The Option Process Can Improve Health

Natural Killer Cells are an essential part of our immune systems. They patrol our bodies looking for cells infected with viruses or tumors. When they find such a cell they destroy it so it cannot multiply. Natural Killer Cells may sound aggressive but they are in fact one of our greatest biological allies. They operate 24 hours a day and cleanse us of infections without requiring any conscious awareness from us. Without these amazing cells we would be vulnerable to all kinds of disease.

It has been widely reported that people with depression tend to have lower levels of Natural Killer Cells and so are more likely to succumb to a much wider range of diseases than people who tend to feel happier^1,2. Depression is a state of mind, a characteristic way of thinking. Psychologists have identified thought patterns (habitual beliefs) commonly used by people with depression3. A key feature of depressive thinking is making generalized negative judgments about yourself, the world and the future. Beliefs such as, “I’m not good at anything” or “things will never get any better” will lead to feelings of unhappiness and, when engaged regularly enough, to depression. The therapies that tend to be most effective at helping people with depression to feel happier are those helping them to think in new ways⁴.

The difference between someone diagnosed with depression and someone who just wants to feel happier in their life is simply a matter of how often one engages unhappiness, or happiness, producing beliefs. The Option Institute programs are designed to help you identify your own habitual belief patterns and learn how to change those leading to unhappiness.

A core belief of The Option Process is that we are each in control of our own experience by intentionally choosing our perspective on ourselves, the world and the future. The Option Institute programs are about empowering yourself to take charge of your own experience and know that you can impact your own reality.

In psychology research this in known as “locus of control”. People with an internal locus of control believe they are in control of themselves and their lives, those with an external locus of control believe that their lives are outside of their control⁵. Graduates of Option Institute programs tend to be on the “internal” end of this spectrum.

Researchers in Belgium took the fascinating step of measuring locus of control in patients with depression and sampling their cellular immune function. They found that those patients who thought they had less control over their lives had significantly lower levels of Natural Killer Cells in their blood than the patients who perceived themselves as having more control. All the participants had lower levels of perceived control and lower levels of Natural Killer Cells than the non-depressed control group⁶.

Believing you have little control over your life and feeling unhappy are two very powerful ways to create ill health. At The Option Institute we focus on empowering yourself to feel happy and know you are in control of your own experience. The side effect of this way of thinking will be increased immune function and better health. Our beliefs about the world and ourselves affect our bodies on a cellular level.

Another study by the team in Belgium looked at patients with type I diabetes. They wondered if believing you are in control of your life actually translates to having more control over your metabolism. This is exactly what they found! Diabetes patients with a more internal locus of control showed significantly better metabolic control than those who believed they had little control over their lives⁷.

Interestingly the group with more perceived and metabolic control had a significantly lower level of knowledge about diabetes and practiced significantly less self-monitoring of blood-glucose than the group with less subjective control! This suggests that the difference seen in rates of metabolic control are not due to differences in behavior (e.g. that the “in-control” group were more proactive in their own medical care) but that the essential factor was the patients own belief in their ability to control their lives.
Simply changing a belief is enough to change your physiology!

These same beliefs can also impact the effectiveness of medications. In clinical trials of various antidepressants researchers found that the patients who believed they were more in control of their lives responded better to antidepressants, regardless of the brand or type of medication⁸.

A fundamental tenet of The Option Process is that we are each responsible for our own experience. Although we cannot control external events we can control how we respond to them. It is this response that creates our experience. All the programs at The Option Institute gently guide participants to learn how to take control of their own individual experiences.

Inner Strength is an intensive two-week fitness program for your mind and soul that will help you to develop Herculean capacity for whatever comes your way. When something happens in our life that we don’t want to happen and we perceive as “bad” or “negative” the first thing we try to do is explain it. Depending on our internal explanations we can create more stress and anxiety leading to more health problems or we can create less. When you learn to take care of yourself, no matter what, you will approach life, not as a threat but as a challenge. Less stress and anxiety leads to better overall health.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist? When events around you seem out of control or even catastrophic do you see it as a disaster or an opportunity? Do you believe that your answers to the above questions are static or can they change if you choose to change them? Finding new ways to think about past, present and future events is one of the most effective ways to lead to increased optimism. A number of studies now show that optimists live longer, healthier lives. In Calm Amid Chaos you will learn to maintain an inner quiet and strength in the face of challenging and seemingly incomprehensible events. With strength comes optimism and with optimism comes better health.

In Power Dialogues you will learn techniques that help others, and yourself, to overcome self-limiting beliefs that fuel discomfort and unhappiness. When we experience anxiety or sadness our bodies respond with depressed immune function. By learning The Option Process Dialogue you will learn to break out of the cycle of anxiety and sadness and help others do the same. You and those you mentor will gain a stronger, more effective immune system and lowered risk of diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Unacknowledged beliefs are a root cause of a suppressed immune response. PowerDialogues will teach you to get to this root cause of feelings of discomfort and you’ll notice the resulting difference in your health.

Fear, in its many forms, can keep us from achieving our full potential. Science is teaching us that fear can also have a more broad reaching effect on our health and wellbeing. Many of us have known for a long time that stress and anxiety can lead to a decline in health. When we learn to reduce or eliminate fear from our lives, in the process we also reduce stress and anxiety, which in turn leads to greater health and wellbeing. In Fearless you will learn to understand the rationale behind your fears and can then identify the beliefs that fuel them. Learn to change these beliefs and you will banish the fears and the effects they produce on your health.