The Mind and Health

Do optimism and positivity truly influence physiological health and well-being? Assuming they do, could we therefore actually change our mental state - our levels of optimism, hope, and positivity to create better physiological health and well-being? If so, to what degree and how would we do it?

Research findings seem to show pretty clearly that when people feel helpless and as though they cannot change their circumstances, they tend to suppress their own immune systems (Locke, 1997). A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Cohen et al.(1991) confirmed that stress and helplessness inhibit the body’s ability to fight illness and disease. Approximately 400 participants were given questionnaires designed to measure negative outlook, emotions, and helplessness; the results show that an average of 2 to 1 people with negative psychological assessment, when exposed to the common cold virus, came down with the cold symptoms. These findings have been replicated with consistency.

One of the first scientific studies to show the connection between psychology and immune function occurred, in a sense, inadvertently by Dr. Robert Ader at the University of Rochester in the 1970’s. Dr. Ader and colleagues were researching classical conditioning with lab rats. They fed the rats a mixture of sugar water simultaneously with a drug which suppressed immune function (the drug was called Cytoxan); Cytoxan also caused nausea and taste aversion. Next, the researchers unexpectedly found that when they fed the rats only the sugar water, the rats’ immune systems also became depressed, and some rats even died! The experiments were reproduced over and over with essentially the same results. This was perhaps the first time that science was able to show the mind’s power over immune and endocrine function (Locke, 1997).

The new field of positive psychology is about “positive change.” Positive psychology, in a sense, was developed as a response to a system that had been flawed - the conventional mental health system during the mid part of the 20th century. This has been referred to as the disease model of care - which according to Seligman only provided half the true story of wellness (and maybe less) by focusing solely on treating mental illness and not on mental health. Seligman spent most of his fledgling days in academia studying learned helplessness and hopelessness. That system he was immersed in had been mired in a mindset of stagnation, or, the idea that our level of happiness, our state of mental health was fixed and unchangeable. The main conceptualization had become that when people were diagnosed with mental illness, they were labeled as “broken” and according to the disease model of care it could only be through drugs (and/or complicated and involved psychological analysis) that change was possible (Lampropoulos, 2001), but not very much through self-care practices. However, a humanistic psychologist, researcher and practitioner, Carl Rogers, did much to change this viewpoint by offering what he called a client-centered model.

One of the most simple but significant ways that positive thought affects our health is through the absence of depression and hopelessness. When people are depressed and hopeless, they are pessimistic and therefore often do not take actions to improve their own well-being (Kliff, 2007). For example, one may not utilize wellness and coping skills such as eating right, exercising, and managing or coping with stress effectively. We have lots of scientific information to show that the absence of self-care behaviors impacts physical well-being.

Dean Ornish, for example, was perhaps the first to prove that coronary heart disease (CHD) can not only be slowed or prevented but actually reversed through integrative holistic practices. Ornish’s program combines diet and nutrition, exercise, and learned skills to reduce psychological distress such as hostility, anxiety, and depression, which have been correlated with increased risks for heart disease. It is difficult to determine exactly what percentage each (diet, exercise, psychosocial skills) play in reducing CHD, however, it is becoming increasingly clear that a holistic approach is optimal in order to prevent problems before they occur.

Sometimes the best way to know something is by what it is not, or through its absence. For example, knowing how health is affected in the absence of optimism and positive emotion perhaps tells us about its opposite corollary. Significant research comes from Pennebaker (King et al, 1998), whose first interest in expression, writing, and disclosure came when he was giving polygraph tests for the FBI, and he noticed the dramatic reductions in blood pressure and heart rates and reductions in bodily perspiration. In his research, Pennebaker found that undisclosed trauma of various kinds actually doubles the risk of illness (King et al., 1998).

Some of the important findings Pennebaker has obtained through years and years of research about disclosure are that: 1. Writing about one’s deepest feelings and thoughts connected with personal experiences is most significant. It is not necessarily daily diary keeping that seems to be the most important aspect, but rather it is, “integrating” one’s experiences on a deep level that seems to help the most. (However, Pennebaker isn't saying not to write regularly, because it still probably a good habit to develop) 2. Pennebaker's research seems to show that it is not necessary to share one’s experiences with others, which may be shocking to counselors and therapists. Again, Pennebaker is not putting forth that counseling is not important or helpful, rather I think he is saying that many of the same benefits can also be obtained through self-disclosure.

References

Cohen, S & Tyrrell, D. & Smith, A.P. (1991). Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold. The New England Journal of Medicine, 325(9), 606-611.

King, D.J. & Holden, J.M. (Summer, 1998). Disclosure of trauma and psychosomatic health An interview with James W. Pennebaker. Journal of Counseling & Development, 76(3).

Kliff, S. (2007). This is your brain on optimism: New research reveals the biological roots of positive thinking. How a rosy outlook can affect your health. Newsweek. October 24. Retrieved December 23, 2010 from http://www.newsweek.com/2007/10/23/this-is-your-brain-on-optimism.html

Lampropoulos, G. (Jan, 2001). Integrating Psychopathology, positive psychology, and
psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 56(1).

Locke, S. (1997). The healer within: The new medicine of mind and body. Plume Publishing.

Pischke, C.R. & Scherwitz, L. & Weidner, G. & Ornish, D. (September, 2008). Long-term effects of lifestyle changes on well-being and cardiac variables among coronary heart disease patients. Health Psychology, 27(5) 584-592.

Selgman, M.E.P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.