The Mind/Body Connection

The mind/body connection refers to our body's response to the way we think, act and feel. When we are stressed, anxious or upset our body responds to tell us that something isn't right. Some of the physical signs that your emotional health is out of balance are:

• Back pain
• Change in appetite
• Chest pain
• Dry mouth
• Headaches
• High blood pressure
• Insomnia (trouble sleeping)
• Lightheadedness
• Palpitations (the feeling that your heart is racing)
• Stiff neck
• Sweating
• Upset stomach
• Weight gain or loss
• Constipation or diarrhea

To avoid these unplesant repsonse, here are some suggestions for improving emotional health:

Express your feelings in appropriate ways. If feelings of stress, sadness or anxiety are causing physical problems, keeping these feelings inside can make you feel worse. It’s OK to let your loved ones know when something is bothering you. However, keep in mind that your family and friends may not be able to help you deal with your feelings appropriately. At these times, ask someone outside the situation--such as your family doctor, a counselor or a religious advisor--for advice and support to help you improve your emotional health.

Live a balanced life. Try not to obsess about the problems at work, school or home that lead to negative feelings. This doesn’t mean you have to pretend to be happy when you feel stressed, anxious or upset. It’s important to deal with these negative feelings, but try to focus on the positive things in your life too. Some research has shown that having a positive outlook can improve your quality of life and give your health a boost. You may also need to find ways to let go of some things in your life that make you feel stressed and overwhelmed. Make time for things you enjoy.

Calm your mind and body. Relaxation methods, such as meditation, are useful ways to bring your emotions into balance. Meditation is a form of guided thought. It can take many forms. For example, you may do it by exercising, stretching or breathing deeply. 

Take care of yourself. To have good emotional health, it’s important to take care of your body by having a regular routine for eating healthy meals, getting enough sleep and exercising to relieve pent-up tension. Avoid overeating and don’t abuse drugs or alcohol. 

 

The Immune System and Emotion

Have you noticed that you get sick more often during finals week or when you are stressed?  Stress takes a toll on our immune system often making us sick.  In the text book Bernie S. Siegal says, “…research has shown that people who give vent to their negative emotions survive adversity better than those who are emotionally constricted.”  Also in the book they say it’s estimated that 90% of all physical problems have emotional roots.  It’s important to find ways that work for you to relax and best handle your stress.

The following are some ways to help relieve your stress:

•          Develop a system of time management to help you best plan out your day.
  
•          Do something each day that you love such as reading a favorite book, taking a walk or talking to a close friend.
  
•          Get plenty of sleep.
  
•          Get plenty of exercise.
  
•          Eat a balanced diet.
  
•          Fill your life with humor.

In an article titled “Moving Toward the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection,” author Ed Morris defines the difference between spirituality and religiosity. He states, “A person may be very spiritual but not religious, or a person could be very religious but have a poorly developed sense of their own spirituality.” As outlined by Rachel Remen, “Religion is a bridge to the spiritual but the spiritual lies beyond religion. Unfortunately, in seeking the spiritual we may become attached to the bridge rather than crossing over it. Religion can, at times, impede the growth of the human spirit.”

In the article, spirituality is described as an integration of three facets: an insightful relationship with oneself and others, a strong personal value system, and a meaningful purpose to one’s life.

The first facet, an insightful relationship with oneself and others, “includes an understanding of our conscious attitudes, feelings, and self-perception.” The article further suggests activities like prayer, meditation or contemplation to grow spiritually as we move from the conscious to the unconscious mind.

The second facet, a strong personal value system, may be idealized as harmony between each of our core values. When we experience this harmony, we experience a sense of spiritual health. The opposing experience from a disarray of core values is stress. We know that stress has detrimental effects on the “mindbody.”

The third facet, a meaningful purpose to one’s life, refers to our personal quests to find meaning in our lives. This personal experience is not a one time event but rather a continual process over the course of our entire lives.

An individual sense of spirituality is important in understanding and healing a victim of any sort of disease since the mind, body, and spirit are intricately connected. As we gain a personal sense of spirituality, we are better able to experience harmony as a whole. I would like to emphasize a specific aspect in our search for spirituality: meditation. Whether of the LDS faith or not, I feel the words of President Hinckley apply to each one of us: “Our lives become extremely busy. We run from one thing to another. We wear ourselves out in thoughtless pursuit of goals which are highly ephemeral. We are entitled to spend some time with ourselves in introspection, in development.”

