Brian physiology of SI?

wondercheese · Post by **wondercheese** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:34 pm

Does anyone know of any studys on the brain physiology of SIers? I'm just wondering because today in Biochem of Drug Action, we were talking about how the synthesis of natural endorphines (pain relievers) is linked with the sysnthesis of two hormones that mobilize energy sources in the body. So I guess the theory is that when a person is in what they percieve as a life threatening situation (the example in class was a fight with a saber-tooth tiger!) they wouldn't want to feel pain or be aware of injury until they were safe. They would also need a lot of quick energy. I know that for me, when I SI, I don't feel any pain at all until hours later. I am just wondering if there could be a connection between natural endorphin production before/during SI that causes that delay in pain. I would also love to know if there is an increase in the available energy sources, ei blood glucose level in my body after SI. Maybe that would be a good grad school project.
I know I'm a total science nerd! I love science and thinking about stuff like this helps me to focus on the good things about my brain. I hope no one minds sciency posts from me. If anyone else is interested in this I would love to talk about it more! I'll restrain myself, I can sometimes get pretty technical, so just tell me to shut-up if I do, or ask me question about it, I love to share science and I don't think there are stupid questions, any question at all means a person is thinking, which is always good. Sorry this is so long.

Wondercheese

s0_vErY_sCaReD · Post by **s0_vErY_sCaReD** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 10:15 am

actually..... I would be curious to know if there were a link between different brain physiology in ppl who SI and those who don't! My sis had to go to a class after getting a DUI

and the person teaching thew class spoke about a young boy who had severe behavioral and mental problems and an MRI scan was ordered. He was found to have a large benign tumor in part of his brain. When the tumor was removed, his behavioral problems all but ceased and his mental health improved!!

Laura · Post by **Laura** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 1:19 pm

A good starting point is Deb's (=sine nomine's) website at http://selfharm.net/ or http://www.palace.net/~llama/psych/injury.html

Under "causes" there is some information on biological stuff, and the references list various journal articles.

Also, try to find the book "Self Injurious Behaviours: assessment and treatment" by Daphne Simeon and Eric Hollander. I can't remember what all is in it, but it's definitely an academic read, with lots more references.

Also, use a citations database such as Medline, type in a few keywords and see what you come up with. (You need an account to access this, but if you are at university then your Library can tell you how to get access.)

Good luck

Love Laura

erinmv · Post by **erinmv** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 10:07 pm

It does provide some sort of physical relief. I think we can all agree with that. And I know it is related to a release of seratonin, etc. As far as being able to actually read it in the brain, I don't know. Perhaps we are "wired" a bit differently. I mean some people have an extremely high tolerance for pain, others don't. I know people who have tried it and didn't get anything out of it, or it hurt too much, etc. So perhaps we do have some sort of predisposition to it in some sort of chemical way. But it's sort of like the chicken and the egg thing. For instance, someone who suffers from depression has a chemical imbalance. But what caused what? Did the imbalance cause the depression or did the constant state of depression cause the imbalance? I think it's sort of similar with SI. I know I'm rambling a bit but I do know this. After spending years in therapy and 5 years in college satudying sociology and psychology, there is a tremendous lack of information on this. The more info and studies and questions, the better. People need to realize that this is happening. And it's happening a lot. It needs to be understood, not shunned or feared. So good luck! I hope you will be brave enough to go where few scholars dare to tread!

wondercheese · Post by **wondercheese** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 10:54 pm

Thanks for the tips and finding more resources. I'm in the middle of my finals now, but I do plan to do some research on the topic. I'm mostly interested in the biological aspects of brian chemistry at this point. I'll be doing some serious exploring in the next few weeks. There isn't too much on Medline, but I didn't have time do any serious digging either. If you look hard enough, there are usually at least a few articles. I'll post what I find if anyone is interested. I tend to get pretty technical, but I'm also good at explaining the techincal stuff in a way that non Biology-geeks (Like myself and most of my lab nerd friends) can understand it and find it interesting. Biology labs are interesting places to work, when my lab friends found about my SI, the first thing they commented on was the curious nature of my opiate receptors to be able to block pain simuli! Also we had a long disscusion of the screwed up genetics in our respective families!

wondercheese

Laura · Post by **Laura** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 11:26 pm

From what I've heard (can't remember where, sorry) there have been trials of opiate-blocking drugs such as naltrexone, but they didn't seem to reduce the SI, merely make it hurt more

wondercheese · Post by **wondercheese** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 6:49 pm

I wouldn't want to go on Naltrexone or Naloxone, they would make SI hurt more, but also they cause dysphoria and are generally unpleasant. I can imagine that would be a good treatment for people who are in emotional pain already. Besides they would increase the everyday physical pain, like the discomfort of sitting too long on a hard chair at work, the tight wrists on my long sleeve shirts. Some of the opiate receptor pathways have a serious impact on emotions. I'm not sure how strongly Naltrexone bind to the kappa receptor (the opiate receptor with the strongest emotional impact, and the dull pain pathways), but even a little could make life even more unpleasant! Interesting idea for pharmacologic treatment of SI though.

wondercheese

Stellaria · Post by **Stellaria** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 9:46 am

It would definitely be interesting to find out more about the neuro-endocrinological context.

Also, I'm curious if there are physical differences between people who don't feel pain during SI and others (like me) who do.

Good luck with your research (when you get the time on your hands to pursue it - good luck with finals meanwhile!)

Nina

wondercheese · Post by **wondercheese** » Fri Apr 02, 2004 12:49 am

I've found a few interesting looking articles, I've ordered them through the schools inter library loan program, and will have them in a week or two. I'll let you all know what I find.

wondercheese

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