What is Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)? –
The Science Linking Our Thoughts And Health
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Contents List For Article on Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) Robert Ader PNI And The Experiment With Rats We Are Not Talking About A Simplistic Model Of Fear Creating Illness Or About A Conscious Choice The Rats Are Not Mentally Ill The Power Of Imagination And Memory Processes That Use The Principles Of PNI Other Breakthroughs In The Field of PNI Questions To Open Your Mind To Using PNI Processes
Pavlov's experiment. The dog and the bell. In the 1900s, the Russian physiologist, psychologist, and physician - Pavlov found that when he rang a bell (a tuning-fork) each time he gave food to a dog, after a while the dog started to salivate each time he heard the bell. The dog’s digestive system had learned to associate the bell with the food and now the food no longer needed to be present to provoke this physical response. In 1975 Robert Ader and Nicholas Cohen were experimenting on rats at the University of Rochester to reproduce this Pavlovian response. Ader wanted to test the idea that he could put rats off their favourite food - a saccharine solution - by putting a tiny amount of a bad-tasting drug in the food. The drug was known to suppress the immune system, but the small amount used should not have been sufficient to cause harm to the rats. However, to his surprise, some of the rats died. Why?
It was discovered that the rats who died were the ones who had drunk the most saccharine solution after the experiment. Please note, this saccharine solution was just that. It was the same solution that the rats normally drank with no ill effect. It contained none of the drug. It was, as we have said, their favourite food. So why did the rats die? The rats' immune systems had learned to respond to the saccharine solution as though it now contained an immune suppressant. Their immune systems were therefore impaired as they drank the liquid and they died. This experiment - Robert Ader and rats - started the field of psychoneuroimmunology. (It is also the scientific basis behind some holistic healing.) The experiment demonstrated that the nervous system – including our thoughts - can affect the immune system. Before then, each body system was believed to function independently.
To tell someone who is suffering with illness that their thoughts affect their health can be a dangerous thing to do.
When we are ill, this idea can seem absurd. Are we not trying our hardest to get better? Why would we choose to be stuck in a body causing us intense pain and disability? I love this experiment by Ader. It communicates so clearly that we are not talking here about a simplistic model of 'fear creates illness' or saying that the ill person chooses to be ill. After all, if the rats had become frightened of the saccharine solution they wouldn’t have carried on drinking it. In fact, those who had become frightened of it would have been more likely to stay away from it and survive. Their bodies had simply set up an association between a physical substance – the food, and another physical substance – the drug, and this led their bodies to react as though the physical substance was present and active.
The rats are not imagining the effect of the drug. Nor are they mentally ill. It is true they are reacting to something that is no longer there. But they die. This is a physical response!
In the case of the rats, it is difficult to know what could be done to reverse this process. The rats who survived are those who now stay away from the drink. How do you reprogram the food that they now will not touch to let them know it is healthy? Luckily, for us, as humans, we have the power of imagination and memory. There are powerful processes we can engage to allow us to train our immune systems to respond differently to a substance or activity that has previously been dangerous for us.
The following processes use the principles of Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) to alter our beliefs and affect our neurology and immune systems. - The Lightning Process™
- NLP
- Hypnotherapy – which is included in the above processes
For the atheists and agnostics amongst you, these findings would also go towards explaining why prayer for oneself can work.In my journey to recover from M.E/CFS, I used all the above processes: - The Lightning Process was the trigger for my recovery.
- I have trained as an NLP practitioner since recovery.
- Prayer played a vital role in my healing and continues to be an integral part of my life. (By the way, prayer brings me a lot more than physical health!)
In case you want to look them up, here are two other names that have made breakthroughs in the field of Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) - David Felten. How neuro-immune interaction occurs.
- Candace Pert. The interdependence of emotions and immunology.
1. Is it possible that your body has set up associations that mean an activity or substance that once was safe for you is now dangerous?
Yes/No 2. Do you believe you can learn processes that can change the way your body registers that activity and/or that substance?
Yes/No |
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Move From Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) to Books On Mind Body Medicine Research
If you are concerned that by talking about the link between thoughts and health I am invalidating the difficult experience of illness, please remember that I was seriously ill myself and still have some symptoms. Please click here for
M.E./CFS is a serious condition.
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