By Kira Wiggins, Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee
The other day my head was aching. I turned to the medicine cabinet for aspirin but continued to suffer. As the day wore on and the vice that seemed to be pressurizing my skull only tightened, anxiety set in. Is my throat sore? Do I feel warm? Can I still smell? Taste? The list of symptoms the news has been endlessly feeding me ran over and over in my mind.
Attempts at retracing my steps over the past couple of weeks were futile as the invisible virus we’re all hiding from could have been anywhere. I’m relatively young and healthy, but then there are all those cases of people in my same demographic withering away in the ICU. Will I be one of the first to use a General Motors ventilator? Clearly, my anxiety was headed down a dangerous rabbit hole, but I’m fairly certain I wasn’t alone. How many of us have over-analyzed our standard allergy symptoms or the day-to-day tension headache over the past several weeks?
The headache eventually subsided, a fever failed to develop, and my dinner smelled and tasted wonderful that evening. But this little scare really got me thinking about my immune system. Again, I suspect I’m not the only one giving some extra thought to this often-presupposed function of our bodies. As the final part of our Resiliency Series, I’d like to turn our attention to understanding immunity and the things that affect this miracle system maintaining our wellbeing.
Incessant research has been conducted on the immune system, yet there is still so much we don’t understand. What we do know is there are many lifestyle factors contributing to the robustness of our individual immunity. This tells us we have a lot of control over how viruses such as the coronavirus may influence our health. Some of these are obvious, but others may surprise you.
Emotions
All emotions have a physical effect and the body responds regardless of whether or not the emotion is in fact correctly correlated with the situation (Wilhelmsen, 2000). This may work for or against us. The focus here will include the promotion of emotions contributing positively to our immunity.
- An acute positive emotional stimulus such as mirthful laughter has been found to improve the biological activity of immune cells for up to 12 hours (D’AcQuisto, 2017).
- Watching a film featuring a love interest or favorite actor/actress has similarly been found to improve immune system function (D’AcQuisto, 2017). This would include a video chat or shared videos on the computer or phone.
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programs are currently popular and effective for stress management but have only been found to be immune-enhancing if the program also improved the person’s emotional wellbeing (D’AcQuisto, 2017). This underscores the importance of our emotions when looked at through the lens of immunity.
Touch
Many of us have seen the uptick in therapy animals used for reducing stress and anxiety in hospitals, airports, and nursing homes. This trend has been driven by the reduction in blood pressure, heart rate, and inflammatory response in persons who simply pet an animal. I know I revel in the relaxation induced by stroking my dog, but it seems to me it’s a two-way street as I watch him melt under my touch.
Interestingly, science has found that a caress may also improve immune resilience (D’AcQuisto, 2017). Social distancing mandates have wreaked havoc on our intake of physical touch, making it that much more important that we lean on those within our quarantine family to provide the loving touch that will boost our immune systems and our ability fend off illness.
Enriched environment
Animal studies have shown that improved living conditions increase the body’s ability to mount an effective and protective immune response (D’AcQuisto, 2017). While more research is needed on humans, enhancing our environment may be a simple way to also enhance our immune system. This can be as uncomplicated as de-cluttering your space, making the bed, picking fresh flowers to display on the countertop, freshening up the paint in your living room, or doing anything else that would enrich your daily environment.
Living a virtuous life
Pursuing self-actualization, personal expressiveness, and vitality are worthwhile endeavors for all of us to achieve happiness and fulfillment in life. But who knew this could also decrease the expression of pro-inflammatory genes while increasing the expression of genes involved in the immune response (D’AcQuisto, 2017)? Maybe this is the time you commit to the path leading to your best self.
Gut microbiota (the microbes living in your digestive tract)
The gut is the biggest immune organ in the human body, containing about 70-80% of the total immunologically active cells. The microorganisms inhabiting the digestive tract are considered to be the most important microorganisms in the body as they play a major role in the digestive system, immune system, endocrine system, nervous system, and even in behavior and cognition (Liang, et al., 2018).
Our diet can contribute positively or negatively to the health of this colony of microbes, which is why we hear so much about prebiotics and probiotics in health news these days. Diets rich in fermented foods (yogurt, sauerkraut, pickles), dietary fibers (whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits), and unsaturated fatty acids (omega-3s found in fatty fish, olive oil, etc.) will enhance the gut microbes. On the other hand, diets high in saturated fats (fatty meat, butter, full-fat dairy) and refined carbohydrates (white flower, white sugar, etc.) will deteriorate the colony of microbes.
Stress
Our bodies are designed to respond to acute stressors like being chased by a lion or a bear. In this situation it makes sense for our system to prepare for a fight, to run away (flight), or hide (freeze). This reaction activates parts of the immune system that will be immediately useful. As a stressor becomes more chronic, significant wear and tear occurs and we see overall immune system suppression (Segerstrom & Miller, 2004).
As we move into our fifth month of growing concern over this global pandemic, it’s fair to say we have entered into the realm of chronic stress. Unfortunately, persons who are older or already sick are more prone to stress-related immune challenges. Additionally, those suffering from chronic, sub-clinical depression may be more susceptible to stress-related immune system changes with the key factor being duration, not severity of the depression. To add onto this issue, social isolation and loneliness paired with depression further impairs the body’s ability to fight infection (American Psychological Association, 2006).
Kinda sounds like quarantine to me. If you suffer from even mild depression, this isolation could be upsetting your immunity. Reaching out to friends, family, and/or a mental health professional could be lifesaving. See Surviving Stressful Times in this Resiliency series for more tips on reducing stress.
Sleep
This series dedicated a whole blog post to the importance of sleep with tips for improving the sleep you enjoy, but it’s worth mentioning again here as we have observed insufficient sleep decreasing the body’s ability to create an effective immune response. It has even been found that chronic sleep loss makes the flu vaccine less effective (The Sleep Foundation, n.d.).
References:
American Psychological Association, (February 23, 2006). Stress Weakens the Immune System. Retrieved from: https://www.apa.org/research/action/immune.
D’Acquisto F. (2017). Affective immunology: where emotions and the immune response converge. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 19(1), 9–19.
Liang, S., Wu, X., & Jin, F. (2018). Gut-brain psychology: Rethinking psychology from the Microbiota–Gut–Brain axis. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2018.00033
Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological bulletin, 130(4), 601–630. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.601
The Sleep Foundation, (n.d). How Sleep Affects Your Immunity. Retrieved from: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/how-sleep-affects-your-immunity
Wilhelmsen, I. (2000). Brain-gut axis as an example of the bio-psycho-social model. Gut, 47 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gut.47.suppl_4.iv5
Our team at the Ventura Counseling & Wellness Center is offering private telehealth appointments with our therapists and virtual groups. Get in touch with us to learn more.
Kira is a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee at Ventura Counseling and Wellness Center and West Valley Counseling Center. She combines her background as a registered dietitian and yoga therapist to her counseling for a holistic approach to your health and wellbeing.
