Psycho-immunological aspects of functioning of life support system on the example of Russian winter swimmers

• Main Author: Fisher, Tatyana
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Morressier 2017
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: https://openresearchlibrary.org/viewer/f153cc18-8d10-4929-bb64-391e2b388a8b; https://openresearchlibrary.org/ext/api/media/f153cc18-8d10-4929-bb64-391e2b388a8b/assets/external_content.pdf; https://doi.org/10.26226/morressier.5cf632c6af72dec2b0554ded

The relationship of the immune system and psychological protective and adaptive mechanisms in people involved in systematic winter swimming (cold hardening) was investigated. The study is based on the theory of the life support system (LSS), which describes the functioning of different levels of protective and adaptive mechanisms and allows a person to cope effectively facing difficulties. It was revealed that: 1) failure or underdevelopment of one of the levels leads to overvoltage of the entire system and hyper inclusion of other levels; 2) the prevalence of a certain level depends on the stage of personal development; 3) there is a range of the most effective protective and adaptive reactions for each type of a threat; 4) LSS is individual and determines the quality of adaptation; 5) the triggers of the development of LSS are life challenges and response patterns. The aim of this study was to clarify the functioning of the bodily level of LSS. 65 participants took part in the study. Immune parameters of repertory lymphokine interleukin - 4 (IL-4) (marker of humoral immunity) and INF-u03b3 (marker of cellular immunity) were measured. The following psychodiagnostic methods were used: Luscher test, Anxiety test (STAI), u201cCognitive needu201d of V. S. Yurkevich, u201cLifestyle indexu201d of Kellerman-Pluchek. It was established that people engaged in cold hardening prefer bodily stimulation through physiological mechanisms with the inclusion of the immune-endocrine system to relieve psycho-emotional stress. High personal and situational anxiety is regarded as an unconscious reason for winter swimming. Usage of extreme short-term water-cold exposure reduces anxiety, increases cognitive needs and leads to enlarged activity of humoral component of the immune system in 2.6 times. Therefore, the relationship between the immune system and psychological defenses was established: if psychological defenses do not cope well with their functions, the immune system partially takes on this role. Prospects for further research lie in the investigation of the cold impact on the human body in the Arctic, the development of the tools for the selection of employees, successfully adapting and effectively working in the Arctic and the North.