Psychosomatics, Social
Psychosomatics, Social
HOW PERSONALITY MAY AFFECT HEALTH
Social psychosomatics attempts to explain how social psychological processes—thoughts, feelings, and emotions— influence bodily changes. More generally, the field of social psychosomatics seeks to explore the links between social processes and physical illness. This field of study is principally concerned with the influence of emotional stimuli on physiologic changes. This relationship is bidirectional, with emotions influencing biological changes and physical health influencing emotion. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that overall health is the best predictor of happiness in adults.
Interest in the relationship between emotions and bodily processes extends as far back as Socrates and Hippocrates, who believed that emotion was a critical influence on health and disease. Modern day social psychosomatics is an interdisciplinary field that combines research from the fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, medicine, and many others. The “fight or flight” response is well known throughout both the social and medical fields. Like other animals, our bodies release adrenaline in preparation to either face or flee from an environmental stressor. While this was at one point evolutionarily adaptive, and remains so in situations requiring split-second decisions, long-term activation of this stress response may have detrimental health consequences.
PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY
One particular branch of social psychosomatics that has been particularly influential in recent years is psychoneuroimmunology. This term describes the influence of psychological processes on immune system functioning. In particular this field of study examines the influence of stress on the susceptibility to infectious disease processes, such as the common cold. According to a 1991 study by Sheldon Cohen, David A. J. Tyrrell, and Andrew P. Smith, one illustration of this approach is known as a “viral challenge.” In such a study participants are quarantined in a laboratory setting for a particular period of time. During this time participants undergo medical exams, complete questionnaires assessing their physical and mental health as well as health behaviors, and respond to psychosocial measures that describe various aspects of their personality and the amount of stress they are currently experiencing. Following this initial assessment, participants are given nasal drops containing a strain of a virus or a placebo. For the next few days, participants undergo daily examinations to assess for the presence of viral symptoms and the number of tissues used are counted and weighed. The “viral challenge” technique allows the impact of stress on susceptibility to the common cold to be analyzed, while controlling for exposure to the illness. The paradigm also enables the study of other factors thought to influence susceptibility to illness, including personality variables.
Another means of exploring the influence of stress on health is to examine viruses that are usually held latent by active immune systems, but that may return when the person is exposed to high levels of stress, such as a major life event. One virus that illustrates this scenario is the herpes virus, thought to be responsible for diseases such as cold sores, genital lesions, and mononucleosis. While the virus is typically suppressed by a strong immune system, it will flare, and studies have supported the idea that there is a relationship between negative emotional states, such as stress, and flare-ups.
HOW PERSONALITY MAY AFFECT HEALTH
Another indication of the impact of mind states on the body are diseases that seem to be strongly connected to certain personality types. For example, people who display high levels of aggression, hostility, or anger seem to be more likely to develop cardiovascular problems, while those people who are shy or socially isolated seem to be more likely to develop immune and metabolic illnesses.
While most research has focused on the negative repercussions certain emotions or life events may have on physical health, other research has focused on positive emotions that can foster health and well-being. Indeed studies have shown that factors such as high self-esteem, a strong sense of self-efficacy, and resilience predict positive changes in mental and physical health. Other positive factors that have been studied are hope, optimism, social support, and positive interpersonal relationships. Indeed studies have shown that these positive qualities can hasten recovery from serious injury or illness, while people who do not have these qualities are at greater risk for developing illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. A 2006 review by Sheldon Cohen and Sarah D. Pressman demonstrated an ongoing association between positive affect and lower rates of morbidity, illness, pain, and increased longevity, while John C. Barefoot and colleagues in their 2005 study found that people with heart disease who had larger and more diverse social networks had better outcomes.
In summary the field of social psychosomatics explores the connection between social processes and physical health, seeking to discover both the consequences and benefits of the link between our social world and our physical beings, as well as examining potential factors that may reduce or exacerbate the link.
SEE ALSO Emotion; Morbidity and Mortality; Psychology; Psychoneuroimmunology; Psychosomatics; Stress; Stress-Buffering Model
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barefoot, John C., Morten Grobaek, Gorm Jensen, et al. 2005. Social Network Diversity and Risks of Ischemic Heart Disease and Total Mortality: Findings from the Copenhagen City Heart Study. American Journal of Epidemiology 161 (10): 960-967.
Cohen, Sheldon, David A. J. Tyrrell, and Andrew P. Smith. 1991. Psychological Stress and Susceptibility to the Common Cold. New England Journal of Medicine 325 (9): 606–612.
Cohen, Sheldon, and Tracy B. Herbert. 1996. Health Psychology: Psychological Factors and Physical Disease from the Perspective of Human Psychoneuroimmunology. Annual Review of Psychology 47: 113–142.
Cohen, Sheldon, and Sarah D. Pressman. 2006. Positive Affect and Health. Current Directions in Psychological Science 15 (3): 122–125.
Everson, Susan A., Debbie E. Goldberg, George A. Kaplan, et al. 1996. Hopelessness and Risk of Mortality and Incidence of Myocardial Infarction and Cancer. Psychosomatic Medicine 58 (2): 113–121.
Maunder, Robert G., and Jonathan J. Hunter. 2001. Attachment and Psychosomatic Medicine: Developmental Contributions to Stress and Disease. Psychosomatic Medicine. 63 (4): 556–567.
Victoria W. Willard