, the author of “You Can Heal Your Life” found there was an emotional issue or negative core belief behind every physical issue or disease. She discovered, for example that low back pain had to do with “not feeling supported,” and hip issues had to do with “fear of moving forward.” She found that issues dealing with the throat had to do with communication or something you are not speaking. Heart issues had to do with not opening your heart to love and so on.

What might be the underlying core issues for autoimmune disease? What might be the connection between toxic relationships and autoimmune disorder? There are so many different types of autoimmune disorders, Louise Hay might tell us it depends on what area of the body is being affected.

In my own research and work with victims of abuse and trauma, I find that many people develop autoimmune disorders, which are likely the result of the trauma. Autoimmune disorders are considered, by the medical profession, to be the body fighting against itself, or attacking a part of the self. Those who find themselves in toxic relationships over a long period of time, may also be fighting against themselves or attacking themselves in some way. It is not only that they are being attacked from their toxic relationship partner, it is also that they believe they don’t deserve to be treated any better. They may not believe this on a conscious level but on a subconscious level there may be a lot of self sabotage.

Those who get involved with and stay involved with a narcissist normally have an inner narcissist they are fighting against. This is the part of them that judges, condemns, finds fault with and believes it is not worthy of love and respect. We have to be able to confront the inner narcissist before we can change our patterns that cause us to get involved with or stay involved with the outer narcissist. What we tell ourselves is extremely important when it comes to how we feel about ourselves and what we feel we deserve. The more we attack ourselves, the more we invite the attacking energy into our lives, both emotionally and physically.

The key to our healing involves learning to really love ourselves and feeding ourselves with self loving, positive thoughts rather than self-depreciating negative thoughts. We need to pay attention to the food we are feeding ourselves both physically, mentally and emotionally. Are we feeding ourselves lovingly, or are we feeding ourselves with toxic poisons?

Addressing your negative core beliefs and negative self talk is as important to your healing as any kind of medical approach you might be taking. Self-Love is a powerful medicine that most people overlook when on a healing journey. Negative self-talk can be very subconscious and automatic to where most people may not even notice the way they treat themselves. They may more easily notice that others are not treating them well and not see that others may be a mirror for their own self-depreciation.

Many of my clients coming out of narcissistic abuse, notice that the narcissist in their lives came to show them how they were treating themselves narcissistically. The internal self-hatred attracted the external hater.

What does the body do with this? Well self-hatred, and trauma disorders such as PTSD create a toxic inner environment. The cells of the body are not happy. They aren’t being fed good emotional nourishment. The toxic inner environment is a breeding ground for illness and autoimmune disease.

If you find yourself struggling with an autoimmune disorder, or any other illness for that matter, consider cleaning up your inner environment as well as your outer environment. You might consider seeking out a therapist who works with alternative therapies such as hypnotherapy, body talk or psych K to work with the connection between your body and your emotional state. You might explore what is really going on inside of you and where you are going against yourself. You might explore where you are not being true to yourself.

When we truly tune into ourselves and consider our own needs, wants, desires, beliefs and values, we get closer to discovering where we are out of alignment, why we stayed in toxic or abusive situations and why we might be struggling with an illness now.

Although being in a toxic relationship or suffering trauma is not the only reason people develop autoimmune disorders, there certainly is a link that is worth exploring.

If you are ready to explore this link yourself I am happy to do a hypnotherapy session with you, over the phone from wherever you are in the world. The body doesn’t lie. We just need to learn how to listen. Hypnotherapy will help you to “tune in” and listen to what is really going on inside of you. When you can get your body on board with your healing, you will have much greater success.