Mental Health and Emotional Inflammation

Mental Health and Emotional Inflammation

Inflammation within the body has been getting a great deal of attention in the past few years.  Inflammation in the short term protects the body and can help it heal.  When it is chronic however, can contribute to conditions like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and even some cancers.

Symptoms of chronic inflammation can include fatigue, joint pain, fever, skin issues, gastrointestinal problems, muscle weakness, weight changes, frequent inflections.  It is driven by long term stress, pollution, poor diet, processed foods, sedentary lifestyle, autoimmune disorders, untreated injuries or infections.  It can persist for years without obvious symptoms and damage DNA, tissues and organs over time.  NIH research suggests chronic inflammation contributes to over 50% of deaths worldwide.

As devastating as physical inflammation can be, there is also the possibility of emotional inflammation which can affect long term mental health and quality of life.  Researchers studying chronic stress, trauma, and the immune system began using emotional inflammation as a metaphor for emotional overload. It’s caused by extreme stress and pressure, such as intense emotions, negative thoughts, an environment where we’re surrounded by struggle, and/or circumstances that are too much to handle.  When dealing with your own or a loved one’s mental well-being decline, you may not realize how often you may be in a state of emotional inflammation.

On most days, we generally consider ourselves to be “emotionally sound”, meaning that we feel calm and equipped to deal with anything that comes our way.  During extremely stressful times, however, we’re more susceptible to exhaustion and illness, and struggle to cope with what comes.  When your emotional resources are low, you are more likely to experience emotional inflammation. 

The metaphor captures a real psychophysiological pattern:

Chronic stress leads to heightened emotional sensitivity

Prolonged activation of the nervous system leads to slower recovery

Emotional triggers lead to amplified responses

Signs and symptoms of emotional inflammation include:  irritability, lethargy, consuming more food or a substance than usual, wanting to isolate, scrolling social media for hours on end, feeling unmotivated for daily activities, and feeling overemotional without provocation.

Treatment involves modifying the  emotional reactivity by identifying triggers, changing thoughts and feelings about situations, reality testing, emphasizing mindfulness and self care strategies.

Emotional Intelligence (Goleman, D.)

Emotional Alchemy (Bennett-Goleman, T.)

Harvard Health

Health-ft.com

NIH