Mind Over Matter
It is true that our mental state influences our bodily functions. We all know that if we are scared or excited, if we are feeling downhearted or loved, then our bodily processes alter. Variations occur in levels of adrenaline and other hormones, in heart rate and speed of digestion, in energy levels and ability to sleep, and these can be regularly monitored through clinical analysis. These measures provide concrete evidence demonstrating the way thoughts and emotions cause changes in our bodily functions. These facts, and their implications for body-brain-mind relationships, need to be much more widely recognized. Such realizations can have enormous benefits for health and well-being.
The concept of ‘psychoneuroimmunology’ or ‘psychosomatic medicine’ as a linking factor between our mental and physical health is based on an intricate, complex, and finely balanced relationship. As a consequence, the mind can directly influence our overall body state, guiding underlying energy or physiological processes. This holistic concept of ‘mind and body’, or more correctly ‘the mental and physical’, is gaining increasing recognition and acceptance. There is also widespread agreement that psychological factors can contribute to our health or else cause illness; this is a relatively new branch of medical science which usually operates independently of other treatments. It is now important to further progress in this field by identifying which factors are the most important for our health, and which need to be treated. In order to do this, we must begin by defining the key terms and distinguishing between the mental and the physical. A clear view on these mental and physical influences on our overall well-being is essential for understanding how we behave and for treating those behaviors that affect our health. Throughout this text, we use ‘mental’ and ‘psychological’ interchangeably, as with ‘physical’ and ‘physiological’. Of course, this is a simplification, but it is one that is commonly adopted in this field in an effort to distinguish the psychological from the physiological in everyday parlance.
Defining Mind Over Matter
Top-down thinking and consciousness are terms with esoteric connotations. Let’s instead neutralize them to a common phrase: “mind over matter.” Mind over matter is among the most recognizable phrases in the world and has indeed been echoed in various disciplines, including health and well-being. Physiologically, the primary trend has been to examine and conceptualize purely the incomplete convergence of ‘experience’ undergoing transcended physical, non-physical, or psychic (mental) pertinence. This transcorporative transition as manifestational distinctions bears a missing zone as the threshold gap bifurcating impeccable correlations between thought and their physical transcollections. In terminology, experience alone makes intricate this presumption both in the philosophy of an illuminated perspective and contemporary accounts of psychiatric paradoxes dubbed the mind-body problem. This imposition lucidly encourages the otherwise transitioned dualities to inter-permeate their components that underlie the transition. In the body-psychological mechanisms, this has imposing weight inasmuch as psycho-physical yield is concerned.
These events are borne out in interdisciplinary esotericisms inclusive of scientific, philosophical, optimal, religious, and polemic. They signify that behavioral and psychological states inhabit the gamut. Under the rubric of the physical, it signifies that sensory-perceptional functionalities are both trans-positioned and transposed: a metaphoric crossover from thinking into being. It all subsumes mind, affects, mental state, attitude, mood, belief, thinking, thought, disposition, interpretations, mental attitudes, consciousness, and cognition. More importantly, its equivocal pertinence in therapeutic discourse throws much of its weight towards the psychiatric paradoxes in the mind-body debates and prompts much for delineation between the ‘utterances’ of their recondite concerns. As awareness of a traditional philosophy, mind-body duality still enjoys scientific character in discussions such as solipsism, skepticism, and metacognition. A change of fact is due, marking the ‘now’ conceptual weight and area of influence as defected not from perceptional extrapolation conceptualization – as such which a man would hold. In less wondrous confers, contemporary awareness continues suprasegmentally with scientific interest. While in physical medicine, magically pleased under the diagnostic value of mind-body relationships, mind over matter serves more as a psychological state conversation involving emotion, will, belief, persuasion, and content. Settings herein become formidable in determining the course of inquiry. By delimiting the common denominator that appears in most of the above captions and jargon, this work unravels the transition of states evident between thought and their transportational components into action.
The Mind-Body Connection
Mind-Body Connection: How our thoughts and feelings can influence health. The health of the body and the mind are fundamentally linked. The dynamic interaction between mental and physical health is referred to as the “mind-body connection.” Emotions, thoughts, and beliefs are experienced through the mind, which is connected with the body through neurobiology. When a person experiences positive emotions, has healthy thoughts, or engages in behaviors that lower stress, their body increases production of functions that keep them healthy. When they experience negative emotions, such as in depression or anxiety, or when thoughts are negative, the body loses those protective functions and has trouble recovering from life stress. Contemporary studies have proven that engaging in contemplative practices can improve the body’s immune system, nervous system, and endocrine system. This can be seen when people practice meditation, yoga, or are prayerful. These contemplative practices all help to lower the stress response in the body. We have also known this since ancient times, where in ancient Greece, the Greeks recognized the value of brief, intense psychological treatment for individuals in distress. This belief was put aside and only came back into favor when brief, intense treatments were used for returning soldiers in war-torn Europe. Numerous psychiatric and physical illnesses that cycle or are chronic have been shown to be amenable to brief, effective interventions utilizing the mind-body connection in therapy. Currently, there appear to be more questions than answers about whether therapies that alter treatment response by changing attitudes and beliefs really rely on the mind-body connection. There is increasing data that demonstrate biological outcomes for a variety of emotional changes that occur through psychotherapy.
