People often say, “It’s all in the mind”, which actually is true to a great extent. Our mind or mental state plays a major role in maintaining our overall health, which is why doctors and experts often recommend practicing mindfulness and keeping calm. In the current times while we are still fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, did you know that our mental state can affect our immunity and immune response to the vaccine as well? We talked to Rashmi Wadhwa, M Phil (Human Development) and senior consultant psychologist in the same regard, and here is what she explains.
Can Our Mental State Affect Vaccine’s Immune response?
Having a positive mindset can keep our immunity boosted and keep us healthy as well. Our expert says that in India, we witnessed a lower mortality rate of the novel coronavirus, as compared to other parts of the world, because of two major reasons. First, because of our dietary habits, which consists of incorporating ginger, basil, honey, and other immunity-boosting food items in our daily meals. The second reason is that the Indians have a “fighter mindset”, i.e. having a positive attitude that “everything will be fine and I will be healthy again”, which is very important especially when you are suffering from a serious illness.
She explains that many times we begin to have negative thoughts about certain things. The process starts with a feeling of fear leading to stress and then negative thinking, which further propels the flow of hormones called catecholamine, which is an immunosuppressant. Therefore, when a person is fearful or stressed with the idea of getting vaccinated, it triggers these hormones, resulting in a compromised immune response from the vaccines, i.e. the vaccine proves to be less effective in the person than it should be. Therefore, our expert says that a positive mindset is necessary to fight the negative effects of the vaccine response.
How Can We Keep Calm And Be Positive?
psychologist Rashmi Wadhwa says that the best way to relax your brain is to practice some deep breathing exercises. The fear released from our brain and amygdala has a cycle. Our emotional mind works 1/100th of a second earlier than our rational mind, i.e. our emotional mind is faster. Therefore, here, deep breathing is very helpful. As soon as you experience fear, a slow deep breath can immediately cater to your feeling of fear and suppress it.
Similarly, when you go for vaccination, Our expert suggests practicing deep breathing and saying to yourself in your mind that “I am positive and the vaccine will be effective on my body”. This way, our body will respond to these thoughts in a positive manner and it will be benefitted. Hence, having a positive and fighter attitude will be very helpful and will not affect the vaccine’s immune response.
