How do you think fear and anxiety factor in?

amother

Fri, Jun 19 2020, 6:23 pm

Just curious, on a scale of 1-10, how important a factor do you believe mental state is in your immune system working properly?
I see so much fear and anxiety as well as outrage about people who may not be taking things seriously enough. Do you see this playing a role in staying healthy? (Or G-d forbid the opposite). If so, how much?

FranticFrummie

Sat, Jun 20 2020, 2:33 pm

It really depends on the person, but it's a scientific fact that stress raises cortisol levels, and cortisol lowers immunity. To what degree? That's harder to quantify as there are too many variables.

Personally, I think it was a great kindness of Hashem that I got the virus very early, a week before Purim. I'm not afraid anymore, because I was severely ill and I survived, B'H. People who haven't had it yet seem to be the ones most nervous.

The only thing that worries me is not knowing if I can get it again, or if I'm susceptible to getting a different strain of Covid. Nobody knows, so I continue to wear a mask and wash my hands as often as possible.

We have to do our best with the scientific information that we are given, and at the same time realize that everything is from Hashem, so we need to daven hard for ourselves and klal Isroel for health and long life to 120.

ora_43

Sat, Jun 20 2020, 3:34 pm

There's fear, and then there's fear.

Normal "fear" of the kind where you mentally recognize that something is a danger and take steps to avoid it is a good thing. That's what keeps people doing things like wearing masks at the store, washing hands, etc. It's not bad for your immune system, either.

Frequently being in fight-or-flight mode is a different story. That's not great for your health in the long term.

But short term, it's not going to be a big factor. And even in the long term, I'd guess it's at maybe a 3 out of 10. It's a potential factor, but still far less significant than factors like age, cigarette use, or presence/absence of background conditions.

I don't think you can tell who has long-term, fight-or-flight-level anxiety just by reading posts here. A poster who says "anyone who doesn't wear a mask is a MURDERER" might very well be more calm - in an inner, biological sense - than a poster who says "let's not judge." I think the differences in tone often reflect writing/debate styles more than levels of emotional involvement. (Frankly, if tone was an accurate reflection of emotion, there are posters here who would have had multiple heart attacks by now.)