It is done so with the help of the Psychological Immune System. Like the name suggest, it acts somewhat like the immune system we are will familiar with.
| Physical Immune System | Psychological Immune System |
| Fights off viruses and protects the physical body from illnesses such as the cold | Fights off extreme emotions and protects the “psychological body” from illnesses such as depression |
This is how it works.
When an individual experiences an event that brings about extreme emotions, the Psychological Immune System kicks in. It helps to reduce the intensity of emotions experienced due to the event, by ignoring, transforming, or constructing information. This process of emotional recovery is automatic and requires a period of time, but it is much faster than one would expect.
Example
For example, dropping your phone and smashing it would be considered an event that would evoke extreme negative emotions to many people. Especially if the phone had not been backed up, causing you to lose all the data within that phone. It is likely that you will feel devastated or helpless or furious. The Psychological Immune System would kick in to help you cope with your emotions surrounding that event. At first, it might be devastating to talk about how you dropped your phone, but after a few days or a week or so, you might find yourself even joking about how the phone just slipped off your hands.
However, if you scratched your new phone slightly, the Psychological Immune System would not kick in. This is because no extreme emotions were experienced. You might be upset over the scratch, but it is not devastated. As such, you might find yourself still feeling upset over the scratch even after many days or weeks.
Therefore, we can start trusting the natural process and be willing to take up any challenges or be courageous to take risks. Trust our body that even though there might be extreme emotions which are undesirable, they will be temporary because you have a Psychological Immune System that will take care of it and protect you from emotional harm.
You don’t want to take up small challenges or risks to only end up with just mild negative emotions. It is because these emotions are likely to last over a longer period of time, which may cause more harm in the long run.
Sources:
1. Edward P. Sarafino & Timothy W. Smith, Health psychology: Biopsychosocial interactions, 9th edition
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