Emotional States and Health

1. Emotional States and Health

2. Mind and Body • Can the body affect the mind? • Example? • How about the mind affecting the body? • Example? • Two-way communication between mind and body

3. Psychosomatic Medicine • Psyche (mind) • Soma (body) • Butterflies in the stomach • Anxious before giving speech • Indigestion, nausea • Stress may contribute to getting an ulcer.

4. Reducing the effects of stress • Stress is less harmful if • Have some control (even if just belief). • Predictable (“going to feel a little pinch”). • Know the duration. • Coping mechanism. • Some way to relieve stress. • Positive attitude. • Active participant in process.

5. Relieve stress • Meditation • Listening to soothing music • Taking a quiet walk • Reduce stress • Eliminate butterflies

6. Affects on long-term health • Attitude towards illness can affect healing. • Thought, beliefs and emotions have major impact on physical health. • Link between mind and body is the immune system.

7. The Immune System • Cells that protect the body against intruders such as viruses and bacteria. • Like a police force • Too weak and criminals (viruses etc.) run wild • Ex: Opportunistic diseases seen with HIV-AIDS • Too strong and it attacks law-abiding citizens: • The body’s own cells (Autoimmune disease) • Ex. Rheumatoid arthritis

8. What is Emotion? Internal conscious states that we infer in ourselves and others. • Emotions are private experiences. • We use operational definitions because we cannot actually see feelings. • We infer observable behavior associated with emotion.

9. Emotions are Multidimensional

10. Four components of Emotion Significant life event

11. Feeling component • Emotions are subjective feelings • Make us feel in a particular way. • Anger or joy. • Meaning and personal significance. • Vary in intensity and quality. • Rooted in mental processes (labeling).

12. Bodily Arousal • Biological activation. • Autonomic and hormonal systems. • Prepare and activate adaptive coping behavior during emotion. • Body prepared for action. • Alert posture, clenched fists.

13. Purposive component • Give emotion its goal-directed force. • Motivation to take action. • Cope with emotion-causing circumstances. • Why people benefit from emotions. • Social and evolutionary advantage.

14. Social-Expressive component • Emotion’s communicative aspect. • Postures, gestures, vocalizations, facial expressions make our emotions public. • Verbal and nonverbal communication. • Helps us interpret the situation. • How person reacts to event.

15. Emotions read in the face The Japanese Female Facial Expression (JAFFE) Database

16. Aspect of Emotional Intelligence • Peter Salovey (Yale) • John Mayer (U of NH) • Four branch ability model of emotional intelligence • Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test • MSCEIT

17. Identifying Emotions (Branch 1) • Skills needed to perceive and express feelings. • Recognizing facial expressions. • Non-verbal communication. • Tell when someone is being authentic. • Express accurate emotions for situation. • Foundation for other branches.

18. Identifying Emotions (MSCEIT)

19. Facilitating Emotions (Branch 2) • Using emotions to facilitate thinking. • Improve problem solving and boost creativity. • Emotional component to motivation. • “Care enough to send the very best.” • Using emotion to help make decisions.

20. Facilitation (MSCEIT) What mood(s) might be helpful to feel when meeting in-laws for the very first time?                 Not Useful              Usefula) Tension                       1      2      3      4      5 b) Surprise                     1      2      3      4      5 c) Joy                               1      2      3      4      5

21. Understanding emotions (Branch 3) • Understanding complex and conflicting emotions. • Emotions and behavioral consequences. • Read a situation and respond correctly. • Some emotional responses are maladaptive. • Jealousy and envy are destructive.

22. Understanding Emotions (MSCEIT) Tom felt anxious, and became a bit stressed when he thought about all the work he needed to do. When his supervisor brought him an additional project, he felt ____.  (Select the best choice.) a) Overwhelmed b) Depressed c) Ashamed d) Self Conscious e) Jittery

23. Managing emotions (Branch 4) • Developing mood regulation skills. • Productive ways to change mood. • Avoid over and under regulation. • Seek natural means rather than alcohol, tobacco or other drugs. • Stress coping strategies. • Use optimistic explanatory style.

