Is there any relation between fear and disease?

Fear

Q. Is there any relation between fear and disease?

A. There is no doubt that fear, worry and other depressing emotions-anxiety, sorrow, apprehension, pain and suspense are active causes in producing disease. Doctor Jensen, an eminent London physician, by careful analysis of the symptoms resulting from these depressing emotions, has discovered that their effects are sim­ilar to those resulting from severe surgical shock. The blood vessels of the intestines be­come paralyzed, the blood accumulates in these parts, robbing the brain and other vital organs of their natural blood supply and so producing mental inefficiency, shortness of breath and a general condition resembling fatigue. This distension of the blood vessels of the intestine encour­ages the absorption of the poisons generated  the intestine, while at the same time increasing the production of poisons by impairing the di­gestive functions. The extreme dryness of the mouth which usually accompanies a state of fear is strong evidence of the correctness of Doctor Jensen's theory, being due to the fact that the general tissues of the body including the sali­vary glands are robbed of their normal blood supply and drained of their fluids which are accumulated to an extraordinary degree in the abdominal organs. This theory accounts for the well-known fact that the milk of a nursing woman is made poisonous to the infant by an outburst of anger or a severe fright.

The fact that fear and other depressing emo­tions produce these physical changes in the body emphasizes the great importance of elimi­nating this cause of disease and especially in the protection of sick persons against its malig­nant influence by optimistic suggestion and through encouragement and cheerful surround­ings.