Post by the Scribe on Aug 16, 2020 21:02:19 GMT
Psychoneuroimmunology | How Stress and Depression Make You Sick
JJ Medicine
118K subscribers
Lesson on Psychoneuroimmunology: The Inter-relationship of Mental Health and the Immune System. Psychoneuroimmunology is a new area of research looking into how mental health (stress, depression, etc.) impacts the immune system and how changes in the immune system (due to sickness) can impact mental health and lead to depression. Having high levels of stress for long periods of time (eg. from having depression) can impact the immune system and its functioning by suppressing function of some immune cells and activating other types of immune cells. Stress and alterations in the immune system can lead to depression and anxiety through degradation of tryptophan in the kynurenine pathway.