States that suppressing certain thoughts affects the immune system
of people. Details on the study conducted by James Pennebaker, a
professor of psychology at the University of Texas; Discussion on the how
the immune system is affected by thoughts.
By
Camille Chatterjee, published on May 01, 1999
FEELINGS
Trying to keep team or rage under wraps can be emotionally taxing.
Now comes word that it takes a lot out of the body, too. We may suppress
certain thoughts to ignore negative feelings or to be tactful to others,
but this takes a toll on our immune function, reports James Pennebaker,
Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Texas. Pennebaker and
two colleagues from the University of Auckland in New Zealand found that
keeping thoughts bottled up lowers levels of infection-busting
lymphocytes and makes us more susceptible to illness.
The researchers monitored two groups of medical students told to
write in a journal for 15 minutes a day for three days. One bunch wrote
about an emotional issue that was meaningful to them, while the other
scribbled about events of the past day. In each group, some were asked to
banish for five minutes thoughts of what they'd been writing about.
Others were instructed to mull it over.
Unlike students who wrote on mundane topics, those who covered
personal topics did not improve at thought suppression. They found it
just as hard to hold thoughts back on day three as on day one--which
makes sense to anyone who's tried to stop blabbing about a new lover or a
promotion. "You can try to suppress things, but the more emotionally
engaging it is, the more hopoless it is to try and force it out of your
mind," says Pennebaker.
Blood studies revealed that students who controlled their feelings
also experienced dampened levels of lymphocytes in general, as well as
reduced levels of a key subtype of infection-fighting cells--CD8 (T
suppressor) lymphocytes. But students who mused freely in their journals
actually saw an increase in total lymphocyte counts and T-helper (CD4)
lymphocytes.
Writing expressively about thoughts and emotions also got people
sharing their concerns with friends and family, which speeds resolution
of problems. Emotional expression in writing helps people gain pespective
on their experience, says Pennebaker: "People weren't venting, but
working through their problems." And their bodies were better for
it.
ILLUSTRATION (COLOR)
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