Page 66 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2018

FINANCE & FITNESS believe it
MIND & BODY:
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster
Expectations can become reality
What’s the first step to better health? According to research, it’s believing that you can achieve your goal. While a distinction is often made between ‘mind’ and ‘body,’ mental health may play a larger role in physical health than we might think.
According to the Mental Health Foundation, people who suffer from depression experience a 67 percent increase in risk of death from heart disease and a
50 percent increase in risk of death from cancer. Thankfully, good mental health is shown to have a positive effect on physical health in much the same way.
So why is this? According to Sandra Blakeslee in her New York Times article on the placebo effect, these reactions may be caused by our own expectations. “Support for the expectancy theory emerged about 10 years ago when many scientists realized how closely the brain, the immune system and the endocrine system are linked,” Blakeslee said. “They found that chronic stress sets into motion a cascade of biological events involving scores of chemicals in the body — serotonin, cortisol, cytokines, interleukins, tumor necrosis factor and so on.”
In an article published by Harvard Medical School, Professor Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center addressed how a belief could cause the opposite effect, ultimately leading
to healing. “The placebo effect is more than positive thinking — believing a treatment or procedure will work. It’s about creating a stronger connection between the brain and body and how they work together,” he said.
Placebos work because we believe they will, but
Kaptchuk says the ritual of health plays an important part in that process. According to him, the ritual of being treated for an illness in and of itself can have a profound impact on how the body perceives symptoms because you feel you are getting attention and care.
Even making the decision to become more healthy or make a lifestyle change is invaluable to our success. “Your state of mind is the most important factor when making a lifestyle change because everything revolves around a solid mind set,” said Natasha Love, owner of Chic Physique in Gulfport. “The body
only achieves what the mind believes.” Love says that visualization is
one of the best ways to sync our minds and bodies. “A good way to mentally “get in the zone” is to visualize how great your life would be if you were
healthy,” she said. “If you have an emotional tie to achieving your goal, you have more of a reason to follow through with your decision.”
In many cases, our own expectations can become our reality.
Sources: Chic Physique, Harvard Health Publishing, Mental Health Foundation, The New York Times
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