Keeping Your Psychological Immune System Strong and Resilient
Written on
Chapter 1: Understanding Your Psychological Immune System
Have you ever thought about how to maintain the health of your psychological immune system?
Over the years, I’ve dabbled in making my own Kombucha. I suspect it has a lot to do with how the SCOBY—a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast—terrified my partner. Oh, the joy I experienced, especially as this alien pancake produced "babies" at an astonishing rate. It was enough to freak him out completely.
At one point, I brewed too much Kombucha, leading to a heart-stopping moment when the fizzing liquid exploded in the kitchen. Even fruit-flavored Kombucha has a distinct acidic smell, and when those bottles burst, it creates quite the mess.
I also enjoy making sauerkraut, but my tutorial video was humorously auto-subtitled by a bot that suggested you push cabbage into a jar with your face rather than your fist!
While I’ve taken various measures to keep my physical immune system in check, it was only years later that I recognized I had neglected my psychological immune system while managing stress and anxiety.
So, how is your psychological immune system functioning?
What Constitutes a Psychological Immune System?
Just as your physical immune system guards you against pathogens and keeps you healthy, your psychological immune system shields you from feelings of despair or victimhood stemming from past experiences.
Psychologists Daniel Gilbert and Tim Wilson are credited with popularizing this concept, suggesting that our brains can mitigate the impact of adverse events, helping us cope with difficult situations. They noted, “We tend to underestimate how quickly our emotions can shift, largely because we fail to recognize our capacity to alter them.”
According to their research, when contemplating a painful event, we often overestimate the duration of our distress, neglecting to consider that more uplifting experiences may occur, aiding our recovery.
But what if our psychological immune system does even more? What if it could prevent us from fixating on painful experiences in the first place? Your physical immune system activates when illness strikes, yet its primary function is to stave off sickness before it occurs. Your psychological immune system operates in a similar manner, promoting mental well-being without requiring you to "fix" anything that isn’t broken.
You inherently trust your physical immune system to function properly. For example, if you sustain a cut, you clean and cover it, confident that your body will heal itself if left undisturbed.
The same principle applies to your psychological immune system; you don’t need to meditate or recite mantras constantly. Instead, you can allow it to do its job while consciously quieting your mind.
How to Maintain a Healthy Psychological Immune System
Fortunately, you don’t need to consume excessive vitamins or take cold showers to keep your psychological immune system healthy.
The key lies in acknowledging that everyone navigates a psychological reality shaped by their thoughts. If you’re facing a crisis, this concept may seem overwhelming, but let’s break it down. If you’re in a financial bind, it’s natural to be overwhelmed with anxious thoughts. The reality of the situation is undeniable.
Yes, there are pressing matters to address, but your emotional response to these challenges is rooted in your perception of the situation. If you focus on potential negative outcomes, feelings of fear and worry arise. Conversely, if you direct your thoughts towards finding solutions, your mood will improve, even if the situation remains unchanged. This highlights that we all exist within a world shaped by our thinking.
Stress can overwhelm both your physical and psychological immune systems. When you become entangled in your thoughts and react to external circumstances, it creates a sense of powerlessness. You can become trapped in a cycle of stress, which suppresses your psychological immune system from self-regulating.
While psychologists often focus on the brain in discussions about the psychological immune system, it's crucial to remember that your brain functions like a chemist, translating your mental state and thoughts into biochemical reactions. The mind and body communicate through a shared chemical language. Thus, when you’re stressed, complex hormonal and metabolic responses are triggered in your body.
The physiological changes your body undergoes in response to stress prepare you for action, regulated by interactions between your brain and adrenal glands.
To keep your psychological immune system healthy, recognize that your feelings of stress originate from your thoughts and allow yourself to entertain new perspectives.
New Thoughts Are Always Within Reach
You don’t need to entertain every thought that crosses your mind.
Typically, our minds operate like a continuous ticker tape, constantly flowing with information. If you give weight to every thought you deem important, you risk mental exhaustion.
It’s akin to watching an ant farm; the continuous movement can become overwhelming. You may feel as if you are stuck in a loop of the same thought, but this is merely a result of being entrenched in a neural pathway—what some might call a thought worm.
Research has shown that moving from one thought to another creates new thought pathways. Dr. Poppenk, who led a relevant study, explains, “When a person transitions to a new thought, they establish a new thought worm.”
The remarkable aspect of your psychological immune system is its ability to allow your mind to calm down, enabling access to fresh, innovative thoughts.
Final Reflections
Understanding that you possess a robust, intrinsic psychological immune system means that you are not subject to every challenge life presents, just as a healthy physical immune system protects you from many pathogens.
The more insight you gain into the origins of your feelings, the more resilient your psychological immune system becomes, strengthening both your mental and physical health.