HOW YOUR PERSONALITY IMPACTS YOUR HEALTH
Certainly, we need to be aware of genetic predispositions but have you ever wondered why it is that only some children of diabetics develop diabetes and others do not? Have you ever wondered why if high blood pressure or heart disease is a family trait not everyone in the family gets it? It is not coincidence or luck of the draw. It is because of the differences in beliefs and behaviors reflected in the personality styles of different family members.
Regardless of our particular personality style, however, we all have healthy components to our personality that call us to grow, to expand, and to change, becoming more of who we are meant to be. In addition, there are aspects of our personality that call us to be in defense, to emotionally react rather than respond, and to be filled with anger, fear, or sadness rather than healing.
Life happens but that is never your issue. It is not what happens in your life that defines your health but how you react to it. It is your spiritual beliefs, your beliefs of who you are, how you fit in this world, and even where or if you belong, that most impact your health. Those are the filters through which you experience your life. Psychoneuroimmunology, and later Epigenetics, repeatedly show us that your physicality is immensely impacted by your thoughts, and their resultant stress patterns.
Different personalities have different ways of dealing, or not dealing, with stressors. Some folks collapse when challenged, others fight, others over-analyze, and still others avoid dealing with anything that is uncomfortable.
All are consequently predisposed to different diseases and/or disorders because of how they hold or react to their stressors.
Dis-ease begins on the spiritual level, “I will never get a break.” “I’m worthless.” “Life and everyone in it is against me.” If not shifted, it then moves to the emotional level where the message becomes “The stress of the battle is killing me.” “I have never felt so depressed or hopeless.” If that is sustained, it becomes reflected on the physical level, in situations such as cancer, diabetes, or even broken bones. The physical manifestation is only the symptom.
I am sure you have seen that for one person, being laid off can be a relief and permission to finally leave a secure yet hated position while providing an opportunity to come alive – for another, losing the same position is a cause of self-hatred, rage and illusions of victimization. Perception defines the energetic response, which defines the physical experience of ease or dis-ease. Notice the high rate of illness which occurs at the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, or after a crisis such as a major house fire. Coping skills and personality style are the predictors of the consequences.
I received grant funding through a larger Frontier Medicine Grant from NIH to research the W.I.S.E.™ Method, a form of energy medicine which I developed. The funding was used to do a quantitative and qualitative study of Fibromyalgia and the psycho/spiritual beliefs of those who have it. We discovered that these patients shared a spiritual belief that their sole purpose in living was to protect the people they love from all pain, sadness, fear, rejection and more. In lay terms, the “smother mother” tendency could generally be used to describe those suffering from this disorder.