Immunize yourself against belief in contagion
Each year as colder weather approaches, the media signal the upcoming change of season with a change in warnings about seasonal health fears—from summer, where we’re supposed to worry about food poisoning at picnics, to fall, when we are told to be on the defense against colds and the flu. One news story details how to help your children stay germ free when going back to school. The other stirs up fears about anticipated shortages of flu vaccine. In keeping with social beliefs about viruses as the cause of such illness, the advice these stories offer about avoiding colds and flu centers on micromanaging the physical events of life: wash your hands often, avoid contact with others, share nothing that could carry germs, eat well, get more sleep, and make sure you get a flu shot.
However, if you pay the slightest bit of attention to life as it happens, you will notice that following the health rules intended to protect you from germs does not result in invulnerability, but instead promotes paranoia. You lay your hand on any public surface and hope you can remember not to touch your face. You worry about getting through the flu season unscathed. You spend more time washing your hands than Lady Macbeth. This worry contributes to undermining your immune functions, according to scientific studies, setting you up for exactly what you fear.
Those microorganisms we call germs are literally everywhere, yet most of us stay healthy most of the time. This should be a heartening sign that we are not vulnerable to everything that "goes around." But the public health message persistently pushes the opposite point of view: you are always vulnerable and only constant vigilance can protect you. The truth is, no matter how diligent you are about dodging germs you can still end up with microbe-borne ailments.
Even flu shots won’t protect you from getting flu—unless you really believe they will. And it's hard to believe that because the companies peddling flu shots make sure you are aware that the current year’s flu vaccine is just science’s best guess about what will end up "going around." Along with your injection of invulnerability, you get injected with the belief that you can never feel completely safe.
Why is flu is a winter phenomenon? Is it just because we huddle together in enclosed places more, giving the germs a better shot at us? Why would a crowded mall in the summer seem to be a more wholesome environment than a crowded mall in the winter? And why is it that little children can lead their messy, not particularly sanitary lives with healthy impunity all summer, but fall prey to illness once they go back to school? If germs are everywhere—and they are—what is it that makes us vulnerable to them at certain times?
Well, lowered immunity, of course. At least that’s what we learned in school. According to conventional wisdom, you become vulnerable to illness when you get too tired, or too cold, or cold and wet, or don’t eat right, or get "run down" due to doing too much combined with all of the above. But do these factors only coalesce in the fall as school starts or in the winter as "flu season" cranks up?
Scientific studies show that feeling stressed lowers the immune system. While being cold, hungry, wet, and tired could be experienced as stressful, how you react to the ups and downs of life is the stressor you should be most interested in recognizing and addressing.
Worrying about germs is stressful. Feeling anxious and vulnerable because of a potential flu vaccine shortage is stressful. Going back to school is often stressful after the relaxing free fall of summer. Events associated with the various winter holidays that bring families together can lead to feeling stressed. And having to slog through the dark and cold to a job you might not love can feel stressful.
But remember, none of these things in and of themselves are stressful. It’s how you think about them, talk to yourself about them, and deal with them that lead to feelings of stress. And the way you deal with the events of your life is the result of habits of attitude and thinking. The good news is that those habits can be changed. You can learn a more optimistic thinking style that makes you feel more confident, competent, and in control. You can learn to relax and take life’s transitions and uncertainties more in stride. That, not washing your hands, is what protects you from germs.
Here's some mind-body vaccine
Banish the concept of "flu season" from your vocabulary. If the power of suggestion affects you—and it does—it might be more useful to tell yourself that winter is the season of cultivating inner resources.
One of the principles of mind-body health is, "You get what you concentrate upon." Science backs that up by research showing that those who fear germs tend to spread germs. A telling study revealed that individuals who most diligently wiped down surfaces in kitchen and bathrooms had spread germs everywhere. Develop a deep and calm understanding that peaceful coexistence with microorganisms is a normal part of everyday life and nothing to be in a flap about. (Do not present this to your significant other as justification for never again cleaning the bathroom or refrigerator.) As Louis Pasteur said on his deathbed, "It’s not the seed; it’s the soil." What this means to you is that the power is not in the "germ" but in the conditions it finds in the body it visits.
Science also suggests that obsessively avoiding germs may contribute to increased vulnerability because your body doesn’t get to build up immunity by meeting and vanquishing the enemy. Enhance your immune system by noticing that your daily peregrinations through phalanxes of unseen microbes are usually without incident. You are stronger than dirt.
Another study infected students with cold viruses and found that students with the greatest number of social contacts were least likely to get colds. Having fun with others seems to confer health benefits. Winter could be about finding new ways to enjoy life, rather than a time for sinking into a television-induced torpor. Use your imagination. Conscript your friends to help you invent immune-enhancing fun for the darker, shorter days and longer nights.
In a nutshell, the mind-body theory about contagion is that the germs you encounter during times of change have little to do with your health. Transitions can be experienced as invigorating, interesting challenges or as chaotic, stress-inducing, worrisome hassles. Choosing to regard life as an adventure works better than a flu shot for keeping you healthy. And it’s infectious. Start spreading the idea now.