The Butterfly Effect of Kindness Stress affects the expression of disease genes… Being kind to others induces positive emotions, lowers the activity of disease genes, and reduces inflammation… “My life is meaningful,” increased happiness, increased social connection, and a sense of security
“Have a sweet snack and stay strong in 2024.”
Recently, a photo of a carefully pressed note written in a child’s handwriting was posted on an online community and became a hot topic. This child, who introduced himself as ‘Child ○○○’, posted candies and chocolates inside the apartment elevator with the message “Happy New Year.” Residents who were moved by the unexpected gift said, ‘It’s a morning that makes me smile!’ He left a reply saying, ‘I was happy.’ One resident even put up a 10,000 won bill, saying it was a New Year’s gift.
During the year-end and New Year holidays, we hear a lot of warm news from all over. A grandmother in her 80s who lived in a small town and donated the money she saved by picking up waste paper, and a couple who sent dozens of pairs of shoes to an orphanage while struggling to repay her debt… . It makes me feel good when I hear news about people going beyond the mindset of ‘I just need to eat well and live well’ and showing kindness and good deeds to others.
Donating a large amount of money or having a great story does not necessarily make it feel special. We often feel more enriched when we can give even small gifts than when we receive them. The warm feelings we feel at this time are even good for our bodies. It is said that being kind to others and acting altruistically can help prevent cancer, dementia, and cardiovascular disease. You might be wondering what on earth kindness has to do with disease prevention, but surprisingly, it’s true. This is because the body and mind are strangely connected.
● Stress is a ‘partner’ with inflammation in the body.
It is easy to understand that the feeling of a warm heart is good for the body when we look at how harmful the opposite state, stress, is to the body. There are countless negative effects of stress on the body, but one of them is causing inflammation. When you are stressed, the amygdala, which is responsible for anxiety in the brain, becomes overactive. The amygdala stimulates the body’s nerve network related to anxiety, which then creates inflammation in the blood vessels. High levels of inflammation in the body mean that there is a high risk of contracting various diseases.
To reveal the relationship between stress and disease, a research team led by Ahmed Tawakol, a professor at Harvard University Medical School, conducted a follow-up study for four years. We recruited 293 healthy adults and periodically measured inflammation and stress levels. As a result, people with high stress levels not only had a high incidence of inflammation, but also had a high incidence of cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and myocardial infarction. The researchers analyzed, “If the observation period is longer, stress may have an effect on cancer and dementia.”
Maybe that’s why the number of people paying attention to their mental health has been increasing recently. Many people use ‘mindfulness’ meditation apps or receive psychological counseling. However, there are activities to take care of your mental health that you can try more easily in your daily life. This is ‘acting kindly’ to others. Being considerate and helpful to others creates positive emotions such as “My life is pretty good” and gives a strong feeling of being connected to other people.
● Effects of doing kind things three times a day
Surprisingly, at this time, the inflammatory response activated by stress weakens. There are 53 genes in our body that cause inflammation and cancer, dementia, and cardiovascular disease. Collectively, this group is called the gene that causes ‘Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA)’ in academic terms. It is easy to understand it as a kind of ‘rogue gene’. Just as the peace of the Earth is threatened when a villain is installed, when the villain gene is activated, inflammation in the body increases and antiviral function decreases. On the contrary, when you act kindly to others, positive emotions arise, which reduces the activity of bad genes and protects your health.
To verify this, Catherine Nelson Coffey, a psychology professor at Arizona State University, recruited 159 adults and conducted an experiment for four weeks. They were divided into four groups, and the first group was given the task of showing large and small acts of kindness to others three times a day. She said to do what you want, when you want, such as inviting an acquaintance over for food, writing a thank-you note, or buying coffee for someone you’re not close to.
The rest were divided into △doing something good only for oneself (getting a massage, etc.), △doing something good for an unspecified number of people (picking up trash on the side of the road, etc.), and △living as usual (control group). Except for the control group, they were asked to do the same thing three times a day for four weeks.
Blood was collected before and after the experiment and the degree of activation of the villain gene was compared. As a result, the level of activation of the villain gene decreased only in the group that showed kindness to others for four weeks. For other groups, the before and after values remained the same or increased only slightly.
●You need to get rid of the thought, “I just need to be good.”
So, would being kind and generous to myself have a similar effect? If I do what I want, such as skipping a class I don’t want to take, eating a sweet dessert that is a calorie bomb, or shopping without hesitation, I will feel better and relieve stress. However, looking at the results of various studies, this is not really the case. In the experiment introduced earlier, the group that did something enjoyable to sleep, such as receiving a massage, three times a day for four weeks did not show any decrease in the activity of the villain gene. Moreover, it is said that the more hedonic pleasure is pursued, the shorter the duration of happiness. This is because guilt arises at the same time and cancels out the joy.
On the other hand, the happiness of people who show kindness to others lasts quite a long time. According to another study by Professor Nelson Coffey’s research team introduced earlier, the group that showed kindness to others had a high happiness index two weeks after the experiment ended. This is the result of a virtuous cycle in which others repay kindness. People in the group who pursued pleasures such as ‘skitting class’ did not feel happy for long. The researchers explained, “It is easy to think that you will be happy if you live the way you want, but you can actually be happier if you are kind to others.”
Similar results were found in a study on Koreans. As a result of a study conducted on 152 adults at Seoul National University’s Happiness Research Center, the level of expression of the villain gene was lower in people who pursued happiness through connecting with others and finding meaning in life than among people who pursued hedonic happiness. Lee Seong-ha, a researcher at Seoul National University’s Happiness Research Center who participated in the study, said, “This trend was more noticeable in the elderly than in the younger generation. Finding meaning in life and establishing good relationships with others can be beneficial to mental and physical health in old age.”
● The key is to feel the ‘meaning of life’
The important factor that affects happiness is not the kindness itself, but rather the feeling that “my life is pretty good” that follows after showing kindness. Additionally, feeling connected to others rather than alone makes you more satisfied with life. There is just one premise. It is spontaneity. This formula works when you exert a positive influence from your heart rather than because someone tells you to do it. ‘Business kindness’ or formal service that you do out of necessity is closer to mental labor.
In fact, people who volunteered for volunteer work had a positive impact on their mind and body. According to a study by Stephen Cole, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine, adults who volunteered as academic mentors for troubled children in first to third grades of elementary school for nine months showed a decrease in the activity of villain genes over time. Not only did I feel that my life was ‘meaningful’ by helping my children adapt to school, but I also had a positive impact by forming good relationships with my children.
Ultimately, being kind and doing good deeds to others creates a sense of happiness and weakens the activity of disease-causing genes that were activated by stress. You don’t necessarily have to do something grandiose. What the participants in the kindness experiment introduced earlier did was simple things like holding the door for someone behind them, giving up their seat on the bus, and leaving a thank you note to a co-worker. Isn’t it amazing that such a small act of kindness can restore a poor psychological state and make the body healthy? How about adding ‘Be kind to others three times a day’ to your New Year’s resolution list? Health of body and mind is never far away.
Reporter Choi Go-ya [email protected]
2024-01-05 16:40:00
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