Relaxation response: Herbert Benson

Type of Psychology: Biological bases of human behavior; Clinical; Counseling; Health; Psychotherapy

The relaxation response is a “deep state of relaxation” according to Dr. Herbert Benson and can be learned through a process of using psychological meditational strategies to allow the body to return to baseline homeostasis after stress activates the fight, flight response. The Benson-Henry Mind-Body Medicine Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, is led by Dr. Herbert Benson. Dr. Benson is the physician who conducted the initial research on what he called the relaxation response in the 1970s. He and his colleagues continue to publish on its methods and health benefits.

Introduction

Human beings worldwide have used various strategies for achieving relaxation that date back centuries. Early methods used for relaxation included prayer, warm baths, listening to soft music, various herbal remedies and drinking tea or drinking warm milk before bedtime, to name just a few. Some of these relaxation methods have endured over time and are still used today. However, research on the benefits of relaxation started in the 1970s. Dr. Herbert Benson is credited with discovering and naming the phenomenon known as the relaxation response through empirical research on this process of calming the body. This normally autonomic response controlled by the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system, which can be learned with practice, essentially involves training oneself to relax through dedicated and repeated practice, which now has evolved to encompass a number of relaxation strategies ranging from repeating a word or a mantra (special phrase) to repeating any phrase that is experienced as neutral by the person. Typically under stress humans will respond with the fight (fight back against an aggressor), flight (run away from danger), freeze (freeze or immobilize as in feigning death), faint (collapse) or submit (defer to the threat as dogs do when they roll over in submission) response. As Steven Porgess theorizes, humans may respond to stress utilizing three ways as described in Polyvagal theory: Immobilization, mobilization or social engagement if no threat is perceived.

Our bodies once stressed will return to homeostasis automatically when the threat has passed after a period of time. The stress response happens at the autonomic nervous system level and was thought to be solely under unconscious control. The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system responds when we are under stress to help mobilize our bodies via stress hormones or glucocorticoids to face the perceived threat. The parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system helps our bodies return to homeostasis. It is the parasympathetic nervous system that is in play when we experience relaxation (or return to homeostasis).

Effects of Chronic Stress

Chronic stress exposure has been known to disrupt this automatic homeostatic pattern. In fact even though short-term sympathetic responsivity can be helpful at times of danger allowing us to escape and or mobilize ourselves to fight a predator, chronically elevated stress hormones can actually be damaging to the health of the individual. Some researchers have called the total stress burden on an individual the “allostatic load,” which represents the total accumulated burden of stress that is potentially damaging to one's health especially over the long term.

The damage to health from long-term stress can include lower immune system functioning resulting in increased susceptibility to illness, impaired sleep or insomnia, reduced cellular production or cellular size (lower volume) in the hippocampus that stores our emotional or autobiographical memories. It also enlarges the amygdala (a cluster of small almond shaped brain structures that processes stressors), causes hypertension (high blood pressure) and produces an over-sensitized fight-flight reaction.

Initial Research

Doctor Herbert Benson carried out research showing that being able to train our autonomic nervous system to facilitate the relaxation response could improve health. This was a groundbreaking discovery as autonomic nervous system functions are largely operating at the unconscious level, happen automatically, and were not previously thought of as being capable of being brought under conscious control.

Critique of Approach

Christian religious groups have critiqued the meditational approach for achieving the relaxation response as being void of content and rooted in Eastern philosophy and religious beliefs. These groups have warned of the underlying Eastern influence of the meditation methods used to elicit the relaxation response. As a result, some colleges and meditation centers offer students and the public access to both Mindfulness Meditation groups and Christian Meditation groups. Benson has written in his 1998 book coauthored by Margaret Stark titled Timeless Healing: The Biology and Power of Belief on how the approach for achieving the relaxation response can be integrated with religious/spiritual belief in God.

Relaxation Training

There are many forms of relaxation training available today that can potentially elicit the relaxation response. Benson provided steps for eliciting the relaxation response in his 1975 book, The Relaxation Response. He recommended that the method be practiced twice a day for ten to twenty minutes each time in order to achieve full parasympathetic relaxation. However there are a number of methods or combinations of relaxation training methods that can be used to elicit this response and Benson utilized elements from some of these methods (primarily focused meditation and deep breathing) in his protocol. One of these relaxation training methods is called Jacobsen's progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) in which a person is encouraged to alternately tense and relax targeted muscle groups in the body while pairing that process with slow, deep breathing (slow inhale on count of 5 and slow exhale on count of 5). The person will start tensing and releasing the muscle groups in the head or neck and then move to the lower extremities to achieve total body relaxation. Another method he utilized is yoga, which is more physically oriented. There are of course, various schools of yoga and meditation that have also been shown to elicit this response.

The Mind-Body Institute, and similar wellness centers, provides resources for achieving relaxation. Benson's institute specifically offers audio instruction in Basic Relaxation Exercise/Mindfulness Mediation, Basic Relaxation Response Exercise, Advanced Relaxation Response, Guided Visualization with Ocean Sounds and Breath and Body Awareness among others.

Recent Research

The importance of regular stress reduction or self-care has been validated by ongoing research and the health and mental health benefits cannot be underestimated. The Mind Body Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital started a pilot investigation of a culturally adapted 8-week group mind-body approach to relaxation for American immigrants from China suffering from depression. This study was effective and showed promise for utilizing the relaxation response in conjunction with other tools for addressing both mood and anxiety or stress related disorders.

In addition, functional Magnetic Resonance Imagery (fMRI, a neuroimaging method that highlights changes in brain function) investigations have shown the neurological effects of the relaxation response on the brain. Changes in the brain due to meditation include increases in activity in areas of the brain that govern the autonomic nervous system and attention.

Another area of research has been to gauge the impact of relaxation response on urban high school students, as led by the teacher. Researchers used the Perceived Stress Scale, as well as other techniques, to measure the effectiveness of the program. The study found that teachers are capable of leading the program and that students who participated experienced a marked reduction in stress.

The National Institute of Health (NIH)

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (formerly known as the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) has taken a large role in educating the public on relaxation methods and supporting empirical investigation of various relaxation techniques, including the various methods used for eliciting the relaxation response. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health outlines not only health and mental health benefits of validated methods of relaxation training but also highlights associated risks and side effects. For example physicians must advise those suffering from heart conditions to see if progressive muscle relaxation can be used with individuals from that population.

Adverse effects of the relaxation response are thought to be rare. However, there are some individuals—especially those with certain psychological disorders such as dissociative disorders, or survivors of childhood trauma or abuse, or epilepsy—for whom any kind of relaxation or meditation training may aggravate symptoms. They may even experience increased anxiety and discomfort or increased dissociation (an uncomfortable mental state that disconnects feelings, thoughts and aspects of conscious processing of experience) showing the approach is not for everyone.

Bibliography

Benson, H. (1975). The Relaxation Response. New York: William Morrow and Company.

Benson, H., & Proctor, W. (2010). Relaxation Revolution: Enhancing Your Personal Health through the Science and Genetics of Mind Body Healing. New York: Scribner.

Benson, H., & Stark, M. (2014). Timeless Healing. New York: Scribner.

The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind- Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Website. http://www.massgeneral.org/bhi/

Levey, J., & Levey, M. (2003). The Fine Art of Relaxation, Concentration and Meditation: Ancient Skills For Modern Minds. Massachusetts: Wisdom Publications.