I would like to conclude with 5 suggestions for developing spirituality as outlines in Aaron Shill’s article, “Noise Around Us Can Block Out Spiritual Connection”:

1. Wake up earlier. The morning hours are conducive to prayer, reading and solitude. Avoid postponing scripture study and meditation until right before bedtime, when the mind and body are fatigued and less receptive.

2. Give your ears a break. Find areas within your daily routine where you can replace noise with quiet. For example, turn the car stereo off during one stretch of your commute or put the iPod away for an hour.

3. Designate time without distractions. Set aside a period of time when you can avoid interruptions. This can be anything from closing the office door to just turning off the cell phone for a half-hour.

4. Go for a walk. Quiet neighborhoods or parks are ideal, but even a walk around the city can be effective. Take time to recognize and appreciate the surrounding environment.

5. Spend more time in nature. The outdoors are an invitation to ponder, says institute instructor S. Michael Wilcox. But remember that phones, boats and all-terrain vehicles often defeat that purpose.

Humor and the Immune System

There is a definite healing power found in humor and laughter. Science is now finding proof to support the Bible verse, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” (Proverbs 17:22) The medical profession is finally recognizing humor as a true mode of healing as increasing scientific research proves its positive effects on the body. The healing power of humor has spread to private practice, long-term care facilities, and hospice care in the corporate world.

The nature of laughter truly proves that it is the best medicine. The breathing experienced when laughing increases the breath rate which also increases the amount of oxygen circulated through the blood. It provides limited conditioning to the muscles and also muscle relaxation. Some findings show that laughter also offers relief of muscle pain. The effect on the cardiovascular system involves an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, increase in circulation, and an overall increase in oxygen to all the body cells. Other benefits include strengthening of the heart, improved digestion, and reduced allergic reaction.

Humor has a definite positive impact on health. It is comparative to aerobic activity in its physical benefits, providing the body with a full inner body workout. It also encourages a broad perspective, and flexibility or adaptability in coping with intense situations. Research shows that it has positive effect especially on people suffering from heart disease. In fact, it has an overall strengthening effect on the immune system. It elevates growth hormones, and decreases stress hormones providing stress relief. Psychologically, it helps to increase self-esteem and optimism. It also increases longevity, and who does not want a longer, happier life?

Spirituality and Resiliency

In our textbook, Bruno Cortis asks, "How can health be without spirituality? Can the body live without the soul that makes it? The spiritual powers within far surpass any others; transcendent, they lift all of humanity."

Spirituality not only lifts all of humanity but it also effects the rate a which people are able to heal. In a study done on successful business executive and other prominent people, researchers found a correlation between good spiritual health and good physical health. The people who had a sense of spirituality reported a more complete recovery from minor illness than the national average.

Another study was performed on 300 terminally ill and non terminally ill hospitalized adults. The patients with the greatest spirituality showed a more resilient emotional health. They all had low fear of death, low discomfort, decreased loneliness, emotional adjustment, and positive death perspectives.

A panel of experts carefully reviewed many studies in medical literature and found that spirituality and religiousness were related to greater subjective well being, life satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. It also caused less depression, delinquency, and drug/alcohol use.

Spirituality helps people have better health and resiliency because they often have a needed social support that can carry them through times of bad health and give them something to live for. People also have faith in a supreme being who is always there for them and is always looking out for their well-being. They have an identity of a child of god and it gives them something to live for because they have that reassurance that the right thing will happen in their lives.

"Keep on the Sunny Side"

According to our textbook, optimism " is an active priority of the person, not merely a reflex that prompts us to 'look on the sunny side.'"

Numerous studies have shown that optimists live longer. Other benefits include:

• Better health (less risk of chronic disease)
  
• Stronger immune system
• Better healing/recovery
  
• Better coping skills
• And more!
  

Are you an optimist? Some characteristics of optimistic people:

• See the good in situations
• Are less stressed--they cope pro-actively with challenges
• Possess the "3 C's of Hardiness": Commitment, Control, & Challenge
• Commitment--optimists don't give up. They are known for their perseverance.
  
