In May 1796, Dr Edward Jenner created the world’s first successful vaccine. He observed that people infected with cowpox were not susceptible to the deadly disease smallpox. Jenner believed that he could use this to protect people from smallpox.
To test his theory, he took a sample from a cowpox sore on a milkmaid’s hand and used it to inoculate a young boy. Two months later, he exposed the same boy to smallpox and proved that he was resistant to it.
Shortly after, the term “vaccine” – taken from “vacca”, the Latin word for cow – was coined.
This was a major step in our understanding of the immune system, and it proved that the body could be trained to protect itself against illness.
Most people understand this concept of immunity and recognise that we can be inoculated against disease. But you may not realise that your brain also has its own immune system of sorts.
Developing your “mental immunity” can help you to be more resilient during difficult times, reduce your overall stress levels, and improve your critical thinking skills.
Read on to learn what mental immunity is and how you could potentially boost yours.
Mental immunity improves your ability to handle negative emotions and think critically
The body is exposed to all kinds of bacteria and viruses in your everyday life. It is the job of the immune system to filter out and protect you against anything that could be harmful to you.
Your “psychological immune system” is a series of processes that protects your brain in much the same way.
The brain processes a constant stream of outside information and internal thoughts and feelings. Some of those ideas or thoughts are positive and enrich your life, while others are negative.
For instance, feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression can quickly become overwhelming if you don’t manage them. Fortunately, you can take steps to build your mental immunity, making you better able to bounce back from negative emotions and remain positive.
Conversely, if you have a weak psychological immune system, you may find that you are unable to handle stress and difficult life events.
Additionally, mental immunity affects the way that we analyse information. As a result, if you have high levels of mental immunity, you are normally less susceptible to misinformation. You will likely have better critical thinking skills too.
This could mean that you are less likely to fall victim to financial scams online, or listen to unregulated advice, for example.
Psychological antibodies boost your mental immunity
When you contract an illness, your immune system develops antibodies to fight it off. In the future, your body “remembers” how to eradicate the disease, so you are better protected against it.
This is precisely what Dr Edward Jenner observed when he noticed that people with cowpox were not susceptible to smallpox.
Your brain uses “psychological antibodies” in a similar way, to protect you against negative emotions.
There are many different types of psychological antibodies including:
- Positive thought patterns
- Goal orientation
- Problem-solving capabilities
- Impulse control
- Emotion control.
By developing these psychological antibodies, you can train your brain and increase your levels of mental immunity. As a result, you may find it easier to deal with the various challenges that life throws at you.
3 ways to develop your mental immunity
There are several ways that you can nurture psychological antibodies and improve your mental immunity.
1. Practise optimism
Whenever you face a difficult situation, it is easy to think negatively about it and focus on the worst-case scenario.
However, if you can take a different approach and remain optimistic, you can develop positive thought patterns and learn to control your emotions.
The current cost of living crisis is a good example of how you can put this into practice because you may be likely to focus on rising costs and how this could cause financial difficulty. Instead, try to focus on the fact that you have a robust financial plan in place to protect you against situations like this.
You may find that you feel more confident and less stressed as a result. Additionally, you may be more likely to adopt the same mindset in similar situations in the future.
2. Set clear goals
Having clear goals in life helps you improve your mental immunity in several ways. Firstly, it allows you to see the bigger picture when you face difficulties in life. This is beneficial because, when you can see that you are still able to reach your overall goals, short-term challenges may be less likely to cause stress.
Further to this, goals can help you think critically about information you receive. This is especially true when making decisions about your wealth. If you receive an investment tip or a warning about market fluctuations, for instance, you can think objectively about whether this will affect your goals or not.
Ultimately, this makes it easier to filter out bad information and focus on your own long-term financial plan.
3. Find new challenges
Throwing yourself into new challenges is an excellent way to develop many of the important traits that support mental immunity.
These could be professional challenges such as taking on more responsibility at work, or personal challenges such as engaging in new hobbies.
Often, these new challenges give you an opportunity to develop your problem-solving skills. You also expose yourself to potentially stressful situations, but in a controlled way. Consequently, you can build mental immunity in the same way that exposing yourself to a controlled dose of a disease builds physical immunity.
Get in touch
Strengthening your mental immunity could help you make more informed decisions about your wealth. If you still need some extra guidance, we can support you.
Please get in touch to find out how our team of VouchedFor Top Rated planners could help today.
Please note
This blog is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.