Hello everyone and welcome to another informative blog article by the amazing Hope. This fascinating post delves into the control the brain holds over the body and physical health, which is such a pressing topic. Many mental health conditions have physiological manifestations. Make sure to share with friends and family and stay up to date with our social media (@cellfiemagazine on Twitter and Instagram) and our podcast which is Cellfie Magazine on Spotify.
‘My body can do what it wants, I am not the body I am the mind’
Rita Levi Montalcini
I have always found it fascinating the power our minds hold over our body and vice-versa.
Efferent information from the brain will travel through the brain stem, to the spinal cord and out of the spinal nerves where, finally, it synapses to the skeletal muscle, causing motor behaviour. All of this work is done in so little time, but repeatedly. This is one of the many captivating occurrences within our bodies.
Even now as you’re reading this, the thought to move your eyes across the screen or to scroll down further will cross your mind, and your body is going to comply. These habits, sequential repetitive motor behaviours, elicited by triggers, that happen without constant conscious thinking, they dictate how we proceed, whilst our minds persistently accumulate new actions to perform.
Although we see our mind and our body both being part of the same multi-cellular organism, it can also be perceived as a relationship full of conflict. A fight for which dictates how you live your life. Is it your mind-set? Or your anatomy?
Throughout this article of ‘mind over matter’, I want to especially centre your attention into how often this concept is seen within medicine. This is through the ‘placebo effect’. The placebo effect is generally defined as an improvement of symptoms being observed, in spite of using a non-active treatment. This is believed to occur due to psychological factors that our mind-sets control like expectations we may have. This notion reiterates how deceptive our brains truly are.
The postulation of the mind against the body is being furthered through research as scientists are trying to utilize the placebo effect to improve patient care, alongside the process of their recovery.
Many believe the placebo to be as though you’re fooling the patient, breaking confidentiality and trust the patient has gained in you. In spite of this, many research articles have been published to show that being aware of the fact that you are taking the placebo is still effective.
The effect is not as significant compared to being unaware of the drug your consuming being a sugar coated pill, nevertheless, the action of consuming the ‘medication’ means the patient feels safe and supported, giving them optimism. Moreover, people may often take a placebo to relieve their pain. This is because this activity of ingesting a drug actually triggers the release of endorphins. Consequently a pain relieving chemical, much like morphine, is formulated alleviating the extent of the symptoms. In actual fact however it is just an imaginary effect. Merely, a change in perception one could argue.
Clearly, the imaginary effect cannot heal everybody. With any type of trauma, a patient cannot bounce back through taking an inactive medication. The brain will have suffered major psychological damage, and that is not something that can be magically fixed. However, the experience of that injury is controlled by the brain which is going to dictate the healing of the body.
Expanding this further, obviously cancer patients cannot suddenly become healthy from a placebo. Yet the action of receiving conventional treatment like the radiotherapy helps to relieve some of that mental pressure from a devastating diagnosis. Through the patient trying to possess a positive mind-set, in spite of the harrowing situation, studies have shown that it helps with sticking to the treatment regimens along with coping the symptoms that are included.
A dichotomy to this though is a different occurrence in which our minds can actually convince us we have a certain illness. Potentially the power of internet comes into play a bit with this suggestion. For instance, you have a tummy ache, an issue that is most likely minor, but your brain will begin rushing to find answers. Periodically, this results in deceiving ourselves into thinking we have a complex ‘out of the ordinary’ medical issue. In reality, it is just something that was eaten. So, in addition to the minds deceptiveness, it is also curious. Always probing for an explanation. Often getting the answer wrong, hence the need for doctors!
A famous neurologist, Rita Levi Montalcini who discovered the nerve growth factor said- ‘My body can do what it wants, I am not the body, I am the mind.’ I believe this to reiterate the topic of this article by supporting the theory of the brains crucial impact on the body. So, just as much as we train and treat our bodies, we also need to do the same to the mind, to make the body stronger.