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Even Minor Stresses Affect Immunity If Not Compensated For

Researchers gave men an unfamiliar but harmless protein for two months and tracked the levels of antibodies. Based on three times a week reporting of moods, good moods corresponded to a better immune response, and relatively low antibody production corresponded with days these students felt that they were in a bad mood. Thus “minor, daily mood fluctuations are associated with immune function”—happiness may play a part in keeping people healthy. Arthur Stone, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 52, Page 98-993.

Adults troubled by anxiety or depression may be twice as likely as their calm, happy peers to develop hypertension later in life. – Time Magazine, February 17, 1997. Even genital herpes simplex may vary according to state of mind.

People with genital herpes who were depressed had lower levels of immune system T cells in greater rates of recurrence. The relationship was not between stressful life events and recurrence, but what was important was how people responded to those events psychologically and emotionally. (Dr. Kemeny, UCLA)