What the field of PNI tells us is that every part of our immune system is connected to the brain in some way, be it via a direct nervous tissue connection, or by the common chemical language of neuro-peptides and hormones. This suggests that the immune system (which keeps us free from external invaders and also maintains our internal homoeostasis) does not operate in a vacuum, but is sensitive to outside influences such as the chemicals secreted in the brain in response to our mental-emotional processing (moods and feelings).
In 1977 at a conference at Yale University a new discipline called Behavioural Medicine was officially named. This speciality was born out of the need to consider very seriously, the clinical use and relevance of the evidence emerging from a field of scientific research, which was later to become known as Psychoneuroimmunology(PNI).
PNI research continues to investigate the connections between the mind, neuro-endocrine (nervous and hormonal) and immune systems, and the disciplines of Behavioural and Mind/Body Medicine strive to apply this knowledge within a therapeutic framework. PNI research helps us understand the interactions between mental and emotional states, immune system functioning, and ultimately health. In the healthcare today we have passed from the surgical revolution through the chemical revolution and have entered into the behavioural revolution.
Candice Pert a neuroscientist, who pioneered research on how the chemicals inside our bodies form a dynamic network of communication between the mind and body, and who discovered the opiate receptor, says " I can no longer make a clear distinction between the brain and the body." Many researchers now speak of the "bodymind".
In the real world, what the field of PNI proves, is that what happens in our minds at the level of our perception (and our emotional reaction to that perception) can have real effects on our physiology (our physical response) and more specifically, our immune systems. This concept is not new at all, and ancient wisdom has always encouraged us to focus on maintaining a "healthy" mind in order to maintain a healthy body. It is only now that we are able to prove and understand the connections.
What is of importance is not whether we have our emotional ups and downs, but rather that lingering unresolved emotions and inflexible ways of coping, can become the source of chronic low grade stress, which can undermine immune system functioning. This may not necessarily cause disease, however, given the right genetics, a weakened physical condition, or an existing illness and you may be sitting on a time bomb.
Robert Ader of Rochester University, one of the foremost researchers in the field of PNI says " we are not talking about causation of disease, but the interaction between psychosocial events, coping and pre-existing biologic conditions." Mind Body Medicine gives us the understanding of how states of mind can affect our health.
"Stress" has often been cited as a causal factor in disease. This theory has not been substantiated by PNI research. Many people thrive on "stress" and cope very well and healthily in the face of what others would rate as overwhelming difficulty. Most people in PNI research prefer to avoid the term "stress" and rather talk about psychosocial factors in disease. "Stress" is neither good nor bad, what is important is that we respond with a sense of control to the psychosocial factors at play in our lives.
A lot has been said about the "disease prone personality", there is essentially no such thing in PNI, but rather a " immuno-supression/dysfunction prone" PATTERN. The pattern being, a way of behaving and reacting to circumstances, that might affect the ability of the body to resist disease. What this means is that we are not victims of our personality or circumstances, but that we are able to create new health enhancing patterns which will shift our focus away from disease and towards living fully.
The question to be answered is then "what can I do about this?" Research in the field of mind body medicine has revealed a collection of "immune power' traits. These "healthy habits" have stood up to the scrutiny of researchers, and individuals can develop them to serve as buffers against immune system breakdown and disease progression. They include being aware of your mind-body feedback; learning how to view life with a sense of commitment, control and challenge; developing strengths to fall back on in the wake of loss, and a capacity to confide traumas and feelings to yourself and others.
"Immune power" is demonstrated in an individual who is able to find true joy and meaning, even health, when life offers up its most difficult challenges." - Henry Dreher.
How then is this field applied? It is not based on any one system of healing, it is eclectic and uses techniques and therapies suggested by a broad mix of disciplines. Many of the techniques will be familiar, however no PNI researcher or practitioner of behavioural medicine will claim any one of these as "the answer" or the ultimate PNI prescription. The research has shown that there are no simple answers.
The emphasis in PNI on searching beyond the traditional therapies and concepts of allopathic medicine (though not excluding them) has made the art and science of healing more whole and also more complex. For those who embark on this healing journey, it becomes an adventure into awareness and a constant revelation of the complexities of the human condition.
By Dr Margo de Kooker
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