Boost Immune Health with Compassion
In times like these when stress, worry, and uncertainty are abound, it is easy to retreat inward, shut our doors both literally and figuratively as we attempt to navigate a dangerous illness run rampant and an economy that is falling apart, all on our own. It is also all too easy to give into frustration, anger, even rage at ourselves for not preparing enough, at our neighbors for not heeding social distancing guidelines, at our community members who stock up on much needed food and supplies leaving little for the rest of us. It is easy to succumb to the anxiety and fear of what tomorrow will bring and to lash out in response.
In times like these it can feel impossible to foster compassion for ourselves and for others, but it’s in times like these that we must. Compassion is what fuels spontaneous sing-a-longs among neighbors in Italy. It is what compels strangers to offer to go food shopping for folks who cannot risk it. It is what inspires some to buy art to help keep struggling artists afloat, or to donate money to organizations in desperate need. Compassion is what we will depend on to help rebuild ourselves, our communities, and our country once this is all over. Compassion also, as it turns out, may help to boost our immune system.
Compassion is defined as the emotion that you feel when confronted with another’s suffering, paired with the desire to help that person relieve their suffering; for example, sympathizing with a neighbor who recently lost their job and dropping off groceries on their doorstep to help. Self-compassion is defined as being kind to one’s self and the ability to self reassure and self soothe in times of adversity. Studies have shown that those of us who are able to foster compassion toward others or self tend to have higher levels of well-being and quality of life.
Physiologically, this may be due to the feeling of compassion stimulating nervous system responses that reduce danger surveillance (aka threat seeking), decrease stress, and increase our ability to connect with others. Furthermore, research suggests that compassion helps to increase heart rate variability (which is a sign of healthy autonomic nervous system balance), reduce sympathetic activation (fight or flight), reduce cortisol levels, and improve immune system health. Additionally, isolation and rumination have been shown to do the opposite: increase heart rate, increase release of cortisol, and increase amygdala activation (the amygdala controls the fear/anxiety/anger response in the brain).
One study showed that participants who engaged in meditation practices designed to enhance compassion, experienced lower cortisol levels and lower IL-6 levels compared to baseline levels and control group levels after 6 weeks. This is important because IL-6 has been linked to the lung inflammation damage seen in more severe COVID-19 cases. IL-6 is a cytokine, aka an immune system messenger, that recruits the immune system to result in inflammation. This can be very helpful when inflammation is needed, such as with acute injury or fighting off a viral infection such as the coronavirus. However, what has been happening in some patients with COVID-19, is that this inflammation runs amok, damaging not only viruses but also healthy human cells. Therefore, some of the pharmaceutical strategies being proposed to help prevent lung damage and complications in COVID-19 are ones that help to reduce IL-6 as well as other key inflammatory cytokines. Although there is no evidence that suggests that compassion meditation practices could help reduce the likelihood of complications from COVID-19, it stands to reason that regularly engaging in activities that help to lower IL-6 may be useful and at the very least it can’t hurt. In addition, as compassion has been shown to enhance parasympathetic activation (rest and digest), it can in this way help enhance overall immune system function.
So given this information, how do we foster compassion toward ourselves and toward others? The good news is that even short exercises geared toward invoking feelings of compassion have been shown to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest), allowing us to be more resilient in times of stress, socially engage with others, and to be able to manage our emotional responses effectively. Now more than ever, we could use some extra compassion to offset the uncertainty and fear that COVID-19 has brought upon us. Even small acts like a friendly smile and a wave to a neighbor, a note of thanks for the postal worker, a video greeting for a friend in isolation, can not only be a much needed source of light and levity during this difficult time, but may also make us a little more healthier.
References:
Breines JG, Thoma MV, Gianferante D, Hanlin L, Chen X, Rohleder N. Self-compassion as a predictor of interleukin-6 response to acute psychosocial stress. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2014;37:109-114. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2013.11.006.
Conti P, Ronconi G, Caraffa A, Gallenga CE, Ross R, Frydas I, Kritas SK. Induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and IL-6) and lung inflammation by Coronavirus-19 (COVI-19 or SARS-CoV-2): anti-inflammatory strategies. Journal of Biol Regul Homeost Agents. 2020; 14;34(2). Doi:10.23812/CONTI-E.
Cosley BJ, Mccoy SK, Saslow LR, Epel ES. Is compassion for others stress buffering? Consequences of compassion and social support for physiological reactivity to stress. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2010;46(5):816-823. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.04.008.
Kirschner H, Kuyken W, Wright K, Roberts H, Brejcha C, Karl A. Soothing Your Heart and Feeling Connected: A New Experimental Paradigm to Study the Benefits of Self-Compassion. Clinical Psychological Science. 2019;7(3):545-565. doi:10.1177/2167702618812438.
Pace TW, Negi LT, Adame DD, et al. Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009;34(1):87-98. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.08.011.