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Candace Pert, PhD

Candace Pert, PhD

Explorer of the brain, bodymind & beyond

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Resilience, a refresher for COVID19

May 12, 2020 By Michael Ruff Leave a Comment

What does resilience these days look like? Is it head down, into the storm?, stiff upper lip, tough skin to resist the abrasion?, resolve, determination?, what other approaches might help?

Candace Pert  concluded from her research that you can’t talk about the body as a physical entity separate from mind and emotions, but rather as a whole information system. In her work in the field of psychoneuroimmunology Candace observed there is no divide between the “brain” and the “immune system”/body defense systems, there is only deep integration. Neurons populate and penetrate the immune tissues, and immune cells called microglia surround and sculpt synapses and their connectivities, to both add and remove them. It is within those synapses that your memories are stored, including a memory of the emotions, the feelings. In fact absent an emotion, memories fade, connections fade, and synapses fade. Those associated with strong emotions persist.  Candace thought neuropeptides were key transducers of emotions which were expressed throughout the MindBody, at every level of the neuroaxis not just the brain (Pert, 1985 PMID 2989371), although that is still a prevalent notion, (Barrett, Neurosci Letts, 2019/PMID:28756189). Emotions are expressed in order to assign meaning, allostasis, and predictability, which supports adaptability and thereby effective response (ideally!) to our current situation. The purpose is to integrate the entire system, which favors regeneration and opposes the chronic degenerative states which underlie significant illnesses and diseases, which supports resilience. The “meaning” we imbue to our “stories” (experiences) are very powerful as it then programs the systems of the body, for better or worse. We have substantial control over our narratives, and behaviors, if we choose to look at them critically and not execute (perform) them reflexively, as we often do. Candace thought meanings and emotions that were affirmative and hopeful, which among the most important was forgiveness, were a way to support repair, regeneration, recovery. Resilience seems to seek not mere survival, but survival to achieve advancement, to secure a dream or a goal in the face of obstacle, challenge. We all understand how viruses are spread, so firstly, be consistently careful. For many conditions, viruses especially, and SARS-CoV-2 particularly, it is the body’s innate immune defense reaction that spins out of control and causes lethality and long term loss of function via the ‘cytokine storm’. Candace showed that many cytokines and chemokines had receptors in the brain, and others showed they controlled behaviors. MindBody techniques are powerful adjuncts, they can alter cytokine expression and function and thereby could support our capacities to be resilient to viral challenge, as well as the new emotional challenges around COVID19.

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