Birth Trauma

There is some limited evidence that birth trauma, hypoxia (low oxygen) or anoxia (no oxygen) at birth can correlate with psychological or physical problems that last a lifetime.  Few seem to dispute this. To suggest that primal theorists discovered this is inaccurate. However, these correlations so far have been found in only a few types of disease.  The data came from correlational studies done with birth records and later problems.  To suggest that primal is fighting the world to try and get this known is constructing a “straw-man” argument.  That is to argue against something that your opponents are not really saying.

 

As far as I can tell, there is also some agreement that conditions during pregnancy also can correlate with some problems later on. This was not discovered by anyone connected to primal therapy, just to keep things straight.

The real disagreement comes with the ascertain that reliving birth could reverse some of those problems.  There is no good evidence to say that birth primals are safe or effective.  Why would subjecting brain cells to hypoxia again in adulthood help? How would that work physiologically?  Why is that logical? 

 

For example, consider another physical injury to cells, say a car accident that breaks your legs.  Would recreating the same physical trauma, i.e. bashing legs again, help healing or make it worse? Or is it better that the treatment does not resemble the trauma?  Is it better to put casts on the legs to allow the bones to heal? 

 

[Consider too: Imagine that your therapist incorrectly thought you have been in an accident in which your legs were broken, and the therapist gets you to recreate the accident (that actually didn't take place) physically, by bashing your legs (or something less drastic, like pushing on the legs) so as to reverse the physical (and emotional) problems you supposedly had after the accident (that actually didn't take place, it was assumed by the therapist it must have). Wouldn't that do more damage than no therapy?

Now try rereading that paragraph substituting "car accident" with "birth trauma".]

 

 Could the patient lose brain cells or do some other damage by repeatedly facing anoxia?  I don’t know, to be honest. Would beliefs in primal theory be altered if damage did happen? Or would the patient just maybe lose a little sharpness, but still believe in primal even more religiously?  When you lose brain cells, you don’t know you have lost them, you just tend to confabulate to fill in the gaps without even knowing the difference. If someone loses brain cells, would they be more or less able to use critical thinking and independent evaluative skills on the therapy they are in, and understand the social factors at work?  Or are they likely to become more religious about their beliefs? 

 

I think there are great dangers in reliving birth, regardless of whether it is done the way Janov says it should be done, or not, and regardless of whether it is possible or not to relive birth.  I make no comment on whether it is possible, or not, to relive birth, because if I do, I lose 50% of the readers right there. Although I used to think there may also be a benefit of reliving birth, I now wonder if the process just releases endorphins (or something) that makes the person feel great temporarily for a day or so, and by using primal theory they read great significance into it, and that extends the good feeling and it that makes them say it changed them permanently, for the better. 

 

Isn’t it better to go through life with enough oxygen, constantly and forever?  If not, why not, and what evidence do you have?

 

I am concerned that primal participants may hypothetically push (or be pushed) their birth primals too far, holding their breath or breathing all the way out to recreate the hypoxia in birth , and harm themselves (by losing or damaging brain cells maybe, or maybe physical problems).  It may be difficult to detect, especially if you don’t look for it, it could turn up it mental slowness, slight speech problems, planning problems, etc.  Hypothetically, if the birth relivings damage the brain or body so as to lower the vital signs, the danger is the primal theorist may then label that as success, and go for more of that and encourage it in other patients.  That is why vital signs are may not necessarily be a good measure of mental health. 

 

It is possible that the number of people damaged by anoxia or hypoxia at birth is much less than estimated by primal theory?  Primal theory seems to suggest almost all people had anoxia at birth.  Is that true?  It is worth checking with those that actually monitor and study those things (and who are not in primal therapy or hired by them).

 

What evidence is there that active people (”sympaths”, Janov called them) have anoxia of a certain sort, and non-active (parasympaths) had anoxia for longer and they gave up (at the end)?  What evidence is there apart from the group coming to a consensus?   Why for example can’t activity levels be genetic or dietary or environmental (genetic variability in species is crucial for survival in changing environments).  And the choice of the words, “sympath” and “parasympath”, aren’t they just chosen to sound scientific, aren’t they in the old American tradition of “winner” and “loser”, “extrovert” and “introvert”?

 

I think it is not advisable to go without oxygen. It sounds silly to even write that, but it has to be written.  The brain is plastic, it can recover to a degree, but don’t push your luck, I suggest don’t deprive it at all. If you have done birth primals and lost some sharpness, it may come back, especially if you stop doing them and then exercise the brain (through learning or practicing whatever skill was diminished).  Protect those cells, because after a certain age, only very few new ones are produced (although you can make many new connections between cells, number of cells is not the same as number of connections).

 

The miracles promised of birth primals I think are not going to materialize. They may tell you the results are always just around the corner, just after the next few birth primals, that you have to get worse before you get better.  Don’t bank on it.