Health Beyond Medicine: The Invisible Power of Mind-Body Connections
Prof Yamini Bhusan
Tripathi, PhD (Biochemistry)
Former Dean, Faculty of Ayurveda, IMS, BHU,
Varanasi-221005, India
Have you ever felt a knot in your
stomach or noticed your heart racing before a big presentation, when you're
stressed? These are the real signals talking about your state of mind, emotions,
and social life, which are connected to your physical health. It is defined as
the biopsychosocial model, which predicts the effects of your thoughts,
feelings, and the world around you on your physiology and overall health. This
raises a question about how our mind talks to our Body. As we know mind is
controlled by our 5 sense organs, which are sensitive to our outer environment,
which is nature and society around us. There is a popular saying in Ayurveda “यत् पिण्डे तत्
ब्रह्माण्डे" (Yat Piṇḍe Tat Brahmāṇḍe). It means that an individual’s
body is the microcosm, a representative of the macrocosm (the universe around
him." In other words, it can be understood that our life reflects the universe,
manifested as nature. Thus, understanding oneself deeply is also a way to
understand the cosmos — and vice versa. Thus, Health is achieved by aligning
body rhythms with universal laws, and diseases occur when this connection is
lost. This happens through a fascinating network of biological and behavioural
pathways, by modulation of the neuro-endocrine system. The sense organs affect
the hypothalamus in the brain, which secretes releasing hormones to control the
secretions of the pituitary, our master endocrine gland. Its secretions control
all other body hormones and physiological processes.
How Stress affects your
physiology: Under constant stress, our body continuously releases hormones like
cortisol and adrenaline and their higher concentrations in the body, leads to higher
blood pressure, increased inflammation, and even suppression of the immune
system, making us more vulnerable to illness. It is important to note that
these hormones are essential to our life as they keep us ready to "fight
or flight" mode, but its sustained release is harmful, which is directly
linked to mental stress. Thus, psychological counselling plays an important
role in managing disease prognosis. It has been well documented in
cardiovascular disorders, heart disease and diabetes, etc.
Psychosocial stress also induces
Immune System Shifts, inducing an inflammatory response. Those cells, like
macrophages, who plays an important role in protecting our body from external
pathogens, turn reactive to our cells, and induce persistent inflammation, which
is not good for health. It affects the endothelial cells, making all blood
vessels hard with low vascular elasticity. This is again linked to CVD, high
BP, neuropathy, most of the non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs), including
arthritis and even cancer. Long-term stress can weaken your immune defences,
making you more prone to infections and slowing down healing.
Stress has also been linked to Gene
expression, which is directly responsible for protein synthesis, which makes
all our hormones, enzymes and controls over all body metabolisms. It brings
epigenetic modifications, which change the behaviour of our gene expression.
Genetically, we may be sound, but because of stress, caused by our food, lifestyle,
social and psychological surroundings, those genes fail to express in the correct
manner, attributed to epigenetic modification. It is a phenomenon where our
natural genetic material are masked by various kinds of modifications in the chromosomal
proteins.
On top of that, when we're
stressed or struggling mentally, we often fall into unhealthy habits like poor
sleep, unhealthy eating, or skipping medications, all of which directly impact
our physical health.
Thus, to empower our Health, it
is important to get out of this vicious cycle of stress, by changing our
behaviour and by synchronising with nature. In case we fail to do it on our
own, then we should not hesitate to use standard tools through experts. Early
interventions are always better. Some of the powerful approaches are:
1. Mindfulness practices mean bringing
your attention to the present moment and observing your thoughts and feelings
without judgment. Simple practices like focused breathing or a body scan
(mentally noticing sensations in your body) are some of the practices, which
may reduce your anxiety, improve sleep, manage pain, and even lower stress
hormones. Several research papers have reported its therapeutic response in
patients of cancer or heart failure in reducing their discomfort, fear, and
emotional distress.
2. Cognitive Behavioural
Techniques (CBT), a tool to reshape your thoughts by identifying the negative thoughts
and challenging them by building positive and more adaptive ways of coping. A cycle
of negative thoughts, like "I can't do this," can be converted to "I'm
doing my best" by CBT application. It encourages you to re-engage in
meaningful activities to boost your mood.
3. Peer Support is a powerful tool
to build a connection with persons who have navigated successfully with a similar
disease. Common gatherings of such people bring invaluable emotional
reassurance, practical advice, and a powerful sense of community, which can
reduce feelings of isolation and fear, boost motivation for lifestyle changes,
and help you stick to your treatment plan. This is also called group therapy.
Thus, it can be concluded that our
mind holds immense power and can heal your body and build resilience. Our mind,
emotions, and social connections are not separate from your physical health.
They are the game-changer.
(Courtesy: AI-generated graphic)
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