• Control--optimists believe outcomes are in their control so they "put forth greater effort to attain the desired outcome."
• Challenge--optimists are not victimized by their circumstances.
• Expect things to go their way
• Focus on the things they have control of
• "Take reality into account but do everything possible with the reality they find."
• Approach the world in an active productive way
• Take better care of their health--Result: better health and longevity!

Children are generally optimistic, so we feel that pessimism is learned. How do we combat this in our own lives? Some suggestions from the book include:

• Be aware of your attitude
• Choose one area of your life in which to become more optimistic
• Set goals small enough to achieve quickly--pick a reward
• Seek out optimistic people
• Stay flexible

Once you've found some optimism of your own. Share it with others!! How to be an optimistic friend:

• Be consistent, positive, and responsive.
• Encourage not generalizing from specific failures. Instead see failure as a challenge to do better.
  
• Help them set realistic goals and encourage problem solving.
• Encourage humor as a way of coping.
• Challenge pessimistic views.
• Be a role model yourself of realistic optimism.

"...it is far better to pursue a remote and even unlikely goal than to deprive oneself of the forward motion that goals provide....Nothing I have learned is less theoretical than the way the entire world seems to open up when courage and determination are connected to truly important aims."--Norman Cousins

Enjoy the music--it is increasing your lifespan!

Characteristics of the Disease Prone Personality

Research has established a relationship between personality type and susceptibility to heart disease. People with personality type A seem to be more prone to heart disease, are typically more driven, impatient, energetic and ambitious. In contrast, people with personality type B, seem to take life more slowly, are usually more relaxed and less likely to develop heart disease.

Psychologists have now identified a "type C." (cancer-prone) personality which may be characterized as someone who responds to stress with depression and a sense of hopelessness. Type C personalities have a tendency to be introverted, respectful, eager to please, conforming and compliant.

There has been some evidence to suggest that your personality type may have some relationship to your chance of surviving cancer. Those who respond with a "fighting spirit" or sense of denial seem to do better than the type C personalities who seem to accept their fate passively. A Stanford University (in the USA) professor named David Spiegel discovered that cancer patients who joined a support group which fostered a "fighting spirit" had a tendency to live on average, 18 months longer than those who were not in such a group.

Disease Prone-Personality

A disease prone personality appears to be well supported. Reseasrch has suggested that personality has effects on disease (specifically cancer and heart disease). For example, percieved stress can lead to health health problems, as well as depression, anger, and feelings of helplessness. Several studies have demonstrated long-term disease incidence could be significantly reduced by implementing a treatment that aimed to promote healthier stress behaviours (emotional expression) in individuals characterised as having unhealthy personalities.
http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/915/2/02Chapter1.pdf

Coping with Mental Illness in a Family

According to the text "depression has been called the common cold of mental illness". Also neurotransmitters such as serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine are chemicals in the brain and when they are at abnormal levels, depression can result. Symptoms can include unpleasantness, fear and loss of control. (Mind Body Health, 200)

Although depression can be inherited, there are no direct lines from family member to family member. "Whether one has a genetic vulnerability or not, episodes of depression often are triggered by a stressful life event: the loss of a job, the end of an intimate relationship, the death of a loved one" (Shape, April, 2003 , Annie Murphy Paul). However if one does has a family history of such illness, they must be diligent in the way they react to situations.

Trying to adjust to a mental illness in a loved one can be devastating, and can cause great tension and anxiety in a family. However, over time one can gain knowledge and learn skills to more effectively cope with a mental illness in a family.

· One of the most important and helpful things a family member can do to support a loved one with a mental illness is to learn as much about the disorder as possible.
· Remember that you cannot cure the disorder, and that no one is to blame.
· Despite your best efforts, the disorder may not get better or improve. Just remember that you may have to renegotiate your emotional relationship.
· It is not okay for you to be neglected. You have emotional needs as well.
· Acknowledge the courage your loved one has in dealing with their mental disorder.
· Love them but hate the disease
· Always remain positive
· Praise all progress
· Confide in other family members and work as a team to help your loved one.
· Remember, you can’t take care of another when you are not taking care of yourself.
· Make sure to encourage your loved one to seek help.
· Be understanding. Remind you family member that you love them, and are there to help.

Here are some links:

http://www.namidupage.org/support/coping_tips.html
http://www.epigee.org/mental-illness-tips-4family.html

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/bipolar_disorder_family_friends_support.htm