Why is it that when we feel physically unwell we go to the doctor, but when we feel emotionally imbalanced we tend to put those feelings on the metaphorical backburner? Or maybe you have noticed that after a super stressful event has occurred you suddenly come down with the flu or your body feels like it was hit by a bus. Perhaps you have experienced a heartbreak in your life or a recent loss and you quite literally feel like you are in pain. Maybe you received some news and immediately felt sick to your stomach. You might even know a friend (perhaps what we would call a hypochondriac or “worry wort”) that always seems to be worried sick about everything going on and indeed always has some sort of medical issues popping up in their life.
If you have experienced any or all of the above, then you might already be aware of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) or the emerging field of mind-body medicine.
What Is PNI?
Simply put, PNI focuses on the relationship between the mind (psycho), immune system and endocrine system. This field of study looks at the interaction between psychological processes (our mind, thoughts, emotions, etc.) and the direct impact they can have on our nervous system and secondarily our immune system.
You might have also heard of this as mind-body medicine, or the effect of the mind on overall health and resistance to disease and the progression (and regression) of disease. Psychological factors, such as your mental and emotional state, attitude, beliefs, etc., may influence the incidence or progression of immune function and other physiological pathways.
What is interesting to note is that the brain and the immune system are not fully formed at birth, but rather continue to mature in response to the postnatal environment. This means you can have some influence on building a resilient emotional and physical immune response through changes in your environment, however, this also means that this two-way interaction between the brain and the immune system also makes it possible for early childhood psychosocial stressors, or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), to influence immune system development and functioning later in life. Early life stress can indeed predict overall later immune functioning.
PNI and the Brain’s Immune System
Think of your immune system as a sensory organ, which is constantly on surveillance and sending signals about not only pathogens to your nervous system, but also assessing your mental and emotional state that can also produce hormones and neurochemicals that alter immune function. Your immune system is always secondarily responding to you, your thoughts and your central nervous system.
Research in psychoneuroimmunology has led to advances in our understanding of the interactions between the central nervous system and the immune system in neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety. Until recently, much research thought of these systems as separate entities (Hou & Baldwin, 2012).
While this might be novel to some in the wellness filed, research in PNI has been around for quite some time. In fact, in 1985, Candace Pert (one of the earliest contributors to the field of mind-body medicine research) found neurotransmitter and neuropeptide receptors on the cell walls of the immune system and the brain. This discovery showed that the communication chemicals of the nervous system could also speak directly to the immune system, allowing the immune system to affect our mind and mood and our mind and mood to indeed impact our immune response.
Our brains and central nervous system are separated from the body’s immune system by the blood-brain barrier. However, they have their own immune system called the neuroimmune system.
The immune system, unlike our organs, is not in one place. In fact, immune cells can roam through the blood and into most of our tissues, responding relatively independently to local conditions. For instance, lymphocytes have receptors for neurotransmitters and can produce and respond to neurotransmitters (Szalavitz, 2002).
The immune system can send signals to the brain which potentially alter neural activity and thereby alter behavior, thought and mood.
Changes that occur in mood and cognition due to stress are driven by events in the immune system and the inflammation cascade. A study that followed 95,647 recently widowed individuals found that during the first week after bereavement, mortality was twice the expected rate (Psychoneuroimmunology, 2016).
Neuroimmunology has found that psychological experiences, such as mental and emotional stress, can affect an individual’s vulnerability to illness and the presence of inflammatory responses, in particular cytokines, and this has been addressed in anxiety research (Azar, 2001).
Innate immune activation and the release of inflammatory cytokines especially affects brain regions related to both reward and threat sensitivity. The effects of inflammation on reward and threat brain circuitry may be used for future development and research of novel therapeutic strategies to better treat anxiety-related disorders in individuals with high levels of inflammation.
Chronic psychological stress is associated with the body losing its ability to regulate the inflammatory response and the effects of psychological stress on the body’s ability to regulate inflammation, which can promote the development and progression of mood disorders.
Building Your Emotional Immune System & Emotional Well-being
We need to take our emotional health as seriously as we take our physical health.
All emotions, whether positive or negative, are simply just information (much like if it is cloudy outside we know that it might rain later); therefore, the goal is not to evade negative emotions, such as sadness or anger (emotions however can actually be somewhat subjective—what is negative to one person might not bother another), but rather find balance amid all of our emotions and building emotional resilience.
One could also call this building up their emotional immune system and developing emotional stamina or being able to bounce back from difficulties faster, being able to shift perspective about said emotion and even practicing the art of impermanence and nonattachment with all of our emotions. Having the best day of your life? Amazing—but that won’t last. Having the worst day of your life? Amazing—but that won’t last either. Understand that the full spectrum of our emotions can change as quickly as the weather does on any given day and sometimes even from moment to moment.
The definition of emotional well-being is “the ability to practice stress-management techniques, be resilient and generate the emotions that lead to good feelings.” Evidence suggests that emotional factors, such as optimism, are primary predictors of physical as well as emotional health. Regarding overall health, the importance of having a sense of emotional well-being cannot be underrated.
Emotional well-being is being able to cope with the ups and downs of life, which is necessary for dealing with and managing life stress and emotional distress that can create susceptibility to physical illness.
The field of PNI has found that avoidance of emotions and the habitual suppression of feelings can increase the likelihood of physical illness. Therefore, learning to cultivate emotional well-being can be beneficial in supporting your emotional immune system and learning to cultivate healthy coping mechanism for all of the curveball’s life inevitably will throw our way. As Owen Wilson’s character in the movie You, Me and Dupree said, “Stay loose, stay liquid, laugh a lot.” VR
References:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2736046/.
www.researchgate.net/publication/230762945_The_Role_of_Psychoneuroimmunology_in_Personalized_and_Systems_Medicine. www.apa.org/monitor/dec01/anewtake.
https://dana.org/article/the-brain-immunology-axis/.
Psychoneuroimmunology: laugh and be well. (2016, February 3). www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/305921.
Brianna Diorio holds a PhD in integrative medicine from the University of Natural Medicine and is a clinical nutritionist with a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport. She is also a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner (FDN), an herbal practitioner through the Herbal Academy, a family herbalist through The School of Natural Healing, a NASM certified personal trainer, and a holistic lifestyle coach from the C.H.E.K Institute. Diorio is the host of the Brianna Approved Podcast, which is a podcast for people who like a holistic approach to real science and clinical research on all things nutrition, botanicals and balance. She currently works as a clinician with her private practice that specializes in alternative health, functional medicine and dietary supplements. Diorio works with a vast array of clients and businesses to educate and improve their health and dietary needs.
