Once you have been ill for a long time and have had to live in pain, you quickly realize the connection between the body and the psyche. Because, first of all, it is of course also mentally painful to live with pain, to send it to the background, and can make you somewhat downcast. Secondly, it is not without reason that psychological malaise is often associated with the word pain. This is because, due to our evolutionary development, we have also created a connection in our brains between the two - both types of pain are perceived in the same part of the brain - because we humans need a community as much as health.
Being sick is lonely, loneliness makes you sick. And that is one of the big problems of our present society.
This relationship is also highlighted by George Monbiot, who in his book "Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis" assumes that humans are capable of altruism, cooperation, cooperation through their evolution, and that these characteristics are actually stronger are egoism, the readiness for war and the constant competition that we carry out together.
As an example, he mentions that a chimpanzee mother who discovers a nice new treat will not give it to her baby without his begging. But a human mother does. The willingness to cooperate and the willingness to help other people is not often emphasized in the media. Instead, we endlessly talk about the terror attacks or disasters that happen in the most sensational words, and mention the many, often thousands, of people who came to help in these situations to a great extent.
"We are better than we are told we are, better than we are induced to be. By recognising our good nature and coming together to express it, we can overcome the multiple crises we face that cannot be solved alone. By reconnecting with each other we can conquer loneliness, unhappiness and the loss of our sense of meaning and purpose."
(from "Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis" by George Monbiot)
During my illness, I experienced this great political connection on a personal level. The support and compassion that I have received from friends and colleagues, the maintenance of the social context, also back at my workplace now, has greatly contributed to my recovery. When you meet with some understanding and support, it hurts much less!
