It turns out that feelings of self-pity can not only drive you into depression, but also cause a decrease in immunity and even frequent colds.
Self-pity … addictive
Each of us, of course, has something to feel sorry for himself. Of course, one must respect oneself, value oneself as a person, and, if possible, protect oneself from strong shocks. But self-pity is an inactive and depressing feeling. It draws in like a swamp bog. One has only to start, as hands fall, tears well up, and now there is no more person in the world more unhappy than you. As they say, the claw got stuck …
Professor of Psychiatry Mikhail VINOGRADOV:
- Self-pity is an affectionate and very negative feeling. A person quickly becomes addicted to it - as from all bad habits. Plus, focusing on ourselves always makes us callous towards others. From the point of view of psychology, pity smooths out the acuteness of stress, but does not fight it, but drives it deep inside. Tension builds up, and the result is "bad stress" (distress), which will have to be relieved with the help of a specialist.
This is a dead-end path that can really only lead to asthenic depression and completely unsettle your life. Facing problems with self-pity for a loved one means letting them get the upper hand in advance.
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On the contrary, in a moment of stress, you need to group, call on all the forces of spirit for help, remember what victories - albeit small - in this life you had to gain.
BTW
Do you have a cold? It's time to go on vacation
The defenses of our body are very sensitive to stress. It is known that with depression, for example, general immunity can decrease by as much as 70%. With advanced neuroses, a person begins to have a real vitamin deficiency - the content of vitamins C, the entire group B, and folic acid (Sun) drops sharply. And at the same time, all useful substances are absorbed worse. Hence the pale appearance.
Persistent colds often signal that your nerves are at the limit. The same misfortune lies in wait for those who seek to do too much without giving the brain a break.
Sometimes the body itself asks for bed rest in order to … just take a break. Simply put, putting you to bed with acute respiratory infections, the body thus protects itself from a nervous breakdown, which is about to erupt from overstrain.
Panic is the best friend of infections
Autumn is perhaps the most difficult time for the type of anxious and suspicious people. This type is distinguished by a tendency to make an elephant out of any fly. Colds, flu, tonsillitis - the most common seasonal illnesses cause panic in these people. Simple symptoms swell to almost fatal: if a sneeze, then suddenly it's a severe flu, a cough - isn't it tuberculosis, the temperature is under 38 - probably it's pneumonia …
These are indecisive people living in the subjunctive mood, experiencing constant unreasonable anxiety for everyone and everything, and for their health as well.
And by virtue of their self-hypnosis, anxious and suspicious people really endure even colds more severely, recover for several days longer.
But they usually do not interfere with treatment (except with endless complaints). Due to their restrictive behavior, doctors obey and strictly fulfill all appointments.
It is good for people with such personality traits during an illness to supplement treatment with auxiliary therapy that normalizes vegetation: at night - sedatives (motherwort with valerian, 25 drops each, or 30 drops of Novopassit, or half a glass of St. John's wort decoction), and in the morning - stimulating immunity and the nervous system (for example, rosehip decoction, ginseng tincture, Chinese lemongrass plus green tea tablets).
FACT
Scientists have proven that the course of many diseases depends only 15% on doctors and 85% on our attitude to health problems and psychological mood.
Blood vessels and the immune system suffer
Self-pity forms an asthenic type of reaction in a person to any external influences. With an asthenic reaction to stress, the release of the hormone acetylcholine (produced by the adrenal glands) increases. It is also called "weakness hormone".
A large amount of this hormone has a bad effect on the vascular center. As a result, the vascular tone weakens, as with hypotension, and the pressure drops.
The autonomic nervous system starts to play naughty, and there are classic "panic attacks": lethargy in the arms and legs, cold sweat, heart beats like a bird in a cage, efficiency at zero, causeless fears begin to torment and I do not want to live at all.
So by self-pity, we can decently shatter the psyche and harm general health. The tendency to asthenic reactions often becomes a powerful impetus to the development of a variety of diseases. So, excessive compassion for your own person can provoke:
- diseases of the digestive system (mainly gastritis and stomach ulcers);
- asthenic-apathetic depression;
- hypotension;
- vegetative-vascular dystonia;
- decreased immunity and poor resistance to infections.
And it is especially harmful to feel sorry for yourself during an illness, even if you catch the flu, you have a fever and everything hurts. The recovery process, rest assured, will only drag on.