It is often said that "illness is born of the heart", if a person is sad, depressed, anxious, angry, etc. for a long time or high intensity, it will cause a series of discomforts to the body, and even lead to disease.
Life Times (search for "LT0385" within WeChat to follow) interviews experts to explain how bad moods cause diseases and teach you to deal with 5 negative emotions.
Experts interviewed
Zhang Kan, a researcher at the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dr. Guo Runfeng, Department of Psychology, Beijing Normal University
Emotions really change genes
A study in Translational Psychiatry, a journal of Nature, found that people with higher levels of stress usually showed increased markers of aging (increased DNA methylation).
The researchers used GrimAge, an "epigenetic clock" method, to test 444 volunteers aged 19 to 50, and also had them tested for stress levels and psychological endurance. It turns out that prolonged stress does accelerate aging.
A study published in the Uk's Nature Communications also found the effects of emotions on genes.
The researchers discovered a new DNA adenine modification in mammalian cells, N(6)-methyladenine (6mA). Experiments have found that physiological and psychological stress can alter the DNA methylation of key stress-related genes in mouse brains.
In addition, similar observations in the brains of patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder and committing suicide further support dna methylation alterations.
Bad emotions are vented physically
Negative emotions can affect all parts of the body, and a survey published by the UBM network found that 75% of cervical spine pain, 80% of headaches, 99% of bloating and 90% of fatigue are caused by negative emotions. It can be seen that long-term and persistent negative emotions are detrimental to physical and mental health.
gastropathy
The gastrointestinal tract is called the "second brain," and its functional state is influenced to some extent by emotions. When people are sad, sad, and depressed, the gastrointestinal tract function will change significantly.
Long-term negative emotions can easily make stomach dysfunction, resulting in indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, gastritis, intestinal inflammation and unexplained abdominal pain.
Endocrine diseases
People with long-term stress and anxiety are prone to thyroid disease. Statistics show that 70% of thyroid diseases have adverse emotional stimuli before the onset of disease.
dermatosis
Urticaria, psoriasis, eczema, itchy skin and many other skin diseases, the cause, pathogenesis and mood are closely related.
Cardiovascular diseases
Anxiety, anger and other agitation will induce human sympathetic excitement, adrenaline secretion, vasoconstriction, blood pressure and blood sugar increase, will cause damage to blood vessels, resulting in hypertension, coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases.
Each of the 5 types of bad emotions has its own way of coping
People can't be full of positive energy all the time, the long road of life, we will inevitably meet with negative emotions "narrow road", especially sadness, anger, jealousy, anxiety, loneliness these 5 common negative energy.
1
anxiety
Prolonged anxiety can deplete physical and mental resources, with physical symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, and weakness; often accompanied by gastrointestinal discomfort such as ulcerative colitis, indigestion, and constipation; anxiety is an important risk factor for heart disease.
Response
Develop regular work-life habits, minimize the uncertainty of life, and establish a "sense of stability" for yourself.
Reasonable management of time can help people to be organized and calm.
Reduce impulsive behavior, reduce the occurrence of mistakes and mistakes.
Correctly face mistakes and failures, maintain rationality, remember that "loss is gain, gain is also loss", and do not be too mad about it.
2
sadness
A 2013 study reported that "heartbreak" can cause lung damage and damage heart health. Severe anxiety and depression can also damage the skin and make people more addicted to drugs, alcohol and other harmful substances.
Response
When you feel sad and painful, don't hold it in your heart, but cry out. Although crying does not solve specific problems, crying is very helpful to release sad emotions, tears will take away the stress hormones in the body, reduce stress-related neurotransmitters, and is a good medicine for mental health.
3
jealousy
Excessive jealousy will make people's minds fall into the quagmire of hatred, resulting in a decline in thinking and discernment, and may also lead to depression and anxiety; excessive secretion of stress hormones in the body will make the liver blood flow stasis, so that bile production disorders are unbalanced, resulting in detoxification dysfunction, decreased immunity, elevated cholesterol levels, accelerated heart rate, increased blood pressure, indigestion, etc.
Response
Correctly understand yourself, objectively analyze your own strengths and weaknesses, preferences, and abilities, establish goals, give full play to your strengths, work hard to make progress, step by step closer to what you want, and do not focus on meaningless comparison.
4
lonely
When a person feels lonely, the brain secretes more of the stress hormone cortisol, which triggers depression and adversely affects blood pressure as well as the quality of sleep.
Response
Talk or meet with family, friends, and colleagues on the phone to exchange lives or emotions; you can also actively participate in industry exchanges or do public welfare activities to help others while also enhancing socialization, finding self-confidence and fulfillment.
5
wrath
If a person is frequently angry, it is easy to induce wear of the arterial vascular wall. Anger also slows wound healing, induces inflammation, and increases the risk of diabetes, arthritis, and cancer.
Response
Let the excitement "brake the car", the first step is to turn around and leave the scene, and the second step is to use deep abdominal breathing.
Specific methods: find a comfortable position to sit or lie down, put your hands gently on the abdomen; slowly inhale through the nose, feel the air enter the airway until it reaches the lungs; then the abdomen will slowly bulge, continue to inhale deeply, until it cannot be inhaled; maintain this inhalation state for 3 to 5 seconds, and then slowly exhale.
Throughout the process, you can imagine a balloon in your stomach: on inhale, the balloon gradually expands and props up the abdomen; when exhaling, the balloon gradually shrinks and the abdomen slowly relaxes.
Reminder: Remember to empty your head when breathing, temporarily let go of your worries, and focus all your attention on the abdomen and the rhythm of your breathing. Once the mind is lost, adjust in time to let the attention return to the breath and inhalation. ▲
Editor of this issue: Deng Yu
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