L'inflammation et la santé mentale
Notes prises pendant une lecture de Move The Body, Heal The Mind de la kinésiologue Jennifer Heisz, PhD, directrice du NeuroFit Lab à McMaster.
La théorie du manque de sérotonine est en train d’être complexifiée (voir… debunked)
Surprisingly, it’s likely inflammation. Undoubtedly, you’ve heard of inflammation. It’s what protects the body from infection. Immune cells called cytokines detect an injury or infection and sound an alarm. The alarm summons other immune cells to the site, and their influx cases the inflammation that we recognize as redness and swelling of superficial wounds.
However, all parts of the body can inflame, even the brain. And when the brain inflames, it causes sickness behavior that makes us feel exhausted, antisocial and depressed. Sick at home. Alone in bed. Binge-watching Netflix. Sound familiar? Although no one likes being sick, these behaviors are quite prosocial because they isolate us from others and prevent the spread of infection. It’s the brain’s version of social distancing and a small price to pay for protecting others.
As Heisz writes next, “once the inflammation is cleared and your health is restored,” those isolating symptoms (sickness behaviour) are reduced. But in some cases, those sickness behaviours do not abate. The original infection may have resolved itself, but the fatigue, anxiety, and depression last for months and months. Your bodymind is still inflamed.
So where is this inflammation coming from? As Heisz describes in chapter 3 (pages 48-51), a huge culprit is chronic stress. “People who sweat the small stuff.”
Chaque fois que je vois ces genres d’énoncé, quelque chose comme « le stress cause le cancer, alors si tu es stressé.e — c’est de ta faute! Make better choices! » Donc j’apprécie lorsque le livre précise que les stresseurs environnementaux (famille, travail, les traumatismes, la discrimination, etc.) — et non seulement nos choix de réaction à ces stresseurs — ont un impact immense sur la capacité d’une personne à encaisser le stress.
To be clear, stress is not an infectious disease, but it can make you sick.