Prescribing love for the heart? Stress reduction and medical effects of altruism, compassion and love

Abstract

Objective Talking points on the therapeutic significance of love offered by neurobiology and positive psychology. Discussion Love is difficult to define. Looked at neurobiologically, it is closely associated with the concept of pleasure, reward and ‘positive psychology’, i.e., joyful mental states, and therefore has become a feature not only of psychological but also of basic science research and clinical medicine. Though not identical, altruism and compassion show physiological commonalities with the neurobiology of love. This understanding utilizes limbic ‘neural emotionality’, using as substrates, among others, endogenous morphine, dopamine and nitric oxide signaling. Particularly in love responses, oxytocin and vasoppressin additionally fit in. Love in the beginning can be stressful. This is also true of other stress-reducing practices that incorporate a stress component initially, i.e., relaxation and placebo responses. This initial uprise is termed anticipatory stress response (ASR). The initial activation of this stress component of the total response – i.e., relaxation and/or love response – is significant and represents a protective mechanism. Activation is started, then followed by relaxation, i.e., stress release, only if the situation allows for it, guaranteeing an appropriate environment. Stress and love therefore act as biological counterplayers. This function of love is of particular importance for the cardiovascular system and is expressed via stress response pathways and their subsequent down-regulation. Thus, emotional (i.e., non-cognitive) processes became adducts to stress activation, terminating it quickly. Altruistic and compassionate behaviors exactly fulfil this need and thus show stress-reducing capacities. Physiological alterations following such behaviors can be profound and lasting, as demonstrated for the autonomous and the central nervous or the cardiovascular systems. This potential has led to a broad array of studies demonstrating positive medical effects of love, social bonding, volunteering and compassion, especially of benefit for the heart and the brain, implying that this self-healing potential could be used in various therapeutic situations, including integrative medicine. Conclusions Love facilitates health and stress reduction. This effect can be observed clinically and biologically. Thus, love and companionship not only ensure the survival of individuals and their species, but also support beneficial motivation and health behaviors.