Video: Can Thoughts Make Us Sick?

The work I write about and teach has to do with learning how to disengage from being negatively affected by our dysfunctional or troubling thought processes and beliefs. One of my mentors, Professor Erik Peper, coined the following: “The limits of our experience and potential are the limits of our beliefs,” and also: “negative attributions lead to catabolism; healthy attributions lead to anabolism.” When we ascribe a negative attribution to an otherwise neutral fact, the resulting emotional distress causes physiological stress. If we ascribe a positive, optimistic attribution to this otherwise neutral fact, we actually reduce emotional distress and cultivate hope and self-efficacy.