Body. Mind relationship

1. BODY MIND
RELATIONSHIP
TARUN MUDGAL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
NIMS NURSING COLLEGE
NIMS UNIVERSITY

2. INTRODUCTION
The mind–body relationship can be defined as the connection between
one’s behavior and thoughts and the effect it has on their physical
health. Though it is common understanding that our thoughts affect
our bodies, we are starting to realize now that our thoughts may also
influence our overall health.
The biopsychosocial model is a system that considers how various
factors and attributes like biology, psychology and one’s socio-
environmental surroundings can affect one’s health. This unit will
discuss the physiological theories of personal identity. It will also
analyze the importance of the mind–body relationship in
psychotherapy.

3. WHAT IS MIND
 Thinkers who assume that
 Mind and body are two independent entities
 Describe mind as something intangible
 Something different from “matter” and “body” which is
concrete and tangible
 Mind and body are interrelated and intrect upon each other
 They are two aspects of living dynamic and adjusting
personality
Hence mind is regarded as a function of body ; it
doesn’t exist apart from the body

4. Mind is the sum total of various mental process such as thinking,
reasoning, knowing, observing, imaging, judging, remembering,
feeling, and wishing .
If we take away these mental processes no mind is left, just no
chair is left , if we take away its back ,seat, arms and legs.
Our mind grows just as our body grows
It becomes more complex with advancing years
In other words our mental processes become richer and more
complex day by day
Therefore mind is another name for these mental
processes and activities .

5. Conscious
Pre-conscious
Unconscious

6.  The modern psychologist believes that the human mind
includes much more than conscious mental processes
 There are preconscious and unconscious processes besides
conscious processes and all three constitute our mind
must be noted however, that mind is one and is a unity.
It functions at three levels:-
 At one level, we are aware of our mental processes; this is
the conscious .
 At another level, we are not aware of our mental processes,
this gives us the unconscious.
 At yet another level, we are not conscious of our mental
processes at a certain time but were aware of them before
and can again be aware of them, if we try. This is our
preconscious.

7.  Conscious processes are described as the attending to
something, observing , thinking reasoning , judging ,
imagining are conscious mental processes or the
functions of the conscious .
 Preconscious mental processes are also called
subconscious mental processes.
 Preconscious are those of which you were aware
before and which can be recollected with efforts. At
this moment they are just below the margin of
consciousness.
 Thus they can become conscious
 The difference between conscious processes and
preconscious processes is that in the latter the
attribute of consciousness is temporarily missing

8.  The unconscious processes constitute the unconscious, also
called the unconscious mind.
 It is the processes of which we are totally unaware and which
are incapable of becoming conscious unless special methods
of psychoanalysis are used These processes lie buried deep in
the hidden recesses of our mind, very much below the level of
consciousness.
 Sigmund freud and his earliest followers karl jung and
Gerhard Adler strongly advocated the existence of the
unconscious which could be understood and known through
psychoanalysis.
 The unconscious includes all forgotten past experiences our
repressed wishes and desires, our fears and phobias for which
we do not know the reasons or the reasons for our eccentric
likes and dislikes.

9.  Many of these unconscious mental processes appear
in, and cause our dreams, slips OF pen or tongue .
 They cause abnormal behavior in the form of neurons
and psychoses
Analysis of conscious mental phenomena :-
Analysis of any conscious experience will show that it
consists of three distinct mental processes these are :
 Knowing
 Feeling
 Wishing and striving
For instant listening to a class lecture

10. People understand the meanings of words and thus know
certain facts and are learning them .
People are also feeling pleased or displeased with the lecture,
and are enjoying it or being annoyed with it.
Lastly they may wish that the lecture may be continued or that
it may be changed or stopped
We have seen how our mind works at the three different levels
Psychology studies human behavior which involves both body
and mind .
They act on each other.
Mental functions and physical states affect each other . This is
the modern view called interactionism .
Our nervous system and glands are responsible to a great
extent for our ways of thinking feeling and wishing

11. Let us take a few example of conditions affecting mental
functioning in a normal healthy person:-
1. it is observed that an increase in blood pressure
leads to mental overactivity .
2. Fatigue of the body makes concentration difficult
Constipation can cause irritability and depression.
3. Excessive thyroid activity leads to mental restlessness
and over excitability whereas undersecretion of the
same gland leads to dull lethargy of mind and body
4. It has been observed that septic tonsils and adenoids
often weaken concentration and the power of
understanding

12.  Our mind, too, affects our bodily functions or physical
states :-
1. The mind motivates all physical and motor activities .
2. Our emotions and strong feelings (mental states )
affec the body inwardly and outwardly.
3. Unpleasant emotions such as fear, anger and worry
cause headaches, insomnia indigestion etc.
4. Emotional conflicts are responsible for various
neurotic illnesses such as hysteria, gastrointestinal
troubles like peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis or
flatulence.
5. Deep thinking and concentration can cause physical
fatigue

13. The mind or the mental processes are always found
connected to a body but they are more intimately connected
with the brain or cortical processes.
This can be understood by the following observation. The
more intelligent animals have better developed brain
.Humans are better thinkers and have greater powers of
imagination then lower animals their brains are also the
most developed
If our brain is injured or diseased our mental processes
suffer. Many brain damaged persons can't think logically or
perceive accurately,
Our nerves carry the impulse of the bodily changes to the
brain and then alone does mental process take place.
When we experience a pin prick our nerves carry the
message to thr brain and the mental experience of the pain
is felt

14. The new trends in medicine which recognizes the body mind
relationship focuses on treatment that is directed to both the
sources of illness the emotions ( the mental factor) and the
body.
Stress causes the immune system to be less effective and less
likely to resist disease.
Mind body intervention can be effective in the treatment of
coronary artery disease.
These therapies (eg. imagery, hypnosis, relaxation ) when
used before surgery, may improve recovery time and reduce
pain following surgical procedures
Psychological interventions have been found to be effective
in improving the mood, quality of life and reducing disease
and treatment related symptoms, such as chemotherapy
induced nausea vomiting and pain in the case of cancer