Research Shows...

Research has demonstrated that our psychological, behavioral, and physical processes are closely integrated. Illnesses don't just happen: many are caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or other microbes. But what factors determine whether you will fall ill when exposed to these? What determines your immunity?
Part of immunity seems determined by emotions - how you think and feel what is going on inside your mind, your body, and your spirit may have tremendous impact on what happens to your body. In a thirty-year study of initially healthy young men, those with the most mature emotions and psychological style - including a sense of humor, an altruistic bent, and so on - were the healthiest thirty years later. After thirty-five years, only 3 percent of those who dealt with the stresses of life in a mature, adaptive way had an chronic illness, as compared with the 38 percent who were either dead or chronically ill in the other group (who coped by using denial, blaming, repression, and intellectualization).
-Information found from Mind/Body Health The Effects of Attitudes, Emotions, and Relationships by Keith J. Karren