The effect of emotions on body health, do our emotions affect our body?
In the past, it was thought that feelings and thoughts are only related to our brain and not to our physical body. But today we see the effects of certain emotions and mental conditions such as stress and anxiety or happiness on the physical state of our body. For example, after being in a stressful situation, you may have experienced a headache or a stomach ache, or it has been seen that many autoimmune diseases are caused by inappropriate emotions in a person. But what is the form of this relationship and how can these effects be avoided?
Suppose you wake up feeling tired and unable to do anything. As a result of this feeling, a series of biochemical compounds are released in your body, which ultimately leads to effects on your body. These special compounds can be different for every feeling and thinking. As a result, if when you wake up you feel how good the day is and you prepare for the new day with happiness, the biochemical compounds that are released in your body are definitely different from the compounds that were released in the previous conditions. will be
When the body is under physical or mental stress, the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system come into action and put the body on alert, which if this condition continues, the piece will lead to many injuries. Different emotions by changing the chemical state (production of neurotransmitters) and physical state (change in the electric charge of the cells and their magnetic field) lead to the creation of behavior, performance or a specific result in our cells.
Therefore, our body is physically and chemically connected to and influenced by our mental network and our thoughts and feelings.
How do emotions affect our body?
Different emotions and thoughts lead to the release of certain compounds in the body. These compounds, which are peptide-type neurotransmitters, regulate the activity of other cells. Our body cells communicate with each other through receptors on their surface. For each specific compound in our body, there is a very specific receptor on the target cell, and this receptor is only paired with that specific compound and ultimately leads to the activation of biochemical pathways inside the cell.
There are also millions of receptors on the surface of our cells that are highly specialized for each specific compound. So, by creating a certain feeling, a series of compounds called neurotransmitters are released. Neurotransmitters are mostly hormones such as endorphins. These compounds bind to their receptors on the surface of different cells and ultimately lead to a response inside the cells.
For example, a cascade of reactions occurs inside the cell, which can ultimately lead to the activation or deactivation of different genes based on epigenetic changes. This will be different depending on the type of neurotransmitter that is the prophet of emotions.
Our brain is the main place of production of hormones and neurotransmitters. And these released compounds have an effect even on the brain itself. In other words, there is a complex network that is stimulated by various emotions and can cause certain symptoms in us.
What do emotions do to the immune system?
Scientists believe that emotions are channeled in the limbic system of the brain. This part includes hypothalamus, pituitary gland and amygral. Many researches showed that this part has many receptors for neurotransmitters. In fact, the connection of neurotransmitters to their receptors in the brain leads to a certain feeling.
For example, binding of a neurotransmitter called angiotensin to its receptor in the hypothalamus causes a person to feel thirsty. The interesting thing is that these receptors are not only scattered in the brain but throughout the body. For example, this receptor is abundantly found on kidney cells, which will lead to reabsorption of water from kidney cells. In fact, neuropeptides are mediators of feeling. Studies show that cells of the immune system also have neurotransmitter receptors to a large extent.
For example, monocytes that eat xenophages and communicate with different cells such as T-CELLS and B-CELLS and also play an important role in tissue repair. Surprisingly, these cells have many receptors for neurotransmitters, whose binding to their specific receptor leads to different functions in monocyte cells. For example, it can lead to its development in the form of macrophage cells, lead to their migration to a specific tissue, or lead to the breakdown or construction of interstitial collagen.
On the other hand, these cells themselves release neurotransmitters such as beta-endorphin in the body. So it can be understood that the feeling and the functional condition of our body are not two separate issues and are completely connected like a network. Research has shown that stressful thoughts lead to a decrease in the immune system, and on the other hand, many studies have proven that the immune system can be made self-aware by performing regular exercises such as hypnosis or biofeedback.
The results showed that this happens and the amount of white blood cells of these people increased. So the question that arises is whether it is possible to make the immune system self-aware to treat diseases?
There is definitely such a possibility. Because creating emotions in a self-conscious way leads to the release of compounds in the body, which will ultimately lead to a specific behavior in the cells of the immune system.
Carcinogenicity happens in our cells every day and our immune system removes these cells. So we are exposed to cancer every day. As a result, cancer is caused by a malfunction of the immune system. So it can be concluded that emotions with different effects on the immune system can increase or decrease the probability of cancer.
What is the effect of emotions on the electromagnetic field of cells?
When a person’s feelings change, the chemical state of his body also changes. Peptides move in the human body and bind to their receptors on the surface of the target cells. These peptides exert their effect on the target cell by reversing or closing the ion channels in the membranes.
Since the membranes have an electric potential due to the difference in the concentration of different ions on both sides, this transfer of ions caused by the binding of the peptide to the receptor leads to a change in the electric potential of the cells. Since our body has an electrical charge, it emits an electromagnetic field. This change in the electric charge of the cells leads to a change in the electromagnetic field of the cells, which ultimately leads to the transmission of a message or the creation of a specific function in the cells.
As a result, it can be concluded that different emotions lead to different electrical signals. And in fact, emotions will lead to results in our body by changing the biochemical and biophysical route of cells.
reference
The Wisdom of the Receptors: Neuropeptides, the Emotions, and Bodymind by Candace B. Pert
Molecules Of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine Paperback – February 17, 1999 by Candace B. Pert
