Did you know that you have a psychological immune system?

Did you know that you have a psychological immune system?

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The immune system protects us against all infectious agents that abound in the middle. In fact, it is impossible to control our exposure to viruses, bacteria and other pathogens, but if we have a strong and healthy immune system, our chances of getting sick are reduced. 

However, psychologists Dan Gilbert of Harvard University, believe that we also have a psychological immune system. And people who can strengthen deal better with adversity and problems, without these add up too much  anxiety , depression or despair.

According to this theory, in the same way that there are people who are virtually immune to viruses and rarely get sick, there are those who can face the worst tragedies more fortitude while others crumble, sad or stressed out to the minutest problems .

However, the truth is that we all have a psychological immune system. Studies indicate that approximately 75% of people manage to find a new balance that allows them to be happy after two years after having suffered a great tragedy.

The psychological immune system is responsible for building a safety net to protect us from the effects of chronic stress and give us strength to endure the most terrible events. While the biological immune system keeps us alive to protect us from disease, psychological immune system dampens the impact of emotional shock and allows us to move forward.

Overemphasized as a strategy to protect self-esteem

The psychological immune system activates different strategies to protect us, one of them is to prevent hate us for our failures. That is why we tend to attribute the problems to external factors, such as government, an incompetent subordinate or just bad luck. 

In this way we preserve our self - esteem and do not feel so depressed, frustrated or hopeless. In fact, a study conducted at Virginia Commonwealth University found that people prone to depression  actually have a more objective view of the world and are often more logical and thoughtful. On the contrary, those who hold a more optimistic attitude is that implement certain biases that help them better cope with their reality.

Therefore, it is not surprising that when we compare ourselves with others we think we are smarter, we have less prejudice, we are more ethical and live longer.

This is not something negative. In fact, psychologists at the University of California claim that the mental states of positive self-affirmation, even positive illusions, help reduce our stress level. These researchers appreciated that incurable disease progressed more slowly in people who harbored illusions optimistic, although they were unrealistic, since these have a protective effect. 

From the biological point of view, this is partly due to the action axis hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal , which regulates from digestion and body temperature to the humor, physical energy and biological immune system. This axis also modulates our response to stress, so it has been noted that people with a positive perception have a healthier hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that those who have a more negative of life and self - perception.

You only need to make sure we do not lose too much contact with reality and that these illusions are not so unrealistic that end up hurting.

Our mind automatically think positive

Several studies suggest that people have an unfounded fear of negative events. We tend to imagine the worst consequences and assume that react very badly but actually when we face these problems tend to respond better than we thought. This is because usually underestimate our  resilience . Accordingly, neither positive nor negative events change our lives as much as we thought.

In fact, when it comes to dealing with adversity, it is best to let our unconscious take the reins. A study conducted at the State University of Florida revealed that when breaking into our mind thoughts about death, either your own or that of people we want, our brain does not remain paralyzed in negativity or fear for a long time but trying to move to more positive thoughts.

In the experiment, psychologists prepared more than 100 people to think about their own death. Another group was asked to imagine an unpleasant event, like going to the dentist. They then showed them some root words to be complete, as "go", from which they could write such terms as "government" or "joy". So the researchers assessed their unconscious emotional state. 

They found that those who had thought about death tended to choose more positive words, like "joy". This mechanism occurs at an unconscious level is the psychological immune system into action, trying to mitigate the effects of pain and suffering, taking us to see the positive side of life, even when we are facing the most devastating events.

How to strengthen the psychological immune system?

The psychological immune system is composed of two essential elements: the resilient component, which means facing adversity without falling apart and emerge stronger, and eudaimonía component, which states that sustainable happiness does not come from pleasure but the meaning of life. Therefore, to strengthen your immune system psychological need:

- Finding the meaning of life.  People who have a why, are able to find how even in the most difficult conditions. If you have a good reason to live, but adversity strike you come out stronger.

- Learn to focus on the positive.  Resilient people are those who, even in adversity, do not collapse and are able to find the positive in trouble. Every situation, however bad it may seem, involves learning, which becomes both an opportunity to grow.

- Practice detachment  . It is to understand life as a river, where everything comes and everything goes. In this way you manageaccept both the good things and bad, knowing that they are not eternal and that sooner or later, the pain and sufferingdisappear.

- Dominate attention .  David Kessler,specializes in death and suffering, believes that most mental illnesses are caused by something that captures our attention obsessively. Therefore, if we are able to dominate our attention,develop a more effective immune system. In fact, the great Indian master Shantideva said: " a distracted person lives continually in the jaws of mental afflictions ." 

Psychology / Jennifer Delgado

http://www.rinconpsicologia.com

Sources:

DeWall. N. & Baumeister, R. (2007) From Terror to Joy Automatic Tuning to Positive Affective Mortality Salience Following Information. Psychological Science ; 18 (11): 984-990.

Andrews, PW et. . Al (2007) The functional design of depression's influence on attention: A preliminary test of alternative-process Control Mechanisms. Evolutionary Psychology ; 5 (3): 584-604.

Taylor, SE et. Al. (2000) Psychological Resources, Positive Illusions, and Health. The American Psychological; 55 (1): 99-109