3562: [Part 2] Want to Feel Sicker Than You Really Are? Follow These 6 Tips by Sabrina of Budding Optimist on Mind-Body Connection

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[00:01:01] This is Optimal Health Daily. Want to feel sicker than you really are? Follow these six tips, part two, by Sabrina of buddingoptimist.com, and I'm Dr. Neal Malik. Hey there, and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I simply read to you from the best health and fitness blogs for free. I cover fitness, nutrition, stress management, weight management, and more, just like an audiobook, but from a bunch of different authors, and always with permission from the sites.

[00:01:30] And, on Wednesdays, I'd like to share a little bit of inspiration with you. So, with that, here we go. Quote, The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done. Arnold Palmer Now, before we get to it, today's post is part two from yesterday. So, if you're new here or are skipping around, I'd recommend listening to yesterday's episode first.

[00:01:54] But, if you're all caught up, let's jump right in here, part two, and continue optimizing your life. Want to feel sicker than you really are? Follow these six tips, part two, by Sabrina of buddingoptimist.com. Four, focus on the worst outcome of your illness.

[00:02:17] If you truly want to feel as sick as you can possibly feel, ignore all possibilities of a good outcome for your illness, even if the chances are pretty high. Only focus on the worst outcome. Who cares if it might happen only 1% of the time? For example, the first time I had leukemia, my hematologist gave me a 60% cure rate as my prognosis. Instead of looking at it as a 60% chance of success, I looked at it as a 40% chance of failure.

[00:02:46] Even though a voice inside my head was telling me, Look, the possibility of a cure is greater than the possibility of relapse, I brushed it aside and only listened to the voice that said, 40% is freaking high. That's what you need to be doing if you want to feel knots in your stomach all the time. Concentrate your thoughts on the worst outcome, no matter how irrational or unlikely it may seem. This is called catastrophizing. It creates feelings of anxiety, self-pity, and hopelessness.

[00:03:16] It can even immobilize you from moving forward towards your goals in life. Speaking from first-hand experience, catastrophizing works wonders at bogging us down. There were days where I would spend all of my waking time ruminating about the future of this disease. With my eyebrows furrowed and my shoulders slumped, I did nothing but sit there for hours on end, my mind lost in a maze of negative thoughts. Eventually, I even had a panic attack.

[00:03:43] So, if you really want to crawl into bed, hide under the covers, and feel like you're the sickest human being on earth, I urge you to go ahead and give catastrophizing a try. 5. Limit contact with supportive friends Are there people who are genuinely concerned about you and want to be there for you? Don't talk to them, or at least try to limit your interactions with them. I'm warning you, they will deter you from your goal of feeling sicker than you really are.

[00:04:10] When they ask if they can come over to see you with your favorite dish in hand, and maybe take you out for a nice walk in the park if you're up for it, just say you're too tired. Perhaps next time. Then, don't return their calls or texts, no matter how tempting it is. Better yet, change your number. Because if you want to feel sicker than you really are, first you will need to cultivate the feeling of loneliness. Loneliness, according to John T. Cacioppo, an award-winning psychologist at the University of Chicago,

[00:04:39] can raise our levels of stress hormones and lead to an increase in inflammation. Stress hormones, as I talked about earlier, are terrible for our health. It's no wonder, then, that social isolation increases our risks for illness and early death by approximately 30%. I went through a period where I felt extremely isolated. For almost two years after my bone marrow transplant in 2009, I had to stay away from crowded places due to a lowered immunity.

[00:05:06] While the social lives of all my friends were that of typical 21-year-olds, my social life was pathetically close to non-existent. I remember feeling jealous when my partner, now my spouse, went out and had a good time with their friends. I remember feeling left out, almost betrayed, when I saw my friends posting pictures of their social activities on Facebook. The loneliness cut so deep, it hurt. Those were some of the darkest days of my life. Physically, I was on the mend,

[00:05:36] but emotionally, I was deteriorating each and every day. Things gradually improved after I started going back to university, but it still took some time for me to shake off the feeling of loneliness and feel like I was connected with others again. It was a long journey for me to get back to feeling emotionally healthy. The lesson I learned from this experience is that the level of our social connectedness plays a key role in our well-being. The more connected we feel to the people around us,

[00:06:04] the happier and healthier we'll be. On the other hand, the more isolated we feel, the more stressed and sick we'll be. So if the latter is what you're looking for, then you must keep your distance from supportive friends. And six, have people do everything for you. You want to feel sicker than you really are, right? Then take my advice. Don't lift a finger. Just have people do everything for you.

