stress and psychoneuroimmunology‏- stress yourself a tumor

This is a very interesting topic; If ou have the time look it up!
I have one article of particular interest Found in the Alternative Journal of Nursing by Madeline M. Lorentz

Here is a summery:

• Stress is a fundamental component of life. It is an unconscious response to a demand and when the demand is perceived as excessive, stress results along with diseases and conditions. Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) has given importance to the relationship between stress and its physiological effects on the body. Scientists in this growing field have discovered that stress modulates the activities of the nervous (pain and feeling), endocrine (hormones), and immune systems.
• The growing field of psychoneuroimmunology was established by scientists who were interested in gaining a better understanding of the interrelationship between the mind and body.showing that stress and the emotional state of an individual may play a significant role in making one vulnerable to diseasesstress modulates the activities of the bodies systems, adversely affecting their functioning to maintain health.
• they predict that disease may actually be a form of stress with physical, as well as psychological aspects. Furthermore, psychoneuroimmunologists postulate that stress may increase the probability of contracting diseases, such as cancers, heart disease, and some autoimmune diseases (body reacts to itself examples; celiac, MS, arthritis, type I diabetes)
• The normal steady state of the human body.s organ and tissue function is termed homeostasis. One significant factor that may cause an upset to homeostasis is stress. Stress is the absence of homeostasis. This can be a cognitive sensory stimulus that comes from outside the body, such as the death of a spouse or a child. It can also be an internal sensory input, or a non-cognitive stress, such as a bacterial infection. Cognitive stress is received by the immune system, which relays this information to the neuroendocrine (nerves and hormones) system.
• When an individual can no longer adapt to a stressor, homeostasis is not maintained. The body cannot continue its normal functions. Stress causes chronic suppression of the immune system, increasing the risk for contracting certain diseases
• The immune system helps to maintain homeostasis within the body. Stress induced alterations in the immune system occur primarily in the spleen, lymph nodes, and lymphoid tissues. However, there are numerous components of the immune system that may be modified by stress hormones. It has been shown that individuals who are under stress are at an increased risk for developing autoimmune diseases. The most common autoimmune diseases related to stress are psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis
• How an individual perceives a stressful event may be more important than the existence of the stress itself. Individuals with high stress levels and excellent coping skills may have minimal effects on the functioning of their immune systems. A low level of stress in individuals who have poor coping skills may have significant alterations in their immune functioning, increasing their susceptibility to disease. The actual amount of stress is not important for determining its effect on the immune system. An individual’s coping skills are the important factor for determining the immune system’s response to stress.
• The physiological pathways that connect the mind and body demonstrate the strong relationship between them and emphasize the mind’s effect on the body. The mind and body continually send messages to each other and it is these messages that produce biological and physiological changes that help determine the health status of an individual. Responses made to these messages may result in either illness or wellness.
• The mind may be referred to as both a healer and slayer because what one thinks, believes or feels can have a definite effect on one’s health. This can result in either a positive or negative outcome. It was found that negative feelings, such as fear, despair, and depression, have a significant effect on the brain and can produce powerful changes in the body’s chemistry. This turns attention to the concept of mind-body healing, whereby the mind can have significant influence on one’s healing.
• Stress is negative when there is a disproportion between what an individual wants or feels capable of doing and the constraints of the environment. This places an excessive amount of pressure and demand on the individual. If this pressure is unrelieved, unmanaged, or chronically experienced, this stress may have deleterious effects on the individual’s health and well-being. Stress is the unconscious response to a demand. Stress becomes a problem when the demand exceeds an individual’s ability to respond or cope effectively.
• Meditation triggers the relaxation response and helps the body relax and calms the mind. It is a mind-body intervention recommended specifically for reducing stress and enhancing the individual’s well-being. There are different methods used for meditating, some includes concentrating on a single thought or word for a set period of time. This helps release distractions from the mind, and consequently, release stress. Thoughts or feelings that may arise and cause stress during meditation are recognized, allowing the individual to have an understanding and acceptance of these thoughts with greater insight. The difference between prayer and meditation is that meditation focuses attention on a thought, and prayer focuses attention on a Higher Being or Higher Power. Like meditation, prayer has been shown to have positive effects on health. It produces positive emotions, which can have a positive impact on the immune system. Also, prayer has been shown to be an effective coping strategy. This helps reduce stress and its effect on one’s health. Skeptics of prayer proclaim that proving the effectiveness of prayer may be beyond current scientific methods. However, whether prayer works as a placebo only or stress is reduced or a disease cured, prayer can still greatly benefit a person.
• Imagery is another mind-body intervention used to alleviate anxiety. It is standard therapy for promoting relaxation in both children and adults. Imagery uses the imagination to cause a change in the physical, emotional, or spiritual characteristics of an individual. Imagery is a hallmark of stress-management programs and is used to promote deep relaxation to help individuals live spiritually.
• Therapeutic touch, this shown to be beneficial not in a sense of curing someone for that implies that the touch is removing all signs and symptoms of a disease. Therapeutic touch refers to facilitating a relationship or a connection between the person’s mind, body, and spirit to promote a state of harmony or peace. This concept supports the concept of mind-body healing. It is believed that all persons are composed of complex fields of various forms of energy. These fields of energy are in constant interaction and exchange with other energy fields. Thus, energy fields change each other because of their interactions with each other. Therapeutic touch channels energy through the hands of one person to the other, resulting in the restoration of balance so the person has the capacity to heal. The person using therapeutic touch essentially is the bridge for transferring this energy.
  
• Humor is also described as a defense mechanism for dealing with stress, some have found humor as very helpful for dealing with their very difficult and stressful problems during times of illness. Using humor has been shown to be very effective for dealing with fear and anxiety