The Mind-Body Connection: Essential to HIV Treatment

Here is one of my favorite words — psychoneuroimmunology. It's a super long and fancy word that simply means the mind-body connection. When such phrases were uttered years ago, the speaker would receive strange looks and questions around recently inhaled substances. Not anymore. There has been a tremendous amount of research conducted in the field of psychoneuroimmunology that proves without a doubt that our minds and bodies are connected.

So what does this mean? Simply put, when a person is faced with a stressful situation (mind) there is a visceral bodily reaction (body). If you have a deadline at work, your shoulders may become tense (or maybe this is just me). We often feel stress at almost the same time that we conceive of it in our minds.  It's the instinctual "fight or flight" response that has kept our species alive when we were out in the wild among the elements. It still serves us today. When driving, for example, a rude driver may cut you off and you react almost without thinking to avoid an accident. The after-effects of this situation can be felt as your heart rate escalates and your breathing is labored. This is the mind-body connection in survival mode.

The mind-body connection can also be used as a very effective tool in reducing stress. Just as your body reacts to stress, you can also use your body to reduce stress. Something as simple as taking a deep breath can help calm your system and slow down your mind to help ease the tension that stress can create. For the stressful driving scenario, taking a few deep, cleansing breaths can provide some relief. Your heart rate will slow, you provide much-needed oxygen to your organs, your muscles relax and your mind can clear and refocus on the task at hand.

As the name psychoneuroimmunology implies, the immune system plays a large role in all of this. Stress can have a negative effect on a person's immune system.  Have you ever experienced a cold, or had a cold linger around during a stressful time in your life? There's a reason for that. Stress can make your immune system less effective in fighting off disease.

For a person living with HIV, her immune system is already compromised. Stress can have an even more profound effect on her already vulnerable system. Of course, no one can completely avoid stress. The goal is to learn to better deal with the stress so the effects on the immune system are minimal.

Stress reduction needs to be a vital part of HIV treatment regimens. Think of stress reduction as a tool box with a variety of tools to cope with a variety of situations. Here's a few key tools that you can add to your own tool box, whether or not you are HIV+: Deep breaths, meditation, listen to music, write down your thoughts, take a walk, look at nature, talk to a friend, join a support group, count to 10 before reacting, exercise, make some tea, read a book, rediscover a hobby, stretch your muscles, draw a picture, watch a funny movie, join a supportive chat room on-line, say the Serenity Prayer.

To quote a woman who was an avid believer of psychoneuroimmunology: "This is not something worth losing a T-Cell over." T-Cells are the cells of our immune system.  For those living with HIV, the goal is to rebuild the immune system to increase T-Cells. When faced with stress, a person's T-Cell count may dip down (this is true whether or not you are living with HIV, however for the HIV+ individual, this can be dangerous). For this woman, she would not allow stress to further compromise her immune system. She faced many stressful situations, yet she was able to effectively cope to minimize the negative effects. Next time you are faced with stress, I encourage you to ask the question she lived by: "Is this worth losing a T-Cell over?"

Photo Credit: [ jRa7 ]