By Thais Langer, PhD
Being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease may feel like losing some degree of control over your life. But this does not have to be a constant burden – at least not every day.
“Choosing willful optimism in a time of illness or adversity takes grit, fortitude, faith, and resilience. It’s basically a full-time job,” writes author Ashley Boynes-Shuck in Healthline. Ashley has written several books on how to maintain a positive mindset when living with autoimmune diseases (when the body´s immune system attacks its own tissues).
Ashley has lived with rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune disease characterised by painful inflammation in the joints), among other conditions, since childhood. Over time, she learned how to make the best of her situation and shares her experience through her books and website to help people deal with autoimmune diseases in a more positive – but realistic – way.
According to Ashley´s experience, positivity can have a different meaning on a day-to-day basis for someone living with conditions in which pain and sickness can appear unexpectedly. She argues that practising a more positive approach towards life as it is now may help you both emotionally and physically.
But what is the evidence behind positive thinking and autoimmune disease?
What science says about autoimmunity and positivity
According to research, how we feel and what we think can be sensed by our immune system. In this case, Ashley´s advice on keeping up with a positive attitude can be incredibly helpful if you are – or know someone who is – struggling with living with an autoimmune condition.
Practising yoga, relaxation and meditation daily, for example, could reduce rheumatoid arthritis activity and improve quality of life, according to a clinical trial performed in New Delhi, India.
Despite the small number of patients in this trial (66 separated into two groups: yoga and non-yoga), the results were positive among all patients in the yoga group.
Emotions and immunity are constantly talking via several pathways – known as the psycho-neuro-immune axis – that connects the brain and immune system. This brain-body dialogue connects your immune cells with your emotions and physical needs. This way, body and mind work synchronically.
It seems that how we deal with challenges emotionally can influence the severity of symptoms of autoimmune diseases. Positive thinking and a healthier lifestyle can help us send the right messages to our immune cells, relieving the share of physical pain that seems to be caused by how we choose to deal with our challenges.
Toxic positivity is not positive thinking
“Don’t get me wrong, overt ‘fake’ optimism isn’t good. The culture of toxic positivity — or pretending everything is OK when it isn’t — is rampant,” Ashley highlights. “There is a time and place for positivity”, she adds.
Failing to understand that it is ok to be sad and unwell sometimes can turn positive thinking into toxic positivity. Positivity will backfire if you are not honest with yourself. Acknowledge bad days, but keep in mind that these are also impermanent. Just like good days, bad days come and go.
“Toxic positivity is the assumption, either by one’s self or others, that despite a person’s emotional pain or difficult situation, they should only have a positive mindset or — my pet peeve term — ‘positive vibes,’” explains Dr. Jaime Zuckerman, a clinical psychologist specialized in anxiety disorders.
We cannot fool the brain-body open and honest communication. Your feelings will be there whether you acknowledge them or not. Just like the symptoms or medication side effects, you can feel as they come and go. And they will always go away. This is important to keep in mind. When overwhelmed, try listing your feelings and dealing with them one day at a time, for example.
Positive thinking can be learned
Having a positive mindset when some choices are taken away from you can be challenging. But just like many other skills, it can be learned.
If you are dealing with an autoimmune disease diagnoses, try and connect with a support group, for instance. Connecting with people in the same situation may give you a new perspective of life and provide you with practical tips on how to use positivity in a healthy and realistic way.
Also, connecting with those you love, who give you support to be who you are in good and bad days, is an important source of positivity. But above all, be kind and compassionate to yourself and be there for yourself.
Positivity is a practice that takes resilience and hard-work. Still, positive thinking may help diminishing discomfort and improving quality of life. It is worth the work.
According to Ashley: “Living positively in the face of all that is not about wearing proverbial rose-coloured glasses. It’s about making the best of the cards we’ve been dealt, with whatever energy we can devote to it on any given day.”
