Attitude, Intent and Emotions in Health
Information
and resources from “A
growing body of research suggests patient and practitioner attitude,
intent and emotions can influence clinical outcomes.” distributed
to the Association of Reorganizational Healing Practitioners.
Original article by
Christopher Kent, DC, Esq. (He explained it so well that I've kept
my comments in green, although the full article does not appear here.
Enjoy his ideas!)
The
amount of juice smoothies that enter your body, the hours you spend
at the gym working out your muscles and cardio stamina, and the crazy
positions you distort yourself into for your mediatation or yoga
class-Is this where you think your health comes from?
While
this WILL affect your level of health, research is also seeing that
your attitude, intent and emotions are also playing a huge role in
what level of health you achieve.
“The
biopyschosocial model emphasizes that one should consider"the patient's unique biologic, psychological, social, and
economic milieu."1
Scientists
are studying the relationship between emotions, brain connectivity,
and pain. A study reported that where
pain persisted, brain gray matter density decreased.
Brain changes are causally involved in the transition from acute to
chronic pain."4
And as reported in the U.K.'s The
Telegraph,
"The
more emotionally the brain reacted to the initial injury, the more
likely it was that pain [would] persist after the injury [had]
healed."5”
We
all know that attitude matters. Laughter and humor have benefical
health effects-how do we know? (the following is directly from
Kent's article:)
CBS
News6
reported on a paper in Aging7
that examined personality traits in people 95 years of age and older.
The researchers reported that most had positive personality traits;
the majority were outgoing,
optimistic and easygoing.
As noted by CBS News, "They considered laughter an important
part of life and had a large social network. They expressed emotions
openly rather than bottling them up." Other investigators have
found that dispositional optimism
protects older adults from strokes.8-9
Berk,
et al.,10
investigated how humor-associated, mirthful laughter modulated
certain neuroimmune parameters. Fifty-two healthy men participated in
the study. Blood samples were taken 10 minutes before viewing an
hour-long humor video. Additional blood samples were taken 30 minutes
into the video, 30 minutes after the viewing was completed and 12
hours after the viewing. Increases were found in natural killer cell
activity (immunoglobins G and M), with several immunoglobin effects
lasting 12 hours after viewing the humor video.
The
authors concluded, "Modulation of neuroimmune parameters during
and following the humor-associated eustress [pleasant or curative
stress] of laughter may provide beneficial health effects for
wellness."
Finally,
in a study
by Kimata,11
allergy patients who watched a Charlie Chaplin comedy had their skin
welts shrink, an effect not found in control subjects who watched
weather reports.
A
stronger immune system, shrinking skin welts, and happy 95 year olds.
Doesn't it make sense that we look for the silver lining and down
that green smoothie knowing how it will nourish each and every cell
as we “om” to better health?
Focus
on your intent to allow the body to express its potential. It may
significantly affect clinical outcomes.
References
Weiner
BK. Spine update: the biopsychosocial model and spine care. Spine,
2008;15;33(2):219.
"The
Power of Suggestion - A Wild Card Across Spine Care." The
Back Letter,
2012;27(8);96.
Michael
RB, Garry M. Suggestion, cognition, and behavior. Current
Directions in Psychological Science,
2012;21(3):151.
Balioki
MN, Petre B, Torbey S, et al. Corticostriatal functional connectivity
predicts transition to chronic back pain. Nature
Neuroscience,
2012;15:1117.
"Chronic
Pain Is Determined by Emotions, Scientists Believe." The
Telegraph
(UK), July 1, 2012.
Castillo
M. "Researchers Discover Optimism May Lead to Longevity."
CBS News, May 30, 2012.
Kato
K, Zweig R, Barzilai, Atzmon G. Positive attitude towards life and
emotional expression as personality phenotypes for centenarians.
Aging,
2012;4(5):359.
"Smile
a Lot; It Just Might Save Your Life." USA
Today,
Dec. 27, 2011.
Kim
ES, Park N, Peterson C. Dispositional optimism protects older adults
from stroke. AHA
Stroke;
published online before print July 21, 2011.
Berk
LS, Felten DL, Tan SA, et al. Modulation of neuroimmune parameters
during the eustress of humor-associated mirthful laughter.
Alternative
Therapies,
2001;7(2):62.
Kimata
H. "Effect of Humor on Allergen-Induced Wheal Reactions."
(letter) Journal
of the American Medical Association,
2001;285(6):738.
DiBlasi
Z, Harkness E, Ernst E, et al. Influence of context effects on health
outcomes: a systematic review. The
Lancet,
2001;357(9258):757.
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