We have all heard of Type A personality types, but have you heard about Type D, or distress, personality? There was an observation made by, Johan Denollet, a Belgian psychologist, of cardiac patients a while back. Denollet noticed that some patients with extensive cardiac problems were optimistic and went through rehabilitation enthusiastically, while others, who had only mild problems were more pessimistic and did not follow rehabilitation activities well. Denollet was interested in the why of this. Out of his work came a 14 question survey designed to determine whether a person has something he termed “distress” personality.
His survey identifies overall stress in terms of states of “negative affectivity” (worry, irritability and gloom) and social inhibition (reticence and social inhibition) and it has been surprisingly helpful in predicting cardiovascular health – in particular hypertension and coronary heart disease. And those studied who had existing heart disease and high distress scores were less responsive to treatment and were more likely to die prematurely.
This idea of psychosocial factors playing a role in illness is not new, but it is finding its way more and more into mainstream health habits and healthcare. Since the advent of stress management for Type A personality types in prevention and treatment of heart disease, researchers are searching for other ways that stress and emotions affect our health.
One particularly interesting idea is that if depression and anger can increase our susceptibility to heart disease, what effect do positive emotions have on our health? One researcher showed that optimistic outlooks slow atherosclerosis in post menopausal women. One researcher found that watching a funny movie for 15 minutes (hearty laughter) increases blood flow – similar to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise.
Gratitude is the topic of one study of people with neuromuscular disease. The results in a nutshell of interviewing these folks was that having a sense of gratitude increased the quality of their lives and lessened the rate of physical decline caused by their disease.
Dr. Dean Ornish, a heart disease expert and writer, states outright that love and intimacy (true connection) with others or the lack of it is at the root of what prevents and causes illness. He says: “I’m not aware of any other factor in medicine-not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery-that has a greater impact on our quality of life, incidence of illness and premature death. In part, this is because people who are lonely are more likely to engage in self-destructive behaviors.
“Dr. Ornish believes that a paradigm shift is needed in today’s social makeup to guard our health. He believes that science is beginning to demonstrate that love, intimacy, compassion, forgiveness, community, altruism and service are very important to our health. He goes on to say that “being unselfish may be the most self-serving approach to life, for it helps free both the giver and recipient from suffering, disease, and premature death”.
Isn’t this what all of the world’s philosophers, spiritual and religious leaders have been saying all along?
Sources: Type D Personality: The Impact of Stress and Loneliness on Our Health, by Robert Brooks PhD. http://www.drrobertbrooks.com/writings/articles/0605.html
Harvard Health Publications http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/type_d_personality.htm
