One of the main sources of the current panic around the coronavirus is the constant emergence of information that not only the elderly but also young people are dying from the disease. Let's take a look at why this is happening and why the higher the level of fear (=stress), the more severe the disease.
In my book **The Carcinogenic Mind. Psychosomatic Mechanisms of Cancer "** I provide a lot of information about the impact of stress on the immune system and the body's antiviral defense, since the activation of oncogenic viruses is one of the mechanisms of cancer development. Since the body fights any viruses in a similar way, whether it is a coronavirus or an oncogenic virus, I offer excerpts from the book to help you understand that people who are under deep stress are more vulnerable to the disease.
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**"The founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud** noted in his early works that strong emotions can affect the body's resistance or increase susceptibility to infectious diseases (Freud S., 1953).
When stress becomes chronic, the effectiveness of the immune system decreases - this is the conclusion reached by the founder of the stress theory, Hans Selye**. Since then, many studies have confirmed this conclusion. According to meta-analyses, 36 scientific studies were conducted between 1977 and 1991 (Herbert T., Cohen S., 1993), and by 2004, there were already about 300. They prove that the longer the stress lasts, the more the functions of the immune system are suppressed at different levels, resulting in the transformation of stress from an adaptive process into a pathological one (Segerstrom S., Miller G., 2004).
In particular, stress leads to atrophy of the thymus, one of the main organs of the immune system (Hasegawa H., Saiki I., 2002), decreases the activity of NK cells, and reduces the ability of lymphocytes to reproduce and develop protective immunity (Cohen S. et al., 2001). For example, chronic stress significantly reduces the ability of our immune system to create protective antibodies after influenza vaccination (Segerstrom C., Miller G., 2004), and the severity of an infectious disease depends on the degree of impaired immune function under the influence of stress (Peterson P. et al., 1991). An analysis conducted at Carnegie Mellon University showed a clear and reproducible link between stress, infections and influenza (Cohen S. et al., 1991).
In addition, the stress we already have is usually actively supported by media hysteria, which scares us with a "new wave of flu" and imposes massive purchases of medicines and vaccinations. Who do you think is funding these campaigns? A similar dependence on stress is demonstrated by the herpes virus: the more severe the stress, the more frequent, prolonged, and active the development of herpesvirus disease (Glaser R., Kiecolt-Glaser J. K., 1994).
It has been established that bad mood and negative emotions are associated with a decrease in the number of T-lymphocytes and the ability of the immune system to produce antibodies, while good mood and positive emotions are associated with an increase in the number of T-lymphocytes and an improvement in the immune response (Stone A., 1987; Futterman A. et al., 1994). Immunity also deteriorates under the influence of the effects of chronic stress - depression (Kiecolt-Glaser J., Glaser R., 2002; Bufalino C. et al., 2013).
In animal experiments, chronic stress, like physical and chemical carcinogens, activates the development of viral tumors (Justice A., 1985). In humans, chronic psychological stress and depression due to impaired ability of the immune system to control the latent (inactive) state of viruses contribute to the activation of oncoviruses such as cytomegalovirus, herpes virus, and Epstein-Barr virus. Moreover, the more severe the stress, the more active and longer the herpesvirus disease is (Glaser R., Kiecolt-Glaser J., 1994; Godbout J., Glaser R., 2006). Women with a high level of daily stress have a reduced immune response to the human papillomavirus HPV16, which makes them more vulnerable to the development of cervical cancer (Fang C. et al., 2008).
I would like to emphasize that the stressful situation a person faces does not necessarily lead to a decrease in immunity. It is how a person copes with it that matters. "The way we evaluate the problem has a greater impact on the state of immunity than the stress itself," says Susan Blauer-Wu, director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Research Center in Boston. At the same time, those who experience even minor stress but do not control it demonstrate a decrease in immune activity and a greater susceptibility to disease "** (Blauer-Wu S., 2002).
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**What are the practical implications of this for the coronavirus epidemic?
A priori, most elderly people have a weakened immune system. No wonder my teacher, one of the leading gerontologists in the USSR, Academician V. V. Frolkis, developed the concept of "stress-age syndrome." As for the young, if at the time of infection they are in a state of deep chronic stress caused by unhealed psychological trauma or unresolved internal or interpersonal conflicts, and especially if the stress has turned into depression, the chances of a severe course of the disease increase many times over.
### Therefore:
1. If you are in a state of chronic stress or depression, take quarantine with double the seriousness.
2. Use your free time to learn anti-stress techniques - relaxation, meditation, yoga, qigong, etc. There are many courses available online.
3. Work with psychotherapists or psychologists if you cannot cope with stress and fear on your own.
**V. L. Matrenytsky**
