Mind and Body Connection

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The Mind/Body Connection

Stress Management for Life

A Research-Based, Experiential Approach, 4e

Olpin | Hessen

How do my thoughts and feelings change my physical condition? For instance, can stress really change my cells?

Why do I get sick after I go through a stressful time?

What is the placebo effect and does it really work?

Key Questions

Describe the role of stress in disease

Discuss how stress can affect body systems including the cardiovascular, nervous, digestive, and immune systems

Explain the concept of psychoneuroimmunology

Explain the placebo effect as an example of the power of the mind over the body

Objectives

“A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world”

John Locke, 1693

We all have different experiences with stress

What happens in our minds determines what happens in our bodies

The Mind/Body Connection

Includes emotional and mental health

Has profound impact on physical health

Chronically pessimistic, angry, anxious, or depressed have higher rates of heart disease and cancer

Psychological Health

22% of Americans report experiencing extreme stress

More adults report their stress is increasing than decreasing

More than 9 in 10 adults believe that stress can contribute to the development of major illnesses; and that some types of stress can trigger heart attacks, arrhythmias, and even sudden death

FYI: The Impact of Stress

Healthy People 2020: summarizes health goals for the U.S.

Mental health problems are among the most pressing concerns in public health

Five of the ten Leading Health Indicators are significantly interrelated with stress

The Role of Chronic Stress in Disease

Stress can affect health either directly by way of physiological changes in the body, or indirectly through a change in a person’s behavior

Direct: release of hormones by the endocrine system during the alarm reaction stage of the general adaptation syndrome

Indirect: those who experience high levels of stress may respond with unhealthy behaviors

Direct and Indirect Effects of Chronic Stress

The cumulative physiological wear and tear on the body that results from ongoing adaptive efforts to maintain homeostasis in response to stressors

Hormones and other physiological factors that mediate the effects of stress on the body are protective and adaptive effects in the short term, but can accelerate disease processes in the long term

Allostatic Load

Health disparities exist between blacks and whites in the U.S.

Allostatic load can help explain the impact of discrimination and economic and emotional deprivation on health

Other important factors

Perception, past trauma, and lifestyles

Race alone must be rejected as a legitimate measure of intrinsic risk

Culture Connection: The Reason is NOT the Race

Muscle tension and pain

Headaches

Fatigue

Upset stomach

Difficulty sleeping

Bruxism

Cold or sore throat

Effects of Medium-Term Chronic Stress

Immune system is unable to work as effectively when you are stressed

Your body produces natural antibodies to counteract infection on days with positive events

The worse the day, the fewer the antibodies that are produced

Cortisol in particular lingers in the body and weakens the body’s immune response

Effects of Medium-Term Chronic Stress on the Immune System

The common cold is not an equal-opportunity attacker

Happy, relaxed people are more resistant to illness than those who tend to be unhappy or tense

Serious work-related or personal stress that lasts at least a month increases the chances of catching a cold

The rates of respiratory infection and clinical colds increase in a dose-response manner with the extent of psychological stress

Research Highlight: The Cold, Hard Facts

Source: “Psychological Stress and Susceptibility to the Common Cold,” by S. Cohen, D. Tyrrell, and A. Smith, New England Journal of Medicine, 325 1991: 606–612.

Stressful events that cause the release of certain hormones can make you forget things you know you should know

Normal memory function returns when the levels of stress hormones return to normal

FYI: Stress and Memory

Evidence suggests a relationship between the risk of cardiovascular disease and environmental and psychosocial factors

Mental stress increases oxygen demand because blood pressure and heart rate are elevated

Long-Term Chronic Stress

Vascular resistance and coronary artery constriction during mental stress decrease the blood supply

Blood flow to the heart muscle decreases

Blood tends to clot more easily

Chronically high levels of cortisol may affect cardiac health by promoting inflammation that causes heart attacks

Stress and the Heart

Stress hinders the immune system’s ability to produce and maintain lymphocytes and natural killer cells

Impaired immunity makes the body more susceptible to many diseases

Long-Term Stress and the Immune System

Stress and aging

Prolonged stress can age people prematurely

Shortens lifespan of cells; opens the door to infections

Stress and inflammation

Chronic inflammation plays a role in many diseases

High levels of stress can trigger a large number of other diseases and conditions

Long-Term Stress, Aging, and Disease

Men who have reported permanent stress have a 45% higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than men who reported no periodic stress

Independent of other known risk factors

Research Highlight: Stress and Diabetes

Source: Perceived stress and incidence of Type 2 diabetes: a 35-year follow-up study of middle-aged Swedish men by M. Novak , L. Björck , K.W. Giang, C. Heden-Ståhl , L. Wilhelmsen, A. Rosengren. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov /pubmed/23075206 and http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02 /uog-psc020713.php, Retrieved February 8, 2014.

Psychosomatic illnesses

Now termed psychophysiological illnesses to avoid connotation that illness is somehow “imagined”

Experience plays a complex role in determining health

How the Mind and Body Communicate

Karoshi

Death by overwork

Victims average over 80 hours of work per week

Many Japanese workers are finding options to help relieve the strain

Iyashi

A mixture of healing, calming, and getting close to nature

Culture Connection: In a Culture of Overwork, Japan Tries to Chill Out

Ingrained beliefs may make relaxation more difficult

Should a worker sacrifice personal well-being for the company?

Obsession with work is often seen as a virtue in Japanese culture, and weariness a sign of weakness

Culture Connection: Ingrained Beliefs

Placebo effect

A phenomenon whereby an inactive substance or treatment is used to determine how the power of suggestion affects the psychology, physiology, or biochemistry of experimental participants

Nocebo effect

Explains the causation of sickness and death by expectations of these negative outcomes and by associated emotional states

How the Mind and Body Communicate

Healthcare providers have long understood the impact of the placebo effect

Lipraus may be prescribed

Sugar pill spelled backwards

FYI: What’s Lipragus?

Sources: Meaning and Medicine, by Larry Dossey (New York: Bantam, 1991).

The mentality that disease is the victim’s “fault” is not a productive approach to health

Psychoneuroimmunology

Seeks to understand the complex communications between and among the nervous system, the psyche, and the immune system, and their implications for health

Blaming the Victim

Psychoneuroimmunology finds acceptance as science adds evidence

Hormones and neurotransmitters released under stress can change immune cell behavior

Cells have receptors to “hear” the signals, allowing the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems to “talk”

Research Highlight: Psychoneuroimmunology

The body is affected by what the mind experiences, and the mind is affected by what the body experiences

The mind can be a healer or a slayer

Conclusion

Review

Think about a health concern that you, or someone you know, might be experiencing right now

In light of the information in this chapter, think of how stress may have contributed to the problem

Lab 4-1: Body Signals – Part I

Respond

Intentionally engage in a healthy behavior

Focus deliberately on the way your body feels during and after doing the healthy activity

Reflect

Write a paragraph reflecting on how frequently you listen to the feedback your body is giving you

Lab 4-1: Body Signals – Part II