A Peaceful Mind Makes a Healthier Body

Does the mind affect the body? Two Swedish film producers believe so. They are preparing a documentary on psychosomatic illness to be aired in Scandinavia. To prove their point in regard to heart disease, they focused on the tiny borough of Roseto, nestled along the foot of a Pennsylvania mountain range.

“My impression is that people who live in Roseto are confident and very satisfied people,” said one of the producers, according to the Express of Easton, Pennsylvania. “Most of them are happy, compared to normal people of today. They’re more healthy mentally. They’re not so disturbed by modern society.”

Back in the early 1960’s, Dr. Stewart Wolf did a study on the life-style and habits of the Rosetans. He found that “Rosetans back then had a much lower chance of getting heart attacks and other stress-related health problems.” Wolf’s “research team attributed that to traditional, close-knit, family-based life style.”

Some 20 years later, the two Swedish producers reached a similar conclusion. “We have learned that as long as the small community lived the old Italian way​—living together and taking care of itself”—​their health fared well. “But when they broke away from tradition in the beginning of the ’60s and in the ’70s, they got unhealthier.”

Medical researchers of today are just echoing the wisdom of a centuries-old Bible proverb: “Peace of mind makes the body healthy.”​—Proverbs 14:30, Today’s English Version.