Historical Perspectives on the Mind-Body Connection
The relationships between mental and physical factors in health and well-being are not new. Indeed, it has been recognized for thousands of years that the mind and the body are linked. This knowledge can help readers appreciate current discussions about how we understand such relationships today, while at the same time demonstrating how complex ideas about psychological and bodily processes have transcended time and geographical location. Historians trace different roots of mind-body thinking. From philosophers to scientists, many different approaches have been offered to delineate the complex relationship between mental health and physical illness. Such philosophical texts often express psychological thought within the constraints of the dominant scientific and social customs of the time, and these ideas tend to develop organically. This passage will highlight a few landmark studies and describe the trajectory of thinking in broad strokes. At times, this has resulted in ideas that were later proved to be scientific misconceptions. Of note, some of the pioneering theorists in these fields were not only influenced by their medical or scientific predecessors but also by surrounding cultural practices, such as the cults of drinking and bathing during this particular period. In sum, mind-body thinking draws from experiences had, and not only scientific expertise.
Psychological Factors Influencing Health
In this section, we consider a variety of psychological factors that studies have shown to be significantly related to health. We start with attitude and expectancy-related variables, including mindset. These are factors that influence individuals’ behaviors and experiences, which in turn can have direct effects on physical health. Trimming this causal link downward leads us to a consideration of a group of variables with more direct effects on health: emotional patterns and dynamics. Predispositions to have certain types of emotional experiences and to respond in particular ways to emotional stimuli represent psychological tendencies that are likely to have a bearing on the physical part of health. At the high end of the affectivity continuum, favorable emotional states have been associated with such physical benefits as increased immune functioning, reduced susceptibility to illness and disease, and lengthened healthy lifespan.
At a more moderate affective level, trait-like factors such as optimism and self-efficacy are likely to play an important role in health promotion. As with emotional states, there are constancy levels at which symptoms of negative psychological states are likely to show their deleterious effects. For example, the health-related consequences of such persistent emotional states as anxiety and depression can be severe. Cognitive and emotional factors contribute to the delineation of what is labeled ‘constitutional emotional health’. In a related vein, we know that Type A individuals seem to possess a particular constellation of psychological and behavioral characteristics, including impatience, time urgency, and hostility that are associated with an enhanced risk for the development of coronary artery disease. Taken together, all of these psychological variables seem to have the potential for direct and significant contributions to health outcomes. Although these factors reside deep within the individual, they can be considered ‘modifiable’, particularly through behavioral intervention strategies.
Stress and Its Impact on Health
Stress is perhaps the most critical psychological factor influencing both psychological and physical health and well-being. Defined as subjective experience occurring in situations where the demands of the environment are appraised as exceeding the person’s resources to deal with them, stress can be intensified by repeated appraisals of such events as lacking in resources or support. Several physiological and psychological pathways have been identified that link feelings of stress to subsequent adverse health outcomes. The most well-developed research in this area focuses on changes in the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems that are consequential to the experiences we broadly label as stress. The body’s ability to cope with these changes is critical to continued health and well-being. This is not an exhaustive list. Stress also has been linked to deficits in the functioning of the heart and cardiovascular system and to immune deficiencies. There are three types of stress: acute stress, which is time-limited and specific to the individual, can serve to motivate and energize the individual and is not particularly harmful; chronic stress, which is ongoing and associated with prolonged fight-or-flight responses, increased inflammatory responses, and over time, health problems; and eustress, which is also time-limited like acute stress and is a positive type of motivation that enhances interaction, organization, and efficiency, and is therapeutic and beneficial to human physiology. An individual’s level of resilience or ability to cope with and prevent stress and stressors is essential for the development of disease and the onset of recovery, as well as for the management and cure of chronic disease. Therefore, a measure of resilience that both prevents disease and reduces its impact on human health is crucial, particularly in facing current and future global challenges. Resilience is also an important quality, necessary to reduce the so-called allostatic overload, i.e., the wearing of the body over time as it adapts to physical and psychosocial stressors. This means that having high allostasis together with high resilience means that the individual is better able to adapt and cope with inevitable stress, and therefore will often be healthier over the long run. In contrast, having high allostasis coupled with low resilience means that despite tremendous effort, the individual is never able to bounce back and remains in a heightened state of stress for prolonged periods of time, which will increase the risk for developing or exacerbating health problems, including mental health problems like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, stress management is key to reducing the burden of illnesses associated with chronic stress. Generally, a reduction in stress responses comprises a two-pronged approach with interventions aimed at enhancing resilience and different coping strategies.
