Anyone out there experiencing a strange and stressful year?

The prototypical human reaction to stress is the fight or flight response, a cascade of changes that happen in our bodies to give us the best chance of survival when short term stressors pose a threat to our wellbeing. A fight or flight response is perfectly appropriate for short term stress or immediate threats but takes a toll on our bodies and our immune systems when the stressors are prolonged. For people living with autoimmune diseases, severe or chronic stress can be contributing factors, making the person’s disease symptoms worse, or in the case of MS, sometimes instigating a relapse.

An alternative behavior to survive stress is the tend and befriend response. This is about nurturing and caretaking our loved ones and ourselves and creating supportive communities to ensure our survival during challenging times.

Considering stress and autoimmunity, these different responses have parallels within the human body. But in the case of autoimmunity, we want to stop the fight, because immune signaling has gone wrong, and during times of stress, the autoimmune person starts to fight harder…against themselves. Also, we can’t take flight, because the process is going on inside our own bodies, and we can’t run away from it.

What we can and should do when faced with ongoing stress is to actively participate in tend and befriend behaviors, nurturing ourselves, our homes, and our close communities, by leaning into wellness activities and our support systems. This helps us withstand challenging times as well as possible, and actively tamps down the stress response that can provoke autoimmunity.

This winter is likely to be a trying time for most people, for many reasons. As the weather gets colder, the days darker and the pandemic continues, we will stay inside more, move less, get less sunshine and spend even less time socializing. This situation is a challenge for the human spirit as well as for our stress response.

Despite long, cold, dark winters, Denmark is among the happiest countries in the world. Ingrained in their culture are tend and befriend habits known as Hygge, focusing on the art of coziness, building intimacy and trust, and taking pleasure in the simple things. Intentionally bringing Hygge into our lives is a tend and befriend wellness strategy to withstand this winter with more grace and happiness, and less stress. Hygge is more of a feeling than any particular action or object. What counts as Hygge is open to your own interpretation. Be sure to follow us on Facebook for your Hygge tips from Dr. Deneb Bates throughout the upcoming winter months!