UNFORGIVENESS AND THE HEALTH PROBLEMS IT BRINGS: PART ONE, THE CORTISOL EFFECT

This is a medical discourse on how unforgiveness harms our health and wellbeing through hypercortisolism.

---

Unforgiveness will not only corrupt your sanctity and disrupt your peace but medically deplete your health and wellbeing. For many centuries, forgiveness has been extensively studied in the realms of theology especially by Christian scholars, but over these recent decades, it's gained major interest in the field of psychotherapy. For instance, Worthington et al consider forgiveness as a prosocial action in which a person works to reduce “negative thoughts, emotions and motivations” towards a transgressor. Pacifistic faiths understand forgiveness as the ultimate key to wellbeing, a fundamental virtue in pursuit of beatitude. Therefore, emotions that are triggered by unforgiveness such as anger, bitterness, hostility, resentment and hatred are classified as unholy and toxic by most of these pacifistic faiths. They believe that letting go these emotions is rewarding because it yields spiritual growth and wellbeing.

For psychologists, unforgiveness is “a combination of delayed negative emotions toward a transgressor” (Sandage, Worthington Jr., Hight, & Berry, 2000), and it is considered as a stress response potentially detrimental to our health (Worthington Jr & Scherer, 2004). Unforgiveness thrives through rumination which triggers stress, anxiety and depression. When we encounter stress, there is a short-term cortisol blast, which among other things, releases glucose and amino acids, and activates the immune system. This stimulation also helps the immune system to flush out the aging cells that cannot function properly.

According to Whiticomb (2011, pp. 55-56) “short-term burst of cortisol” is useful because it mobilizes the immune system and triggers fight or flight response. He states that short-term bursts

“boost blood sugar levels, providing immediate energy (…) They pull calcium from our bones, making it available to muscles for immediate action. They reduce our response to pain, keeping us focused on survival. And they enhance short-term memory, enabling us to evade similar threats in the near future.”

Talbott (2007) also shows that stress stimulates the immune system by “awakening” the cells for action. But this secretion of cortisol must ideally happen in a short period of time (within a few minutes) and return to normal. However, when stress becomes chronic this short-term burst is altered into a prolonged secretion of cortisol into the bloodstream causing adverse reactions such as the shrinking of the thymus gland and depletion of killer cells in our immune system. In other words, the excess of cortisol destroys the body’s immunity.

In The Forgiveness Project Michael Barry (2010) records how unforgiveness is detrimental to the health of cancer patients because it harbours “negative emotions” and creates “chronic anxiety” which triggers a burst of cortisol over a prolonged period. Excess cortisol does not only weaken our immune system but causes resistance to insulin, sustained elevations of blood sugars, loss of calcium in the bones, high blood pressure, loss of muscle mass, loss of libido, type 2 diabetes and cognitive dysfunction.

Well, let’s paint a more serious picture. Cortisol, also known as “stress hormone”, is released into our bloodstream from the adrenal glands when the brain registers stress. However, when stress becomes chronic, the secretion of cortisol becomes excessive and weakens the immune system as well as causing Cushing’s syndrome.

First, let’s look at the weakening of the immune system. We must be aware that the process of eliminating or flushing out cancerous, viral infected or damaged cells is called cytotoxicity. Furthermore, we must bear in mind that the immune system is made up of natural killer (NK) cells, T cells and B cells that are responsible for cytotoxicity i.e., they mark and kill cancerous, virally infected and damaged cells in our bloodstream.

Apart from helping in the regulation of our body’s stress response, cortisol in short spurts, helps limit inflammation in the immune system by supressing the NK and T cells. Therefore, when excessive secretion of cortisol occurs, the NK and T cells come under major suppression and that affects cytotoxicity; thus, weakening the immune system. In other words, excessive secretion of cortisol because of stress and anxiety from unforgiveness, causes weak immune system; hence, harming our health and wellbeing.

Secondly, Cushing’s syndrome which is also known as hypercortisolism is a term used to describe a disorder caused by excessive cortisol. Signs of Cushing’s syndrome include, weak muscles, weight gain, thin legs and arms, fat around the base of the neck and a hump between the shoulders. This disorder can cause major health problems.

For instance, it causes bone loss and fracture. The Human bone is always remodelling through resorption of old and damaged bone tissues by cells called osteoclasts, and a reabsorption of new tissues (formed from chemicals including collagen and calcium) by cells called osteoblasts. However, cortisol is in the business of blocking osteoblasts and calcium from reaching the bone, so excess cortisol means resorption of the bone will not be replenished; thus, causing loss of bone mass and fracture. In fact Cushing’s syndrome can cause major health problems like high cholesterol levels, memory loss, cognitive dysfunction, depression, blood clot, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.

All these conditions listed above are very detrimental to the wellbeing of our human health. So, if unforgiveness through its triggers of stress and anxiety can cause such conditions in our bodies, then letting go the anger and resentment, and seeking to heal from the pain and damages is profitable to our personal health and wellbeing. Yes, it sounds very dismissive and simplistic to put it this way, because overcoming unforgiveness is a very hectic journey to embark. But there is nothing more important than your health and wellbeing. You are a winner so don’t succumb to unforgiveness and the negative emotions it manifests. Stay blessed, stay whole.