How does our emotional background affect immunity and health? Emotions largely determine the state of our health and quality of life. The ability to influence your emotional background is a way to maintain mental health. Positive emotions promote good health, negative emotions worsen it. By managing your psycho-emotional state, you can maintain immunity and all vital indicators of the body. How do emotions affect the body? The emotional background of a person, due to various psychosomatic mechanisms, has a huge impact on the state of his body. Long-term stressful situations, caused, for example, by troubles at work or in the family, have a particularly strong impact on the human body. Chronic stress, anxiety and habitual overload at work lead to emotional exhaustion and weakening of all body systems. A person feels overwhelmed and tired, because of this, the general emotional background decreases and immunity drops, psychosomatic diseases appear. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between the emotional state and human health. The fact is that a person, as a complex functional system, is evolutionarily well protected from intense but short-term stress. Short-term intense stress, both physical and psychological, due to the release of various hormones into the blood, not only has a strong effect on the body, but also stimulates the functioning of the nervous, endocrine, immune, cardiovascular and other systems. And due to this, it can have a certain medicinal value. For example, various methods of hardening the body are based on the therapeutic effect of short-term physical stress. But a person is poorly protected from the effects of, perhaps not very intense, but long-term, chronic stress, especially psychological stress. Accumulating day after day, various stressors at work and in interpersonal relationships can undermine even the best health. Indeed, in the modern world, in addition to traditional stress factors, the severe overload of the brain with a wide variety of information from the Internet and social networks has an increasingly negative impact on the body. Constantly reading negative information on your phone, arguments on social networks and forums can have the same stressful effect on the body as, for example, quarrels and scandals in the real world. Moreover, modern people spend no less time with gadgets, and often more, than interacting with real people. Evolutionarily, when a person is exposed to stress, a strong release of the hormones adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol into the blood occurs through the adrenal glands. All these hormones evolutionarily prepare a person for possible negative physical consequences from a fight or struggle. In a stressful situation, any person’s breathing and pulse quicken, blood pressure rises, blood vessels narrow, muscles involuntarily tense - the body thereby prepares for fight, injury, and possible loss of blood . But if an ancient person could quickly “relieve” stress and a hormonal surge by entering into a real fight with a predator or running away from it, then a modern civilized person cannot do this. He can't get into a fight with a boss who's yelling at him about a report he did wrong, or quickly run away from an unpleasant conversation. As a result, unexpressed, suppressed emotions and hormones “not used” for their intended purpose begin to boomerang and destroy the human body. Psychosomatic disorders during stress If a person experiences prolonged or very strong negative emotions, this leads to a decrease in immunity and the level of mental stability. Metabolic processes in the body decrease. An anxious person is more vulnerable to illness. People in a state of acute stress become infected more easily than in a normal state. I will list common signs of stress: headache, sweating, fatigue,vegetative-vascular symptoms; tachycardia, chest pain, eating disorders, diarrhea, constipation, problems with the thyroid gland; colds and infectious diseases arising due to decreased immunity; anxiety, depression, apathy; sexual dysfunction; cognitive impairment: forgetfulness, low concentration; problems with sleep. At the same time, acute stress can increase the body’s ability to protect itself from infections. Chronic, on the contrary, weakens the immune defense. People who are under prolonged stress can worsen their physical and mental health or develop new diseases, for example: depression, neuroses, cognitive and behavioral disorders; hypertension, arrhythmia, myocardial infarction (people with existing listed diseases are at particular risk , since stress, as studies show, significantly worsens their course); acquired immunodeficiency - increased activity of stress hormones, which are secreted by the adrenal cortex, inhibits the functioning of cells of the immune system; irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, gastritis; psoriasis, acne, hair loss; metabolic syndrome - long-term hormonal imbalance can reach such proportions that weight cannot be controlled independently even with the help of diets. It also happens the other way around: severe diseases of internal organs have a negative impact on the psyche and provoke stress. It should be noted that resistance to stress largely depends on the individual characteristics of a person, his type of nervous system. Practical recommendations In order to maintain immunity during stress and anxiety, it is necessary to eliminate the cause of their occurrence. I will give you some recommendations that will help you stay healthy in stressful situations: Breathing. Breathing techniques are “first aid” for anxiety and panic attacks. They help to “launch” the parasympathetic system in the body, which is responsible for peace and relaxation. “4-7-8” technique. Inhale for 4 counts - hold your breath for 7 counts - exhale through your mouth for 8 counts. Breathe deeply, slowly and with focus. Try to focus only on breathing, without being distracted by extraneous thoughts. This technique is also useful if you have sleep disturbances due to anxiety: breathing 4-7-8 helps you fall asleep faster. Relaxation. Due to strong negative emotions, tension accumulates in the body. This leads to muscle tightness and pain. The psychologist advises using progressive muscle relaxation techniques to cope with this problem. Sit comfortably: you can sit in a chair or lie on the bed. Alternately tense and relax each muscle group as much as possible: arms, shoulders, calves, thighs, stomach, chest, neck, face. Then breathe calmly and deeply for a few seconds, then repeat the tension and relaxation exercise. Repeat it as many times as necessary to feel freedom and lightness in your body. Sports. Research shows that exercise helps fight anxiety and depression. Therefore, be sure to include physical activity in your schedule, be sure to go out for a run or a walk. It is not the intensity that is important, but the regularity. Get enough sleep. Research has shown a close connection between chronic stress and lack of sleep. You need to train yourself to go to bed and wake up at approximately the same time. Try to sleep at least 7-8 hours at night. Communicate. Experiencing problems within yourself is a bad way to deal with a stressful situation. Contact a person you trust and share your experiences with him. This will allow you to feel supported and reduce psychological stress. It has been proven that a person who suppresses emotions risks his health more than one who has the opportunity to express them. Negative thoughts. Question your negative thoughts. Ask yourself questions. Analyze your own reactions. What emotions arise after certain thoughts? What pros and cons can you give for these thoughts? What do you.