With November being the month when we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, it seems appropriate to discuss the positive effects that gratitude can have on our health and wellness, as well as our overall longevity. Further, the gratitude equation includes joy and its effect on our physical and mental well-being, because the physiological effects of joy on our body systems are becoming more and more evident in the research that has been done in this field. Understanding how our brains regulate our emotional responses better prepares us to achieve the sometimes challenging task of bringing gratitude and joy into our daily life.
Let’s dive into this concept with an open mind to recognize the efficacy on our physiological function of being grateful for and joyous about what we have, thereby impacting our overall physical health.
A CHANGE IN THE VIEW
First, we need to consider our perspective.
The key element in this concept is to be able and willing to be thankful and grateful no matter what occurs in our lives. All too often, individuals look at what they don’t have or what they have lost rather than what they have.
In this concept is something that I have labeled a “relative perspective.” (I discuss this in the “Think Right” module of our “Crave Clinic,” which I have to admit, is my favorite part of the entire program.) The relative perspective is something that became embedded in my psyche at an early age thanks to my mother. No matter what occurred, my mom would always say, “It could have been worse.” If I fell and cut my hand, she would immediately remind me that I “could have broken my arm,” and then she would add, “Just be glad you didn’t do that.”
I internalized her constant reminders, which allowed me to reboot my thoughts every time something occurred that I considered to be bad. When I did this, my perspective changed. All I had to do was to compare it to what could have happened that would have been worse.
Another component is that we must notice and take into account the wonderful things that we experience each day. This could simply be admiring the weather or the people around us, the sunset, or even something that often goes unnoticed like the shimmer of the sun on the morning dew. These little things are really the joyous things that we have in our lives. But unfortunately, they often pass us by, being totally unappreciated as we walk right by them. We must not forget to watch for them each and every day of our lives.
A CHANGE IN THE BODY
We must also consider the physical components to all of this. Every experience that we have is processed by our brain and then through our nervous system, which then directly impacts our physiology. However, we truly do not have a single processing center in our brain for all emotions, so we use different regions to complete the process. For example, the frontal portion of the brain acts as the “switching center.” This region of the brain monitors and processes your emotional status, while the thalamus, which is another region of the brain, plays a part in how our emotional responses are put into play.
The way these emotions become activated and “real,” however, is through the action of hormones that are released. These hormones act as “neurotransmitters,” or biological messengers, connecting nerves together. These neurotransmitters include hormones such as dopamine and serotonin, both of which are associated with happiness.
The flip side of this equation is that of individuals who are diagnosed with clinical depression. These individuals who suffer often have low serotonin levels. As a result, conventional medical treatment for this condition is to prescribe an SSRI (Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) medication. The goal with this class of drugs is to slow or reduce the degradation of serotonin in the person's system. So, the intent would be to maintain higher serotonin levels, thereby sustaining more happiness and joy.
The specific portion of the nervous system that controls the physiologic changes that occur as a result of these emotions is the “Autonomic Nervous System.” I often tell my patients that you can substitute the word automatic for autonomic, since these physiological changes occur without your control. In other words, they are automatic. For example, changes in the functioning of the gastrointestinal system can be affected by emotions that we are currently experiencing. Likewise, your heart rate, blood pressure, pupillary dilation, and even body temperature and your respiratory rate can be affected by your emotional state.
A recent study published in July in the journal JAMA Psychology demonstrated that “Gratitude appears to help protect participants” (and there were 49,275 female participants enrolled in the study) “from every cause of death studied – including cardiovascular disease.”
IMPORTANT THOUGHTS
What does all this mean to our everyday mindfulness?
First of all, I can tell you that at this point in my life, I hold the strong opinion that there are truly only two things that are important in our lives: our friends and our family. All the rest is just “fluff.” Our lives are too short to prioritize anything else.
Secondly, one must maintain a relative perspective about everything that occurs in our lives. This, to me, is one of the most important things that you must internalize. No matter what occurs in your life, it could always have been worse. No matter what it was.
As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, remember and appreciate your friends and your family and try to remember to maintain the thankfulness, gratitude, and resultant joy that you have this time of the year throughout the next year and beyond. If you can do that, the odds are that the joy you experience will create for you not only a longer but most definitely a healthier life.
I wish you all a very Happy and Joyous Thanksgiving! Please also remember to count all of the blessings of the day, every day of the year!
- Dr. Pfeiffer