Tips for Making a Change for the Better!

If you are contemplating making a change for the better, perhaps losing weight, improving your eating habits, getting help for anxiety or depression, or resolving issues in a relationship, you are at a stage of awareness.   But what you need to really move forward and begin doing rather than thinking about change is a level of emotional arousal and emotional energy. Use emotional energy to garner the momentum you need to make the change.  We know from research that knowing facts about a problem or dilemma is not enough to create behavior change. So stir things up a bit.  Here are some suggestions:

Create your own promotional materials.  Film yourself YouTube style and monitor your progress with a succession of videos.  Or paint or draw or create posters that are unique to your goals, post them at home and work and ramp up your emotional energy.

Start a group or join a group. There is a reason why joining and participating with a group of people with similar goals is a successful endeavor for many.  Participation can be emotionally energizing via the support you get from others in the group.

Use meditation, visualization and imagination. Take time out each day be in the moment, to reflect, visualize your goal and imagine how you will feel.   The emotional release you may experience may help you to move forward with the needed momentum so that you will be successful in reaching your goal.

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Keeping FIT is NOT always EASY: Part 3 Are YOU a Social Eater?

Keeping fit is not always EASY!  Do you think you may be a "social eater?"  Why do you eat what you eat and when you eat it? Is eating a social experience for you? Do you find that when you are with a group of your friends, you lose track of what you have eaten and continue to fill up your plate although you are already satiated? That’s a very common experience for some.  In fact, researchers (Nicholas A. Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and James H. Fowler, Ph.D) have found that overweight and obese people were more likely to have a circle of friends who were also overweight and obese (and therefore probably social eaters also). And we also know that many people are more likely to be successful in reaching weight loss goals if they participate in a group with shared weight loss goals (for example, “the Biggest Loser” on television, Weight Watchers Program, etc.).  So if social eating is your downfall, don’t despair.  Instead, find a group who share similar weight loss goals and you  will more likely be successful in losing the desired weight.

The Mind-Body Connection and You

There is now both reliable and valid scientific evidence from the fields of behavioral medicine, neuroendocrinology, neuroimmunology, neurobiology, and nutrition science to support the conclusions that our autonomic, endocrine and immune systems are not autonomous, but instead work in concert with each other.  These systems engage in interactive dialog with each other, and communicate with our limbic emotional system and perception/sensation systems to maintain health and also fight disease.

Research over the past 30 years has seen considerable advances into the scientific understanding of the immune system.  Science has now established the knowledge that the mind (psychology), the brain (neurology) and the body’s natural defenses (immunology) communicate with each other in a bidirectional flow of hormones, neuropeptides and cytokines.  This growing field of research is called psychoneuroimmunology (PNI).     Consider this: there is now irrefutable evidence that all of the body’s defense systems are under the control of the central nervous system (CNS).   In other words, every idea, thought and belief has a neurochemical consequence.  Neuropeptides flow from the CNS, impinging on specific receptions on the leukocytes, thus regulating their function.  What researchers know then, is that the CNS has the potential to critically inhibit or enhance immunity through two major neuroimmunomodulatory pathways:  the neuroendocrine and the autonomic nervous systems.

What can you do as a patient, whether you are struggling with a chronic illness, newly diagnosed with a threatening disease or health and working toward goals to improve your overall health and well-being?

Begin by examining your stress levels. How do you manage?  Do you feel good about how you cope or do you know that you are frequently stressed beyond your ability to cope? Ask for help.   Examine your health beliefs and ask questions of your health care providers.  Ask for psychological support for stress management, or help with depression, anxiety or other diagnosis.  Read and learn all you can about the biopsychosocial aspects of your condition.  Rely on scientific evidence, scientific based websites and reputable publications.  Question and learn about complimentary and adjunct support and discuss with your health care providers, including your medical doctor and your psychologist.
For an excellent academic overview on this topic:  Mind-Body Medicine: A Clinician's Guide to Psychoneuroimmunology; edited by Dr. Alan Watkins ISBN:  0 443 05526 2

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The mind-body connection

Current research fully supports the notion that  psychological treatments of people who seek help in a medical setting can make a significant difference in their overall health.  In the 1980's, estimates were that approximately 25% of visits to a primary health care practitioner are for psychological and mental disorders, masked by physical symptoms. This estimate has increased to 30-50% today. And estimates today suggest that more than 60% of emergency room visits involve a psychological component.  We also know that up to 80% of medical patients overall, struggle with various levels of psychological distress. What does this all mean?  Most importantly, statistics now clearly demonstrate that illness is not only physiological and that the psychological component is an important contributor to health, well-being and therefore illness.  The biological, psychological and social are intertwined in a complex and powerful manner.  What can be done?  Physicians and physician's groups need to continue to increase efforts to include psychologists in their treatment plans and willingly refer when the patient might benefit from psychological intervention.  And patients need to increase their awareness of the mind-body connection, examine their own psychological struggles, talk to their health care providers about their physical and psychological status and ask for help and psychological support when they need it.