Science
The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and
psycho/social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This relationship
between our mind, body and soul is crucial to our healing as well as maintaining our health and sense of
wellbeing. Scientists in the field of “psychoneuroimmunology” (PIN) have shown that state of mind
affects one's state of health and that stress suppresses the immune system.
Initial studies began in the early 1980s, and in 2000 psychologist Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, and
immunologist Ronald Glaser, PhD, of the Ohio State University College of Medicine who began to notice
the effect stress had on the body’s ability to fight off disease.1 Since then a flood of studies have been
done and by 2004, Suzanne Segerstrom, PhD, of the University of Kentucky, and Gregory Miller, PhD, of
the University of British Columbia, research has shown that long-term or chronic stress can ravage the
immune system.2 There is significant research to demonstrate the positive effects of “trauma writing”
on the immune system but very little has been done with the creation of art images. Studies in this area
are much needed.3
Scientists in the field of PIN are beginning to research theses sort of questions (www.pnirs.org)
Cancer Risk: What is the interaction between genetic risk for cancer and stress?
Cancer Treatment: Does stress affect ability to recover function from surgery or from
chemotherapy?
Cancer Recurrence: What psychological variables might affect metastases and cancer
recurrence?
No one argues that coping with a life threatening disease illicits extreme stress, producing
overwhelming intense feelings that are difficult to articulate. These vast arrays of complex
feelings are not speech ready but lie festering just below the psyche’s surface. Suppressed
anger, fear, loss of control and even a sense of betrayal can often overcome cancer patients
and their families, resulting in a toxic environment of stress.
The creative process gives symbolic voice to these emotions that consume cancer patients
during these times, enabling them to move past their “normal” known range of expression
into the silent cathartic realm of color, shape, texture, and image. In order to have the
energy for surgery, treatment, recovery, and healing, these confusing feelings need to be
expressed. Creating a Healing Icon® begins this process
1
Glaser, R., Sheridan, J. F., Malarkey, W. B., MacCallum, R. C., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2000). Chronic stress modulates the immune response to a
pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. Psychosomatic Medicine, 62, 804-807.
2
Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of …SC Segerstrom, GE Miller - Psychological bulletin,
2004 - APA AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
3
Disclosure of traumas and immune function: Health implications for psychotherapy. JW Pennebaker, JK Kiecolt-Glaser, R Glaser - Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1988
Sources & Further Reading on Stress and Immune Function
In the early 1980s, psychologist Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, and immunologist Ronald Glaser,
PhD, of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, were intrigued by animal studies that
linked stress and infection. From 1982 through 1992, these pioneer researchers studied medical
students. Among other things, they found that the students' immunity went down every year
under the simple stress of the three-day exam period. Test takers had fewer natural killer cells,
which fight tumors and viral infections. They almost stopped producing immunity-boosting
gamma interferon and infection-fighting T-cells responded only weakly to test-tube stimulation.
Stress Weakens the Immune System American Psychological Association, On Line 2008
“In a classic 1988 study by Pennebaker, Kiecolt-Glaser and Glaser*, 50 healthy undergraduates
were assigned to write about either traumatic experiences or superficial topics for four days in a
row. Six weeks after the writing sessions, students in the trauma group reported more positive
moods and fewer illnesses than those writing about everyday experiences. Furthermore,
improved measures of cellular immune- system function and fewer visits to the student health
center for those writing about painful experiences suggested that confronting traumatic
experiences was physically beneficial.
*Pennebaker, J.W., Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K., & Glaser, R. (1988). Disclosure of trauma and immune
function: Health implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Vol. 56, pp. 239 – 245.
Extending the research to medical patients, in 1999, Joshua Smyth and Arthur Stone and
colleagues at the SUNY at Stony Brook ** assigned patients with asthma and rheumatoid
arthritis either to write about the most stressful event of their live or to write about a neutral
topic. Four months later, asthma patients in the experimental group showed improvements in
lung function and arthritis patients in the experimental group showed a reduction in disease
severity
Open Up! Writing about Trauma Reduces Stress, Aids Immunity American
Psychological Association 2008
**Smyth, J.M., Stone, A.A., Hurewitz, A., & Kaell, A. (1999) Effects of writing about
stressful experience on symptom reduction in patients with asthma or rheumatoid
arthritis. Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 281, pp. 1304 – 9.
Those findings opened the floodgates of research. By 2004, Suzanne Segerstrom, PhD, of the
University of Kentucky, and Gregory Miller, PhD, of the University of British Columbia, had
nearly 300 studies on stress and health to review. Their meta-analysis discerned intriguing
patterns. Lab studies that stressed people for a few minutes found a burst of one type of “first
responder” activity mixed with other signs of weakening. For stress of any significant duration –
from a few days to a few months or years, as happens in real life – all aspects of immunity went
downhill. Thus long-term or chronic stress, through too much wear and tear, can ravage the
immune system.
