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Is Your Social Life Exciting or Just Making You Sick?

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At one time or another we have all felt stress from dealing with others. It might be a job interview, meeting new people at parties, or anxiety over presenting your ideas at a conference or maybe fear of feeling rejected. Whatever uncomfortable social situation you might find yourself dealing with, chances are it’s negatively affecting your health.

UCLA researchers George Slavich and Shelley Taylor discovered the way your brain responds to social stressors influences your body’s immune system, the body’s defense against infection and disease. Individuals who exhibit greater neural sensitivity to social rejection also exhibit greater inflammatory activity when dealing with socially stressful situations.

The study, published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sought to examine how different people's brains respond to social stress and then relate those responses to human processes that affect human health and well-being.

While some people may adapt to social stress, or even be invigorated by it, others may become so overwhelmed that it leads to chronic inflammation that increases the risk of a variety of disorders, including asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, certain types of cancer, and depression.

“It turns out there are important differences in how people interpret and respond to social situations,” said Slavich, a postdoctoral fellow at the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology and the study’s lead author.

To test the responses, researchers put 54 men and 74 women in awkward social situations. In round one, participants completed the Trier Social Stress Test, which involved preparing and delivering an impromptu speech and performing difficult mental math questions in front of a socially rejecting panel wearing white lab coats. Before and after the exercise, each participant’s mouth was swabbed to test for two key biomarkers of inflammatory activity.

In round two, 31 of the volunteers received MRI brain scans while playing a computerized game of catch with what they believed were two other real people, during which they experience social rejection. During the exercise, the researchers focused on two areas of the brain known to respond to social stress. They then examined how differences in brain activity during social rejection correlated with differences in inflammatory responses.

Previous studies have indicated that stress can affect cancer growth and spread, but the precise biological mechanisms underlying these effects are not well understood. Scientists have suggested the effects of stress on the immune system may, in turn, affect the growth of some cancers.

“This is further evidence of how closely our mind and bodies are connected,” said Dr. Slavich. “We have known for a long time that social stress can increase the risk for disease, but it has been unclear exactly how these effects occur.”

The study raised a new critical question as to why individuals who are sensitive to social rejection also experienced an increase in inflammation.

There are several possible explanations, however the authors focused on a historical perspective. Throughout man’s existence, physical threats have gone hand-in-hand with social threat or rejection. The researchers say inflammation may be triggered in anticipation of a physical injury. During this process, inflammation cytokines—proteins that regulate the immune system—are released in response to impending or actual physical assault to accelerate wound-healing and reduce the risk of infection.

While short-term inflammation is useful in battling an injury, the researchers say chronic inflammation arising from the mere perception of social rejection is not, and in fact, could be putting you at unnecessary increased risk for illness.

Lynette Summerill is an award-winning writer who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition to writing about cancer-related issues, she writes a blog, Nonsmoking Nation, which follows global tobacco news and events.

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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.