Scientists have discovered that finding positive meaning in life is closely related to one’s health. The more purposeful one’s life is, the stronger one’s immune system.
In 2003, Dr. Julienne Bower led a team of researchers in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences to conduct a bereavement-related disclosure intervention study on 43 females who recently lost their close relatives, mostly mothers, to breast cancer. Their findings were published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. The participants averaged 42 years old. The study lasted for four weeks.
We know that the grief from losing a loved one can cause the release of stress hormones, and decrease immune functions and the body’s ability to fight viruses and cancer. Thus, these participants were at high risk of breast cancer….