There seems to be an increasing amount of evidence that the mind and body are connected on many levels. There are a range of personality types, ranging from very introverted to a mad extrovert. What is your personality type? Does your personality have an impact on your health?
The connection between mind and body is a key part of many ancient religions, and was generally accepted until relatively recently. The rise of the science and “rational thinking”, changed this. The dogma was that thoughts, emotions, etc., did not significantly impact body processes and had only a small role to play in disease.
The pendulum is starting to swing back the other way. Now, there is quite a bit of evidence that the mind does play a role in our health.
For instance, the role that stress plays in our health is now a major subject of research. Short-lived (acute) stress is usually good. It helps us respond to things that need an immediate response. It is the continual chronic stress that negatively affects the body.
A new study shows that those who had a high level of “dispositional energy”, have much lower levels of an inflammatory molecule called interleukin 6, shortened to IL6.
High dispositional energy is usually a characteristic of extroverts, and is active engagement with life. Dispositional energy has been called the life force. Other characteristics of extroverts such as being happy, and liking to be around other people did not affect the levels of IL6.
Since inflammation is a key player in a number of diseases including heart disease and diabetes, having a lower of inflammation lowers the risk of serious effects from these diseases. The new research suggests more dispositional energy, with less inflammation leads to a lower risk of inflammatory diseases.
There is a question that needs to be answered. If we all started to be more engaged and increase our dispositional energy will our risk having major heart disease or diabetes? Or do we need to have been born with high dispositional energy levels?
photo credit: quantumdtell
[tags]personality, dispositional energy, mind, body, inflammation, health[/tags]
