The immunological effects of thought suppression.
Individuals often suppress emotional thoughts, particularly thoughts that arouse negative emotions, as a way of regulating mood and reducing distress. However, recent work has highlighted the complexities and unexpected cognitive and physiological effects of thought suppression. In a study designed to examine the short-term immunological effects of thought suppression, participants wrote about either emotional or nonemotional topics with or without thought suppression. Blood was drawn before and after each experimental session on 3 consecutive days. Results showed a significant increase in circulating total lymphocytes and CD4 (helper) T lymphocyte levels in the emotional writing groups. Thought suppression resulted in a significant decrease in CD3 T lymphocyte levels. The implications of the results for the role of the expression and suppression of emotion in health are discussed.
Petrie
K J
KJ
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand. kj.petrie@auckland.ac.nz
Booth
R J
RJ
Pennebaker
J W
JW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D011598:Psychoneuroimmunology; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*