Research indicated that there’s mounting evidence that your state of mind influences your body’s capability of healing and protecting itself. The truth is your state of mind could very well be the greatest tool you have to defend against illness. Not only can it help with illness but it could also assist in the treatment of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, aging and digestive disorders. The mind is a powerful tool which can lead to your body knowing you’re depressed before you even do. When you bring mental stress upon yourself you are compromising your natural defenses.
Have you heard the saying that laughter is the best medicine or are you worried about being worried sick? These two saying could be taken literally and can have an effect on your body and mind. This is where the term psychosomatic comes from; it simply means mind-body. Many people associate the word psychosomatic with an imagined sickness that produces symptoms but in reality hypochondria would be a more appropriate term for that. This causes the real power of the psychosomatic process to be overlooked by many who don’t know the true meaning of the word. A famous phrase by Woody Allen states “I’m not a hypochondriac, I’m an alarmist”. This misunderstanding of psychosomatic is negative but it solidifies the acceptance of a person’s ability to influence a physical condition with their mind. Scientific research is now confirming the possibility that a person could produce an optimal condition for being healthy by simply using the power of their mind or thinking it’s true.
The new world of solid measurable data is overtaking the world of magical beliefs, spiritual eccentricity and fuzzy logic and allowing people to reconsider the mind/body perspective. This can be seen when looking at the nocebo and placebo effect. The nocebo effect is when someone believes that a change or substance will not work therefore, it doesn’t. The placebo effect commonly known as the sugar pill effect is when a person has a positive effect from a substance or behavior even though there’s none of the treatment properties present. The powerful data related to the nocebo/placebo effect is so strong that all conducted research must contain the possibilities of these effects. Science considers its primary mantra as “if it cannot be measured, we cannot know it exists” because science is the field of measurability. This has brought on unscientific observations of emotions, thoughts, spirit and mind to get a better understanding of the real science behind them. The technology of the new world like functional magnetic resonance imaging or electron microscopes allow scientists to observe, replicate and observe what was immeasurable in the past.
Hans Selye started documenting and observing the mind/body interaction as it relates to stress early as 1946. Hi work “General Adaptation Syndrome” became commonly recognized as the Fight-Flight-Freeze response. In relation to mind/body relevance, stress experiences that create measurable physiological reaction could be activated consistently whether the danger was real perceived or imagined. Your body responds to stimulus by activating the (HPA) hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. Researchers believe that it’s possible for a person to be at higher risk for disease, have a compromised immune system or cause unnecessary wear on their body due to prolonged stress whether it’s real stress or imagined.
Research pioneers are building upon Selye’s work in the field of mind/body. There’s a broad assortment of disciplines starting to emerge including neuroimmunology, psychotherapy, spirituality and cellular biology that represent both mind and body. The unification of these disciplines acknowledges the myth of artificial separation of the interaction between the mind and body. This has brought about identifying terms such as mind/body medicine, complementary alternative medicine and holistic or wholistic medicine.
The possibility of identifying and measuring the methods to improve the mind/body interaction is due to the approval of the true relationship between the mind/body and also the accessibility of sophisticated equipment. The value of psychotherapy as a practical treatment alternative for physical and mental health is becoming more obvious and accepted. The mind/body perception includes advancements of prevention that are healing, proactive, health maintaining, and motivated by an individual person.
