The quest for health and longevity has always been a focal point of human endeavor and research. Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn once highlighted a crucial aspect of longevity: emotional balance. To live to be a hundred, proper diet accounts for 25 percent, other factors account for another 25 percent, and emotional balance plays a significant role, accounting for 50 percent. But what exactly does “emotional balance” mean, and how can we achieve it?
The impact of stress hormones
Stress hormones can damage the body, and treating the “heart” comes before treating an illness. Psychological research has found that when a person is extremely angry, the stress hormones produced by the body are enough to kill a mouse. Therefore, stress hormones are also known as “toxic hormones.”
When a person is happy, the brain secretes dopamine and other beneficial hormones. These hormones relax the mind, produce pleasure, and create a comfortable state of body and mind, allowing the body’s various functions to coordinate, balance, and promote health.
Applying emotional balance in practice
Modern medicine has found that 65 to 90 percent of human diseases, such as arteriosclerosis, hypertension, peptic ulcers, and irregular menstruation, are related to psychological suppression. These diseases are called psychosomatic diseases. If a person is restless, angry, or tense all day, causing stress hormone levels to remain high for a long time, the body’s immune system will be suppressed and destroyed, and the cardiovascular system will become particularly fragile due to long-term overwork.
It is said that a farmer in Georgia lived to be 132 years and 91 days old. When she was 130 years old, a reporter asked her the secret to her longevity, and she replied: “First is a harmonious family.” Two psychology professors in the United States, after 20 years of research, found that interpersonal relationships rank first among the decisive factors affecting longevity. They said interpersonal relationships might be more important than fruits and vegetables, regular exercise, and regular check-ups. These four words are the key to determining whether a person lives a long life.
Humans are social animals, living in interpersonal relationships. Psychologist Abraham Maslow summarized human needs into five categories from low to high: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, respect needs, and self-actualization needs. Except for physiological needs, all are related to interpersonal relationships. When these needs are met, happiness is achieved!
New research shows that having a strong sense of purpose is beneficial to health because whether there is a pursuit in life determines a person’s mentality, which in turn, determines their physical condition. The blood vessels of people who think frequently are often relaxed, preserving brain cells and preventing premature brain aging.
Scientists have also found that when the brain is active, it sends more glucose to the areas that need it most. In quiet times, the glucose utilization rate in the brains of the elderly is lower than that of young people, but when the brain is active, the glucose obtained in the most active areas of the brain is not lower than that of young people. Therefore, using the brain can promote brain metabolism and delay aging.
Helping others: a remedy for depression
Researchers have found that providing material help to others can reduce the mortality rate by 42 percent; providing emotional support can reduce the mortality rate by 30 percent. Helping others has a medical effect because being kind to others and doing good deeds often creates an indescribable sense of joy and pride, reducing stress hormones and promoting the secretion of beneficial hormones. Epidemiologists even say that developing the habit of helping others is a good way to prevent and treat depression.
Interpersonal relationships are a decisive factor in determining longevity. So how do we establish harmonious interpersonal relationships? Guan Zhong said: “Welcoming others with kindness is like welcoming a brother; welcoming others with malice is like harming soldiers.”
The relationships and reactions between people are like echoes in the mountains. “If you are kind,” the echo will be “kind”; “if you are evil,” the echo will be “evil.” Some people have poor interpersonal relationships solely because of their constant conflicts with others.
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