Mental Health and Well-Being
Mental health and physical health: Modern concepts of health and well-being acknowledge mental health as a fundamental aspect of well-being. Mental health disorders are likely to become the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in the future. Individuals with severe symptoms characterized by a mental illness diagnosis typically experience a 15-20 year reduction in life expectancy when compared to the general population. Mental health conditions have varying degrees of adverse effects on physical health.
Contribution towards a practice of health promotion describes the purpose of a ‘health promoting school’ as assisting students in developing the skills needed to help them increase control over and improve their health. Printed words in single quotation marks are pointers that the word should be in italics. In terms of health promotion opportunities, developing knowledge, attitudes, and skills to understand and look after one’s own mental well-being is likely to extend individual potential for minimizing disorders and early intervention where these already exist. The case is strong, and in some cases, we can claim evidence to suggest the crucial importance of looking after our emotional well-being. Nevertheless, some people, often linked with socio-spatial disadvantage and social inequalities, are more prone to or in more need of experiencing a mental health problem. These are also the groups of people who may face greater difficulties in, or not be permitted to, access support systems deemed necessary by a ‘gender-neutral’ approach. Furthermore, through these support services, they can learn therapies that beneficially support them in looking after their mental health. A significant amount of negative behavior believed to contribute to health problems is often explained as a mental health or cognitive issue. A range of studies attempts to unpack the debates involving socioeconomic disparities and individual emotional well-being and mental illness. Measurements that capture the prevalence and severity of stress and mental health problems in different socio-professional groups raise the importance of embracing both individual choice and larger societal factors to stimulate emotional well-being. The concept of individual lifestyle choices as a potential resolution to multiple health issues is explored. The subjective well-being of individuals with a larger array of social contacts, the tendency to land a job with an increased salary, and chances of successful recovery and good physical health are also supported in the literature. Furthermore, exercise may also be a way in which this can be achieved. However, the choice of adopting a passive sedentary lifestyle characterizes much of society. More needs to be done to address the needs of those suffering. It must be possible for mental ill-health sufferers to access effective support through a strong support system. One approach is that we can try to minimize undesirable individual behavior through infrastructure, making pathways for negative health behavior difficult to access. Instead, where possible, efforts should be put in place to encourage and facilitate good behavior and the right ways of looking after our mental and emotional health.
The Role of Resilience in Mental Well-Being
Resilience is considered a personal competence that may contribute to protecting mental health or, conversely, to the decrease, disruption, or loss of mental health during and, more generally, after exposure to adversity-triggering changes of balance, which could lead to state and/or trait symptoms of distress such as high levels of stress for long periods, or stress well above individual subjective and psychological resources; anxiety, depression, apathy, insomnia, pessimism, anger, irritability, general mood disturbance, social behaviors that might lead to exclusion, and somatic hypochondria.
A resilient individual possesses several sociobiographical and personality characteristics such as a healthy personality, good adaptability, self-determination, and self-efficacy. Resilience is related to mental health and successful coping strategies, such as optimism, positive affectivity, and self-motivation. For this reason, studying the psychological construct of resilience is a key factor in mental health training and promotion. At an individual level, interventions to strengthen resilience are classified as primary prevention if they aim to maintain psychological capital, useful in facing stressful working conditions or possible future organizational changes; as secondary prevention if they aim to treat stress and burnout, triggering a path of recovery and/or contrast to the isolation that might lead to mental illness; and as tertiary prevention if they aim to improve the protective elements of the individual to prevent possible recurrence due to stress. In general, psycho-educational interventions aimed at building resilience and increasing job satisfaction are multi-component, requiring active participation and involvement, and are based on developing awareness and cognitive and emotional competencies useful to activate and develop psychological capital.
What has been most clearly shown by this exploration of how thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors affect our bodies and our lives is that a multi-dimensional perspective is needed, one that recognizes the possibility that psychological processes are at work both for good and bad simultaneously, or that occur as a result of a complex interplay between different systems of the body. Thus, a more comprehensive and balanced appreciation of health and its determinants seems to be necessary. Both researchers in the bio-psycho-social model and clinical practitioners working in holistic or integrated practice need to incorporate and address psychological factors, as these are reinforced by emerging trends in psychology such as self-regulation, resilience, and other forms of pro-social behavior. Further research is required to examine the influence of a broader, more comprehensive range of psychological factors on health and its determinants. As well, if psychological processes are a significant influence in health, we need to discover what works to promote beneficial processes and diminish harmful ones. Finally, an effort from psychology needs to be committed to exploring strategies and therapy programs that help people become healthier. Thus, by adopting a new bio-psychosocial, multi-disciplinary approach, great strides can be made in our understanding not only of the protective and risk factors adversely affecting health but also in understanding healthier behavior.
