There appears to be a clear connection between autoimmune disease and stress, and this is one of many reasons why my entire coaching and therapy practice is built on a foundation of mindfulness. Mindfulness and meditation are two of the most effective methods that I’ve encountered for stress reduction. It’s why I’m teaching mindfulness and meditation to all of my clients with autoimmune disorders.
Everyday brings a choice: to practice stress or to practice peace.
Joan Borysenko
A 2018 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that people who have been diagnosed with a stress disorder, including acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder, are at an increased risk for developing autoimmune disease. Of significant note is that this study did show that use of SSRI medication during the first year of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis was associated with attenuated relative risk of autoimmune disease. This finding was significant only in reference to PTSD and not the other stress related disorders.
Once you choose hope, anything is possible.
Christopher Reeve
Please don’t interpret the above information as fate. Practicing mindfulness and meditation are two evidenced based practices for stress reduction. Practicing mindfulness and meditation has also been shown to reduce symptoms of autoimmune disorders. In addition to meditation, there are other things that you can do to reduce stress.
Neuroplasticity and Healing
Research indicates that there are things you can do to rewire your brain, reduce stress, and calm the overly activated limbic system following trauma, pain, and illness. Jen Johnson offers coaching and counseling that incorporate these methods and will teach you how to rewire your brain for greater calm, happiness, and resilience.
Learning to listen to ourselves is a way of learning to love ourselves.
Joan Borysenko
Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.
–Hermann Hesse
Autoimmune Disease and Stress
What is stress? Stress is an experience that creates physical, psychological or emotional tension. A stress reaction sets off the fight or flight response. When fight or flight is activated, the sympathetic nervous system is activated by our survival brain, which leads to a release of adrenaline, increased heart rate and breathing rate, and increased blood pressure. All of this prepares us to run or fight in order to survive. This serves us well if we are being chased by a tiger.
Unfortunately, our brain and nervous system often respond to perceived threats, not just real threats, like being chased by a tiger. And if we experience ongoing stress, such as worry over our physical or mental health, relationships, finances, work, etc, this can lead to chronic stress, which puts us at risk for chronic disease such as autoimmune disease, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other illness, as well as anxiety and depression.
Healing is the rediscovery of who we are and who we have always been.
Joan Borysenko
What causes stress varies from person to person. Some people experience stress related to public speaking, while others feel at ease offering a speech. Stress can be positive stress, like moving to a new home, starting a new job, getting married, or walking into a surprise party given by your friends. Stress can also be caused by difficult events, including loss, illness, the ending of a relationship, losing a job, financial difficulties, or other difficult times.
You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Studies have shown for decades that meditation is an effective approach to stress reduction. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that people who participate in an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course have been shown to have decreased symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, and an increased sense of peace, ease, happiness, creativity, and wellbeing. The MBSR program teaches mindfulness meditation and gentle yoga for stress reduction.
Meditation and Healing
Practicing meditation has been shown to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is known as the rest and repair branch of the nervous system. When you’re feeling stressed, often the sympathetic branch of the nervous system is overly activated, resulting in increased heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure and feeling wired and tired.
Our health—and indeed our entire lives—can be seen as the sum of all our moment-to-moment decisions. This includes how we choose to eat and drink, think and feel, act and react, and move and rest on any given day.
Kelly A. Turner
Practicing meditation can activate the parasympathetic system, result in a decrease in heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure, and restore a sense of balance to the nervous system if you’ve been in a state of chronic stress. I refer to the parasympathetic nervous system as the rest and repair system, because it is in this state that healing occurs. When this balance is restored, you should feel calmer, more peaceful, and enjoy a state of increased wellbeing.
The control center of your life is your attitude.
Norman Cousins
I find that many of my clients who have autoimmune disease begin to experience good results with meditation after practicing it consistently for a few weeks. Try to be patient, because it takes some people longer than others to begin to feel calmer, more peaceful, and less stressed.
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Stress Related Illness
The Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program was developed in 1979 by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Research indicates that participation in an 8-week MBSR results in decreased stress, anxiety, depression and symptoms of autoimmune disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, high blood pressure, physical an psychological pain, arthritis, asthma, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses. Studies show that participation in the MBSR course can result in an increased sense of peace, happiness, and wellbeing.
If you would like to learn how to meditate and practice mindfulness for stress reduction, Jen Johnson teaches an MBSR online course. You can sign up for the self-study course and complete it on your own, or you can purchase individual coaching sessions with Jen to support you. It’s priced to be affordable, and if you still can’t afford it, there are scholarships available.
Meditation for Autoimmune Disease and Stress
If you’re new to meditation and would like to give it a try, you can get started by reading my post “How to Meditate.”
References
Song H, Fang F, Tomasson, G, Amberg FK, Mataix-Cols D, Fernandez de la Cruz L, Almqvist C, Fall K, Valdimarsdottir UA. . “Association of stress-related disorders with subsequent autoimmune disease. “ Journal of the American Medical Association. 2018. Jun 19; 319(23): 2388-2400.
Praissman S. “Mindfulness-based stress reduction: A literature review and clinician’s guide.” Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. 2008. Apr; 20(4): 212-6.