24. Managing Emotions (Branch 4) Debbie just came back from vacation. She was feeling peaceful and content.  How well would each action preserve her mood? Action 1: She started to make a list of things at home that she needed to do. Very Ineffective..1.....2.....3.....4.....5..Very Effective Action 2: She began thinking about where and when she would go on her next vacation. Very Ineffective..1.....2.....3.....4.....5..Very Effective Action 3: She decided it was best to ignore the feeling since it wouldn't last anyway. Very Ineffective..1.....2.....3.....4.....5..Very Effective

25. Emotional States and Physical Health Salovey et at American Psychologist (1/2000)

26. Healing through laughter • Norman Cousins • Anatomy of an Illness (1979) • Life-threatening inflammatory disease • Cartoons and Marx Brothers • 10 mins of laughing gave him 2 hrs of pain-free sleep • Laughter reduced inflammation • Healing power of positive mood

27. Emotional states and immunity • Negative emotional states associated with unhealthy physical states. • Positive emotional states associated with healthier states. • Cardiovascular and immune systems. • S-IgA = secretory immunoglobulin A • First line of defense in the immune system

28. S-IgA levels and emotion • Increased occurrence of desirable events predicts higher S-IgA. • Positive moods boost the immune system. • Negative moods lower S-IgA levels. • Undesirable events suppress immune system. • Negative moods increase susceptibility to illness.

29. Manipulating Emotion • Healthy college students watching videos. • Humorous video enhanced immune function ( S-IgA) • Sad video suppressed immune function ( S-IgA) • Not clear how long these changes persist. • Contribute to illness.

30. Coping styles and illness • People dealing with severe stressors more susceptible to illness. • Negative emotional states reduce immune function. • Coping styles could aid healing. • Pennebaker: helping people process and confront traumatic life events improves health. • Talk about illness, release pent-up negative emotions.

31. Emotion and environment • Positive emotional states signal a safe environment. • Negative states signal an alert. • Something is wrong and must be corrected. • Function of pain. • It hurts; get help.

32. Role in seeking help • Some believe that: • Happy people less likely to recognize signs of distress and less likely to get help. • Unhappy people more vigilant and seek help. • Better to be pessimistic?

33. Processing health information • Other evidence that: • Positive outlook may make it easier to process threatening information (diagnosis). • Seek help. • Negative outlook may cause a person not recognize new symptoms as threatening. • Not seek help.

34. Optimistic outlook • Positive emotional states provide resilience. • Strength to confront illness. • Personal resources to seek solutions. • Creativity in thought and action. • Focus on and plan for future outcomes. • Belief that you will get well. • Do what you can to support recovery.

35. Healthy heart surgery • Men undergoing cardiac bypass surgery. • Optimistic men better able to focus on postoperative goals. • 5 years post surgery, optimists had healthier habits. • Diet and exercise programs • Scheier et al. (1989)

36. Role of health care worker • One who inspires hope in others. • Freud: patient’s expectations “colored by hope and faith and an effective force in all our attempts at treatment and cure.” • Positive mood comes from a renewal of hope.

37. Social Support • With social support, observe: • Lower mortality • More resistant to disease. • Lower incidence of heart disease. • Faster recovery from surgery. • Decreased levels of stress. • Improved coping with illness.

38. Affect on Health • 1. Buffering hypothesis: • Social support buffers individual from stressful life event. Only when needed. • 2. Direct effect: • Social support promotes well-being at all times. Not just under stress. • Both are possible, depending on the nature of the stressor.

39. Role of Social Support • Mediated by emotional experience. • Know that help will be provided if needed. • Less likely to feel lonely and depressed. • Positive outlook on life more likely to get social support. • Develop and maintain social network.

40. Spirituality • Also plays a role in wellness and recovery from illness. • A topic for later discussion.