According to scientists, the effects of time on physical recovery are inextricably linked to psychological experiences with time.
According to a new study, a person’s sense of time can either accelerate or slow physical healing, indicating a strong relationship between the mind and body in terms of health.
Harvard University researchers said the findings call into question established medical thinking about the impact of psychological factors on physical health outcomes.
Decades of research into psychological influences on physical health, such as the placebo effect (the delivery of inactive medication), has resulted in major advancements in therapies for a wide range of disorders. Mindfulness and cognitive behaviour therapy are also being studied as treatment options for chronic pain.
The new study looked at how time affects physical recovery and how the mental sense of time influences that effect.
In the study, Harvard University researchers utilized a standardised process to lightly bruise volunteer volunteers and influence their perception of time in the lab.
Cupping Therapy
Participants were subjected to cupping therapy, which involves creating a localised suction on the skin with cups, causing the enlargement of blood vessels beneath the skin and resulting in bruising after treatment. Cupping was not employed for therapeutic purposes in the study, but rather to remove incidental marks left on the skin following treatments.
Each study participant then went through three experimental conditions: slow time (half of real-time), normal time (the same as real-time), and rapid time (double the rate of real-time).
Participants spent the identical amount of real-time (28 minutes), but the perceived time in two of the circumstances was varied using a manipulated timer, resulting in a perceived duration that was half (14 minutes) for one set of subjects and twice (56 minutes) for others.
Researchers discovered that wounds healed faster in those who believed more time had passed, and slower in participants who believed less time had elapsed.
“Compared to a control condition, in which perceived time and actual time were equal, we found that experimentally induced wounds healed faster when participants believed more time had passed, and slower when they believed less time had passed, even though the actual elapsed time was always the same,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
“Our results demonstrate that the effect of time on physical healing is inseparable from the psychological experience of time,” the researchers wrote.
Until date, traditional wisdom thought that psychological effects only have an indirect effect on health, primarily via influencing behavior.
According to academics, the recent findings demonstrate yet another example of a direct mind-body relationship in human health.
“Perceptions, expectations, beliefs, and so on are reflected throughout the mind-body and necessarily shape biological and physiological processes,” the researchers wrote.
They stated that more research was required to understand the underlying mechanisms and larger implications of their findings.
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