[00:06:31] Spread yourself out as wide as you can on a bed or a couch or a carpeted floor and just tell people what you want. In a few days, your limbs will feel like overcooked spaghetti. You'll feel lethargic, lightheaded, and maybe even sore. This is a good sign that you've done it. You've achieved the goal of feeling sicker than you really are. Remember that lengthy hospital stay I told you about earlier? When I was finally given the okay from the doctors to leave the hospital for one day, something I had been begging for for days,

[00:07:01] I came back to my hospital bed within 15 minutes. I couldn't even walk a block down the street without holding on to someone, gasping for breath. I felt like a giant marshmallow, all mushy and fragile, wading through a thick marsh of hot chocolate. How did I get from being relatively fit, I'd even tried out for a dragon boat racing team just weeks before my diagnosis, to this? Sure, I was battling a serious illness, but most of it was my own doing.

[00:07:28] I had lost all my muscle strength by practically living in the hospital bed for a month. Why? Not because I was so physically ill I had to stay in bed, but because I was, well, um, lazy. That's right, lazy. L-A-Z-Y. I had learned very quickly after being diagnosed with my illness that people were eager to do things for you. You want a glass of milk? Sure, let me warm that up for you. You need another blanket? Sure, let me get that for you.

[00:07:58] It was so easy to just lay there and do nothing, while people, family, friends, nurses, went out of their way to get whatever I asked for. A part of me even enjoyed the attention. I happily parked myself in that bed and did nothing but watch television all day, every day, under the guise of resting. But there was a consequence to too much resting. I gained 15 pounds in the span of a month and went from a driven, vibrant university student

[00:08:27] to a needy, frail patient who struggled with some of life's simplest tasks like taking a shower. I was tired and achy all the time. I had difficulty sleeping. It got to the point where I had to ask whomever was the nurse on duty for sleeping aids every night so that I could fall asleep. And Benadryl was my drug of choice. I learned later that too much resting is bad for you. Our bodies are designed to move and when we don't move enough,

[00:08:55] negative effects known as deconditioning of the body can seriously impair our health. Our muscles waste away, we get fatigued more easily and we're at an increased risk for depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances. Sounds like everything you would possibly want when dealing with an illness, right? If you want to feel better, try these habits instead. If your goal isn't to feel sicker than you really are, then you have to ditch the six habits I discussed and do the following.

[00:09:24] Dress in clothes that reflect your personality and identity. Try your best to stick to a normal routine. Adopt a problem-solving mindset instead of complaining. Focus on the positive outcome. Surround yourself with supportive people. And do as much as you can yourself to maintain independence. If you do these, I promise you will feel better in no time.

[00:09:55] You just listened to part two of the post titled, Want to Feel Sicker Than You Really Are? Follow these six tips by Sabrina of buddingoptimist.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. Shaq here. What's it like to buy a car from Carvana 100% online and get it delivered to your door? Let me tell you. Your car is here, Mr. Shaq. Thank you, Mr. Carvana guy. Can't wait to take it for a spin. Only the best for you, Mr. Shaq. Hey, have you always been so big, tall and handsome? Not always.

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[00:10:52] And discover custom playlists on Spotify, built just for you based on who you are and how you listen. Live your story with Coach. Learn more at coach.com. Dr. Neal Malik here with my commentary. In today's article, Sabrina discussed the importance of staying social. Neuroscientists, those that like studying the brain, spinal cord, and nerves throughout the body, have found that social connectedness actually changes brain chemistry.

[00:11:21] After conducting brain scans, neuroscientists are finding that feeling more socially connected makes the reward centers in the brain light up. On the other hand, when we feel socially isolated, these reward centers in the brain dim, making us feel less happy. So there seems to be an actual biological reason for us to keep up with our social connections. Oh, and being connected only through social media may not be enough.

[00:11:49] A recent meta-analysis found that increased social media use also increased feelings of anxiety and depression. So maybe instead of liking someone's social media post, we invite them to grab a cup of coffee or a bite to eat and reconnect in person instead. All right. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening every day. I hope you're having a great week. And of course, I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.