Belief
Becomes Biology
By Debra Greene, Ph.D.
Have
you noticed that when you think stressful thoughts you begin to
feel stressed? And when you feel stressed you don’t function well?
This might sound trite, however, when carried on over a significant
amount of time, the body begins to notice. What I am suggesting,
simply put, is that thoughts and emotions can cause disease.
Conventional
wisdom tells us that physical disease has physical causes. Disease
is understood to be caused by germs or viruses. This is probably
because Western medicine was developed through the study of cadavers
and shows a bias toward the physical, or "hard" sciences. Only
in recent years, through the development of the field of psychoneuroimmunology
(PNI), have we begun to better understand the relationship between
mind and body.
If
we look at the word—psychoneuroimmunology—we notice that it contains
three root words. The first word, psycho, refers to the psyche
or the mind. The second word, neuro, refers to neurology or the
nervous system. And the third word, immunology, refers to the
immune system. Thus, the field of psychoneuroimmunology is the
study of the interrelationship among the mind, the nervous system,
and the immune system. This field first developed in the 1970s
and has been growing fast ever since. Its development has had
significant impact on both medicine and psychology.
In
medicine, body/mind integration has given rise to a branch of
medicine called Behavioral Medicine. Through this study, we are
beginning to understand the impact of particular behaviors on
health and well being. In psychology, body/mind integration has
given rise to a field called Somatics or Body Oriented Psychotherapies.
In this field, therapeutic approaches include awareness of the
body and movement and are not just head centered "talk" therapies.
With
the advanced study of the relationship between mind and body,
we have come to understand that there is little separation between
the two. In fact, we could go so far as to say that the mind is
located throughout the body, not just in the head. This idea has
been substantiated by molecular scientist Candice Pert, Ph.D.
Her recent book, "Molecules of Emotion," documents how the body
is filled with neuropeptides that act as tiny "brains" located
throughout the body. They communicate via chemical messages and
act as a "psychosomatic network" through which emotions have physical
effects.
Research
suggests that our bodies constantly mix new batches of peptides
as our feelings change. The emotions themselves cause the peptides
to materialize. Particular peptide "cocktails" can either help
people by improving immune functions or seriously hurt them. Just
as negative thoughts and emotions have been linked with suppressed
immune systems, thoughts and feelings of self-love and affirmation
enable the body to produce immune-enhancing peptides.
In
his pioneering book, "The Biology of Consciousness," former Stanford
researcher Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., describes how each of our 75 trillion
cells is a tiny conscious being, capable of responding to beliefs
and behaviors. Lipton suggests that to change your beliefs is
to actually change your physiology, right down to the level of
DNA and genes. This is a radical notion, to say the least.
In
light of this revolution in biology, we are called upon to care
for our body/mind by thinking positive thoughts, feeling good
feelings, and doing right action. We have nothing to lose and
everything to gain. This does take discipline and practice. However,
it not only feels good but is good for health. The bottom line
is, love really is the best medicine. And it’s free.
(This article was published as "The Interrelationship Between
the Mind and the Body" in the Maui News, January 28, 2002) .
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