Stress Weakens the Immune System American Psychological Association, On Line 2008
“A new study led of Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu, From Tel Aviv University’s Department of
Psychology, has shown scientifically that psychological and physiological stress prior to,
during, and after surgery has a biological impact that impairs immune system
functioning….Until now, doctors assumed the immune system was weakened due to tissue
damage and the body’s response to it. A weak immune system is one of the major factors that
promotes cancer metastases after an operations, explains Prof. Ben-Eliyahu. “Timing is
everything after surgery. There is a short window of opportunity about a week after surgery,
when the immune system needs to be functioning maximally in order to kill the timely
remaining bits of tumor tissue that are scattered throughout the body.”
Psychoneuroimmunology: Stress Reduction to Prevent Cancer Recurrence, Medical
News Today February 2008
Further sources & reading on Psychoneuroimmunology and art as healing
Edwards, K.M., Burns V.E., Reynolds, T., Carroll, D., Drayson, M., & Ring, C. (2006). �Acute stress
exposure prior to influenza vaccination enhances antibody response in women. Brain, Behavior, and
Immunity, 20:159-68.
Glaser, R., Sheridan, J. F., Malarkey, W. B., MacCallum, R. C., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2000). Chronic stress
modulates the immune response to a pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. Psychosomatic Medicine, 62,
804-807.
Glaser, R., Robles, T. F., Malarkey, W. B., Sheridan, J. F., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2003). Mild depressive
symptoms are associated with amplified and prolonged inflammatory responses following influenza
vaccination in older adults. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 1009-1014.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., Glaser, R. (1993). Mind and immunity. In: D. Goleman & J. Gurin, (Eds.) Mind/Body
Medicine (pp. 39-59). New York: Consumer Reports.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., & Glaser, R. (2002). Depression and immune function: Central pathways to
morbidity and mortality. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 53, 873-876.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., McGuire, L., Robles, T., & Glaser, R. (2002). Psychoneuroimmunology: Psychological
influences on immune function and health. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 537-547.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., McGuire, L., Robles, T., & Glaser, R. (2002). Psychoneuroimmunology and
psychosomatic medicine: Back to the future. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64, 15-28.
Pressman, S. D., Cohen, S., Miller, G.E., Barkin, A., Rabin, B. S., Treanor, J. J. (2005). Loneliness, Social
Network Size and Immune Response to Influenza Vaccination in College Freshmen, Health Psychology,
24, pages.
Robinson-Whelen, S., Tada, Y., MacCallum, R. C., McGuire, L., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2001). Long-term
Caregiving: What happens when it ends? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 573-584.
Segerstrom, S. C. and Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological Stress and the Human Immune System: A Meta-
Analytic Study of 30 Years of Inquiry. Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 130, No. 4.
Sources on art as healing
Comer S. Arts in hospitals: art and well-being. 1982;92(4786).
Gabriel B, Bromberg E, Vandenbovenkamp J, Walka P, Kornblith A, Luzzatto P. Art therapy with
adult bone marrow transplant patients in isolation: a pilot study. 2001;10(2).
Ziesler A. Art therapy -- a meaningful part of cancer care. 1993;2(2).
Homicki B, Joyce E. Art illuminates patients' experience at the Massachusetts General Hospital
Cancer Center. 2004;9(1).
Glaister J, McGuinness T. The art of therapeutic drawing: helping chronic trauma survivors.
1992;30(5).
Parker M. The healing art of clay: a workshop for remembering wholeness. 1994.
Ferszt G, Heineman L, Ferszt E, Romano S. Transformation through grieving: art and the
bereaved. 1998;13(1).
Natale JA. Art As Healer. 1996.
Lumsdon K. Hospitals recognize link between art and healing. Hospitals. 1992;66(19):68; 70.
Graham-Pole J, Lane M, Kitakis M, Stacpoole L. Creating an arts program in an academic medical
setting. 1994;3(2).
Lane M, Graham-Pole J. Development of an art program on a bone marrow transplant unit.
Cancer Nursing. 1994;17(3).
Garland S, Cook S, Lansdell L, Speca M. A non-randomized comparison of mindfulness-based
stress reduction and healing arts programs for facilitating post-traumatic growth and spirituality
in cancer outpatients. Supportive Care in Cancer 2007;15(8):949-961.
Heiney SP, Darr-Hope H, Howell C. The supportive survivors. Reflections. Fourth Quarter 1999
1999;25(4):14-16.
Heiney SP, Darr-Hope H. Healing Icons: art support program for patients with cancer. Cancer
Practice. 1999 Jul-Aug 1999;7(4):183-189.
Heiney SP, Darr-Hope H, Zaidman L, eds. Sometimes Words are Not Enough. Columbia, SC: South
Carolina Cancer Center; 1998.
Panter B, Panter ML, Virshup E, Virshup B, eds. Creativity and Madness – Psychological Studies
of Art and Artists. 3rd ed. Burbank, CA: Aimed Press, American Institute of Medical Educatin;
1995, 2006.