I recall The Irish Times news desk explaining to reporters that what readers wanted to know about whichever health scare was exercising the nation was, "What is it and how do I get it?"
I thought it was a telling example of the media’s genius for broadcasting on the most popular channel on earth: Radio MeMeMe. This channel, which each of us has in our brain, relates everything to that most fascinating of subjects: myself.
That’s why the media loves health scares. Everybody goes straight into “what’s this and how do I get it?” mode, which makes them consume even more print and pixels about whatever bug is currently flexing its muscles.
But Radio MeMeMe covers all topics. Your adult child gets home two hours late without texting and you say, “I was worried about you. Don’t do that to me again”. The concern might have been genuinely about the safety of the child, but we parents find it impossible not to relate it to ourselves.
Or take Brexit. It’s possible to view it as a fascinating story happening in another country but then Radio MeMeMe starts up with “Oh, I might have to queue at the Border when I’m going to buy all that cheap stuff up North,” or “Oh just when they’re ready to abolish roaming charges in the EU, the UK up and leaves so I’ll still be afraid to use the phone across the Border,” or “If they put those Border controls in the airports here, I’m going to have to turn up at four o’clock in the morning to get that red-eye flight to London.”
Happy partners help
Neuroscience tells us that Radio MeMeMe broadcasts from the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex in the brain by engaging in “self-referential processing” which means relating everything to yourself.
Meditation calms down these structures and reduces self-preoccupation, which might be why people often find meditation hard to do – sitting there for 20 minutes observing your breathing and not having a thinkfest about your fascinating life goes against the grain.
Self-interest can be a good thing too. I was intrigued to read of recent research at Michigan State University and the University of Chicago which found that people whose partners are happy tend to be healthier.
They found that "participants with happy partners were significantly more likely to report better health, experience less physical impairment, and exercise more frequently than participants with unhappy partners, even after accounting for the impact of their own happiness and other life circumstances." according to a report in the journal Health Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association.
Partner’s happiness did not seem to affect whether the other partner developed a chronic, long-term illness but it did affect the many other measures of health.
The basic message from the research is that if you want to boost your own health one way to do this is boost your partner’s happiness.
Unhealthy activities
The researchers suggest that a happy partner is more likely to look outwards in supporting the other partner. They also suggest that a person with a happy partner is less likely to engage in unhealthy activities themselves such as eating or drinking unwisely.
And happy people may promote their partner’s health by encouraging them to get enough sleep and to eat healthy foods, for instance.
The findings were based on an analysis of data from a long-term study of almost 2,000 US couples.
In an important way, we’re back to Radio MeMeMe. Because I am happy I want you to be healthy and therefore happy too. Or, from the partner’s viewpoint, I want to keep you happy because if I do I will be healthier and happier myself.
You might well argue that none of this is surprising: unhappiness takes up energy and drains motivation, including the motivation for healthy activities for oneself or with a partner.
But I think it’s an intriguing example of how Radio MeMeMe can help everybody so long as you are listening to the right programme.
Padraig O’Morain (pomorain@yahoo.com) is accredited by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. His latest book is “Mindfulness for Worriers”. His daily mindfulness reminder is free by email.