Your Witch Wound is fucking with your immune system.

Written By Emmy Taziani

The Witch Wound and the Immune System: How Emotional Suppression Affects Immunity

That might sound like a bold claim but let’s get into it.

A witch wound comes from persecution, exclusion, humiliation and degradation, something our ancestors internalised throughout the witch trials. Behaviour and social graces changed from being more community focused to accusatory and as women, I don’t think we’ve ever really recovered. But first, the science:

Epigenetics is the study of how our DNA changes, Epi means ‘on / on top of’ and essentially helps us identify environmental triggers that change DNA expression. DNA holds the blueprint for gene expression from proteins to how we look. One of the most famous examples of how epigenetic changes work are seen in famine survivors:

The Irish Potato Famine (1845–1852) caused severe nutritional and psychological trauma that induced epigenetic changes, altering gene expression in survivors and their descendants without changing their DNA sequence. These ‘famine babies’, offspring of the famine survivors were metabolically primed for scarcity, leading to higher risks of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular issues, as well as mental health disorders, that persisted across generations.

We also see changes in Native Americans with a high prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes which is related to the colonisation of their people, disruption to their homes and eating patterns as colonial settlers brought in foreign food that was unfamiliar to their system. Combined with the lack of readily available fresh food choices near Reservations and the US portion sizes, it’s a recipe for disaster.

So, this brings me to the witch wound.

After having a good Google and mooch around medical literature, there was little to be said about how descendants of the accused and the women in the community were affected, but I know how. I see it in clients all the time.

  • They preface things with “this might sound stupid”, “you won’t believe this”, or “this was crazy but”

  • They live in chronic states of dysregulation with body posture to match, such as rounded shoulders to appear smaller and less threatening

  • They internalise emotions lest they be called hysterical or make a scene

And yes, obviously, we need to take into account modern experiences and trauma as a result of the above, but we also need to acknowledge how common this is in the female population. I believe we are observing changes in immunity and social constructs associated with the witch trials. In the current climate, we are seeing tighter constrictions in certain countries regarding schooling (Afghanistan under Taliban rule) and in women’s healthcare around pregnancy and birth, again not disimilar to women not being allowed to read or write, destruction of wise women’s knowledge and labelling (inherently feminine) holistic approaches as ‘pseudoscience’

In a study of 22 million people, 1 in 10 had an autoimmune condition. 13% were women, compared with 7% of men. Several studies support the internalisation of emotions as a cause of illness and disease within the body. There’s a field of medicine called PsychoNeuroImmunology, which blends Psychology, Neurology and Immunology to explain the interactions between the emotional state, nervous system function, and the immune system

Women experience similar social conditions to the witch trials in modern ways, such as constant scrutiny from others, online comparison, community exclusion and patriarchal structures that don’t allow women to thrive, such as limited sick days for menstrual leave, poor doctor relationships and medical outcomes, misogyny in the workplace and being fearful of an assault from a man. We are afraid to run at night, to dress up nicely or to relax with a drink because we always have to be on guard. This hypervigilance costs us in biological energy; it is incredibly draining.

Put all this together with the fact that women aren’t allowed to express, even in community with other women, without fear of judgment and persecution, where can they let it out?

Chronic stress and suppressed anger are two key players in immune system dysregulation. IL-6 (an immune system chemical called a cytokine) is known to cause chronic inflammatory responses, but was seen to have lowered when in the community. “Social support significantly mitigated anger/IL-6 reactivity associations.” (Puterman et al 2014). IL-6 was also one of the first drug targets for Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is 2-3x more common in women than men.

The majority of my clients are women and come to me asking for “more coping mechanisms” when what they need is a clean sweep of all the shit on their plate. They’ve been conditioned to take more, manage more and do more as a result of our societal conditioning and patriarchal expectations. Never question or ask for help, and it leaves women feeling bitter and resentful, which is more often than not internalised.

I think that the epigenetic changes in our bodies, impacting chronic stress responses along with psychological conditioning, negatively impact our immune system, and that can be traced back to ancestors who survived witch trials. You must adapt and assimilate to your environment, so they did.

So, how is our immunity being impacted as a result?

  • Chronic stress and cortisol release cause immune dysregulation and immunosuppression: poor wound healing, catching every bug going, and less white blood cell proliferation

  • Chronic stress in murine models showed lower B cell count and proliferation, which impacts antibody production to fight pathogens

  • Natural Killer and T-Cells down-regulated (these identify cells containing viruses and cancer cells)

    (Alotiby, A. 2024)

Most women don’t know how and where conditioning pops up in their lives, nor do they relate it as far back to the witch wound. For many women and women of colour, there are even deeper themes here in colonialism, slavery and segregation to wade through.

How do we begin healing the witch wound? By learning to feel, working with your nervous system and acting as your ancestors’ miracles. Do the things they never got to do. Find your people and connect. Do ancestral healing. Manage stress through expression rather than suppression.

If this sounds up your street, my offering THE DEATH RITES is a 1:1 container where, over 3 months, we start transforming your conditioning. Taking you from good girl to that witch. Here, we work with the mind, body, and spirit to provide a comprehensive revision of your responses and expressions, allowing you to move through the world more authentically without constraints. You can find out more here.

References

Alotiby A. Immunology of Stress: A Review Article. J Clin Med. 2024 Oct 25;13(21):6394. doi: 10.3390/jcm13216394. PMID: 39518533; PMCID: PMC11546738.

Brod, S., Rattazzi, L., & Piras, G. (2014). ‘As above, so below’ examining the interplay between emotion and the immune system. Immunology, 143(3), 311. https://doi.org/10.1111/imm.12341

Köhler-Forsberg O, Ge F, Aspelund T, Wang Y, Fang F, Tomasson G, Thordadottir E, Hauksdóttir A, Song H, Valdimarsdottir UA. Adverse childhood experiences, mental distress, and autoimmune disease in adult women: findings from two large cohort studies. Psychol Med. 2025 Feb 11;55:e36. doi: 10.1017/S0033291724003544. PMID: 39930807; PMCID: PMC12017369.

Luz H. Ospina, Katie Beck-Felts, Chloe Ifrah, Amanda Lister, Sylvie Messer, Scott J. Russo, James J. Gross, David Kimhy, Inflammation and emotion regulation: Findings from the MIDUS II study, Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health, Volume 26, 2022,100536, ISSN 2666-3546, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100536. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666354622001260)

Puterman E, Epel ES, O'Donovan A, Prather AA, Aschbacher K, Dhabhar FS. Anger is associated with increased IL-6 stress reactivity in women, but only among those low in social support. Int J Behav Med. 2014 Dec;21(6):936-45. doi: 10.1007/s12529-013-9368-0. PMID: 24357433; PMCID: PMC4406249.

Wedekind, L. E., Mitchell, C. M., Andersen, C. C., Knowler, W. C., & Hanson, R. L. (2021). Epidemiology of type 2 diabetes in Indigenous communities in the United States. Current Diabetes Reports, 21(11), 47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-021-01406-3

Emmy Taziani