Good News Tucson - A Family Values Publication

WOMAN'S HEALTH with Sharon Campbell, CRNP

Avoid the Toxic Triangle

In her 2006 book, Eating, Drinking and Overthinking, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema refers to the poisonous space created by depressive symptoms, unhealthy eating habits and heavy drinking as the “toxic triangle”.

When the three pieces of this triangle come together, women are pulled into the quicksand of misery and destruction of self so strong and powerful they find it difficult to escape. There is a way out, however, if women turn the traits that make them vulnerable into strengths.

Women are sensitive to the emotions of themselves and others. Their concern is about their relationships. These are what can get us into trouble. We try “self-focused” coping: handling stress by turning inward, rather than outward, in an attempt to change the situation.

Binge eating and self-starvation can result in increasing levels of serious diseases. Heavy drinking wrecks havoc with vital organs. Low self-esteem, sadness, and lethargy keep us from having all that life can provide. Symptoms, once mild and occasional, become moderate and frequent. Even “moderate” forms of alcohol abuse, eating disorders and depression can be extremely dangerous. The symptoms erode away at physical and mental health, decrease our ability to function in every day life and set us up for more severe problems later in life.

This triangle is not as simple as one thing causing the other. The symptoms of all three things play off and enhance each other. Women respond to stress by internalizing it, holding it in their bodies and minds. We analyze everything about problems – how we feel, why it happened, all the possible meanings and ramifications for everyone. Going over and over a situation and the feelings it provokes, worrying about events that may never happen, and anticipating the worst are some of the symptoms of overthinking.

We are aware of how our bodies feel – tension, agitation, lethargy and sense of being out of control. We respond by participating in this self-destructive triangle to numb feelings. These self-coping mechanisms involve an attempt to manage external situations in a misguided way.

Nolen-Hoeksema’s book provides tools and strategies to help us take positive action to overcome the areas that take us into the toxic triangle. The same brain that sets up the negative behaviors can be trained to defeat these self-destructive tendencies. We can change the vulnerabilities to strengths.

Sharon Campbell is a Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner (CRNP) who owns A New Creation Women’s Clinic. Well versed in Women’s Health, her emphasis is on reproductive and gynecological health. Sharon can be reached at: (520) 293-1117.