DEPRESSION . . . anger turned inward where it does the most harm ... "Depression exaggerates stress-induced inflammatory response" is the name of the article on http://www.psychiatrymatters.md/. The evidence continues to mount that while men claim not to be "emotional," they are highly emotional, and in ways that are detrimental to their health.
Andrew Miller (Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA) checked out the immune system activation of 28 men, half of whom had major depression and half of whom did not. As we often mention in the EQ Course, emotions directly affect the IMMUNE SYSTEM.
The results showed that men with depression had an exaggerated "inflammatory response," which likely leads to heart disease and diabetes.
Early life stressors seem to set the baseline high to begin with. A test of childhood trauma set the depressed men at 69.0, while 'normal' subject had a 35.0--nearly twice as high.
Then they were subjected to stress--everyone's favorite-- public speaking, and their inflammatory marker interleukin (IL)-6 was measure. Levels of something called nuclear factor (NF)?B, a transcription factor involved in inflammation regulation, were also greatly higher in depressed men.
"These findings indicate that depressed patients with increased early life stress exhibit both a baseline hyperinflammatory state coupled with a hyper-responsive inflammatory response to stress, which together may contribute to medical comorbidities associated with major depression and inflammation such as cardiovascular disease," Miller is quoted as finding.
This indicates changes in neuroendocrine function, including increased sympathetic nervous system responses and/or altered glucocorticoid feedback regulation. You can find the full article here: Am J Psychiatry 2006; 163: 1630-1633 .
Researchers in "Destructive Emotions" also found some people have a higher set point, and spike immediately after a "stressor." You might want to call this an "automatic" response, but co-author of the book, isthe Dalai Lama, and testing on high level lamas found they were able to control what were formerly considered "automatic" responses--through managing their emotions.
Take the EQ Course and find out more, www.susandunn.cc/EQcourse.htm .
It's your health that 's at stake.
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