Psychoneuroimmunology and Resiliency

Psychoneuroimmunology, otherwise known as PNI, is the blend of physiology and immunology with behavior (Freeman, 2009).  Let's look at PNI through an illustration.  Consider the idea of stress affecting a person’s behaviors as well as simultaneously affecting the neural signals being sent through the body and brain.  Over time, this stress could create pathways that will lead the body’s immune system to be compromised.  There is a connection between the mind, body, and behaviors that PNI sets out to study.  According to Freeman (2009), this is a relatively new specialization and subsequently an area that requires more attention.  One area that has received significant attention is the idea of early life stress. 

Early life development occurs in everyone therefore it is very important for factors involved to help invoke positive development.  Unfortunately, early life stress has become a negative factor in a young person’s development.  Several studies (e.g. Ehlert, 2013; Fagundes, Glaser, & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. 2013; Johnson, Riley, Granger, & Riis, J. 2013; Miller & Chen, 2013) have highlighted the negative effect that early life stress has on the immune system and ultimately health in later life.

There is another subset of research (e.g. Chawla, Keena, Pevec, & Stanley, E. 2013; Cicchetti, 2013) that focuses less on the negative effect of stress on immune system and health issues and more on the resiliency of some in early life to come through seemingly terrible situations. 

One look (Chawla et al., 2013) at resiliency focused on an outdoor or “green” effect on young people.  This study assessed the idea of school children having an outdoor space that would ideally help them to release stress in a natural manner.  The research builds upon the idea that being around natural settings (i.e. trees, grass) allows for a healthier environment than say for instance an urban area.  In this qualitative study, numerous natural environments were used.  Between interviews and observations, it was determined that the green effect was a positive one.  The research associates the results with others who have studied living near natural habitats and showed lower levels of depression, ADHD, and better abilities of dealing with stress. 

The importance of studying early life stress seems to be paramount.  In a world that is struggling to finance health care for adults, the implications for better understanding early life situations is a tremendous responsibility.  Part of this is to understand the mystery of resiliency.  Resiliency is a very important discussion (see Goldstein & Brooks, 2013).  To not look into the factors of resiliency in the broader scope of early life issues is missing a large piece of the puzzle.  

See Why Study Resiliency? for more detailed information on the importance of resiliency.     

 

 

 

References

 

Bilbo, S. D. (2013). Frank A. Beach Award: Programming of neuroendocrine function by early-life experience: A critical role for the immune system. Hormones and Behavior, 63, 684-691. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.02.017

Chawla, L., Keena, K., Pevec, I., & Stanley, E. (2013). Green schoolyards as havens from stress and resources for resilience in childhood and adolescence. Health & Place, 28, 1-13. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.03.001

Cicchetti, D. (2013). Annual research review: Resilient functioning in maltreated children – past, present, and future perspectives. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(4), 402-422. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2012.02608.x

Ehlert, U. (2013). Enduring psychobiological effects of childhood adversity. Psychoneuroendocrinology 38, 1850-1857. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.06.007

Fagundes, C. P., Glaser, R., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2013). Stressful early life experiences and immune dysregulation across the lifespan. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 27, 8-12. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2012.06.014

Freeman, L.W. (2009) Mosby's complementary & alternative medicine: A research-based approach. (3rd ed). Mosby.

Goldstein, S., & Brooks, R. B., eds. (2013). Handbook of Resilience in Children. Springer. 

Johnson, S. B., Riley, A. W., Granger, D. A., & Riis, J. (2013). The science of early life toxic stress for pediatric practice and advocacy. Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 131, 318-327. doi:10.1542/peds.2012-0469

Miller, G. E., & Chen, E. (2013). The biological residue of childhood poverty. Child Development Perspectives, 7(2), 67-73. doi:10.1111/cdep.12021



Introduction to Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

“You know what they call alternative medicine that's been proved to work? - Medicine.”
―Tim Minchin

Complementary and alternative forms of medicine have long been an area of debate.  Some side with those who ridicule these types of interventions (e.g. National Science Foundation, 2002) while others wholeheartedly believe in the power of natural interventions.  I personally believe in the power of natural methods to help the healing process - both physically and mentally.  I have ascribed to running as a natural health benefit for the last six years (see my blog on my running adventures ).  Running has truly helped me to deal with stress, anxiety, and depression.  I also believe that running has helped me to deal with physical health concerns like irritable bowel syndrome and minimized my chronic back pain.  Do I understand all that has been involved in why running has helped these issues for me? No, but I do know that things have been different during the past six years than in the years prior to.

Professionally, I have worked as a mental health counselor for many years and firmly believe in the evidenced based approaches to address mental health needs.  But I have also incorporated some CAM interventions either as a complement or as an alternative to traditional approaches.  Some examples I have utilized include: relaxation techniques, exercise intervention, stretching, and spiritual counsel.

I imagine that the debate over whether CAM is real medicine or just a pseudoscience as some call it (National Science Foundation, 2002) will continue for years to come.  I do think that we must be careful when reviewing research on CAM but just as we need to be careful when reviewing research on what some refer to as true medicine.

I hope you enjoy as we explore the world of CAM and some of the current research on this up and coming area.

References

National Science Foundation. (2002). Science Fiction and Pseudoscience. In Science and Engineering Indicators 2002. Retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c7/c7s5.htm#c7s5l2.