By Thais Langer, PhD
If emotional distress can cause disease, can happiness make us healthier?
At the beginning of my twenties, I went through a severe family breakdown. I was pretty unhappy with work and family life and often experienced painful throat inflammations, high fever and spent a week in bed. My doctor at the time suggested I should remove my tonsils (two small lumps of tissue that are part of the immune system and can be found on each side of the back of your throat).
I did not do that. Instead, I changed my life. I looked for a better place to live and took a distance from toxic relationships. I never had throat inflammation again and cannot remember the last time I had a fever.
My story is not unique, and over the years, I met several people describing similar experiences on how difficult moments made them sick. Studies show that excess inflammation correlates with depressive symptoms. Treating depression can decrease proinflammatory drivers (reducing inflammation). The more scientists study disease, the more they see a link to our emotions.
But is the other way around also true? Once you are happier, is your immunity stronger?
How important is what we think for our immunity?
Although being happy does not guarantee a healthy life, it may help in reducing the onset of some diseases that may be associated with chronic stress and unhappiness.
Most diseases can only occur by winning battles against our immune system –, which is easier said than done. The immune system is composed of a complex army of cells (and molecules) constantly surveying our bodies for possible threats, fighting infections and healing wounds.
Our immune cells dynamically adapt to what we experience through information received from the brain (time of the day, temperature, danger, pleasant touch, sadness). This way, body and mind work synchronically; together as one.
The placebo effect is a constant reminder of this connection. In clinical trials, a placebo (an inactive treatment) is used to distinguish the psychological influence of suggestion from the pharmacological effects of the active drug. The measurable positive immunological changes observed in patients taking the placebo fascinate scientists and diminishes drug advantage, leading to many failed clinical trials.
Clearly, your cells know what is going on in your head. But how?
How do immune cells and emotions communicate?
Our body relies on a complex messaging system, where every cell has its own post office. The “letters” are molecules (hormones, for example) holding the message. The post-box (called receptor) located on the cell’s surface is designed to fit one specific letter. Once a molecule finds its receptor (letter in the post-box), the cell responds accordingly.
Oxytocin, for example, is a hormone produced in the brain and released in response to pleasant interactions, soft touch and sexual activity (happy moments). Oxytocin directly communicates with our immune cells via specific receptors. It suppresses inflammation, promotes wound healing and increases pain resistance. It also regulates behaviour and enhances social bonding (influencing maternal care right after birth).
Hormones can make you happy, excited, nervous or sad. They can also activate your immune cells or tone them down based on information – pleasant or unpleasant – received by the brain.
What does the research say about happiness and immunity?
Different forms of wellbeing show different genetic “signatures” in our immune cells, according to a study coordinated by Dr Steven W. Cole from the University of California.
In his research, Dr Cole found that living a life more connected to your true self, to a deeper form of happiness, correlated with lower expression of genes that promote inflammation (gene: specific section of our DNA encoding a particular protein. When not “expressed”, the protein is not produced).
His observations agreed with other studies linking a deep, meaningful form of wellbeing (known as eudaimonic happiness) with better immune response upon vaccination and lower inflammatory conditions.
So although we are all different – genetically, physically, emotionally – and perceive happiness differently, finding meaning in the things we do could help improve our immune response.
Can keeping your immunity happy keep you healthy?
Choosing to remove toxic relationships instead of my tonsils changed my life – emotionally and physically. Of course, that is not always the case as happiness does not guarantee health; it is just another factor to consider. Keeping a healthy diet and lifestyle, and nurturing healthy relationships, are among the many aspects involving health. For me, on that specific occasion, my tonsils were not defective. My lifestyle was.
The more you get to know yourself – what you like or dislike, what you believe in, who you want close (or not so close) to you – the happier you can live. And happiness – among other several factors – can benefit your immune system. How you feel is sensed by your immune cells, and they respond accordingly. It is all connected. This connection is key.
Try to analyse the whole context of your life next time you face a recurrent headache, stomach sickness, or chronic throat inflammation. The solution might also be in your feelings rather than only in your body.
Remember this next time you have an extra ticket for a concert: who you invite may be more important than you think.
