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Key points
- A series of studies found that self-compassion was associated with lower emotional distress in response to health threats.
- Self-compassionate people were more likely to follow medical recommendations and seek care when needed.
- Factors that help explain the benefits of self-compassion include caring self-talk and a proactive approach to health.
Managing medical issues and engaging in health-promoting behavior can be time-consuming and stressful. Researchers have identified a range of personality characteristics that help people cope with health threats and proactively address problems that arise. For example, people with a strong sense of self-efficacy may feel more capable of taking charge of their health and overcoming obstacles.
In addition to these characteristics, another key factor may be how we treat ourselves in difficult times—are we kind and loving, or harsh and critical? Taking care of our health may require that we believe we’re capable of good health and that we genuinely care about our own well-being, just as we care about the well-being of our loved ones. That may be the fuel we need to take action even when it’s not easy or pleasant.
What does research suggest about the relationship between self-compassion and health-related coping?
In a series of studies, researchers asked whether a disposition tendency toward self-compassion is associated with a better ability to cope with illness and injury.
The first study found that self-compassionate adults of different ages were less likely to report feeling anxiety or depression related to their health, less likely to blame themselves for health problems, and more motivated to avoid unhealthy behaviors. But it wasn’t just that self-compassionate people were healthier, to begin with, and therefore more satisfied with their health: those in poorer health seemed to benefit especially, reporting less health-related depression the more self-compassionate they were.
Another study asked participants to indicate the most severe medical issue they had ever experienced or were currently experiencing and then rate a series of emotional responses, including emotions like loneliness, shame, and helplessness. They also reported how soon they would seek medical attention in response to potentially serious hypothetical medical symptoms.
The results showed that self-compassionate participants felt less strong negative emotions in response to their medical issue and said they would seek medical attention sooner for the hypothetical symptoms. They were also more likely to say they would follow medical recommendations from their doctors.
An additional set of analyses revealed that self-compassionate people were more likely to view health as an important element of general well-being. But they were not overly fixated on their health—they were less likely than those low in self-compassion to report symptoms of hypochondria, which involves fear that benign symptoms could indicate a serious illness. When they focused on their health, they seemed to do so in a constructive way, evaluating the information at hand, assessing their options for how to respond, making a plan of action, and then implementing it.
Why does self-compassion help people cope?
A final study examined why self-compassion helps people cope more effectively with health threats and follow medical recommendations. The results showed that three factors seem to be especially important.
First, self-compassionate people were more motivated to take care of their health out of a genuine desire to be kind and caring towards themselves and do nice things for themselves when they were struggling.
Second, self-compassionate people were more likely to engage in what the researchers called benevolent self-talk, which might involve reminding yourself that many people experience medical challenges and that you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself, or saying other kind, encouraging words to yourself as you might say to a loved one. These kind words may help reduce stress and anxiety associated with health challenges and make addressing concerns feel less overwhelming.
The third factor was having a proactive approach to health, including being assertive about tackling problems and feeling determined to improve issues that interfered with their lives.
What can we take away from this research?
One thing that makes these findings noteworthy is that self-compassion seems to be doing two important things at once that don’t always go hand-in-hand. It helps relieve health anxiety, but not in a way that involves simply avoiding dealing with health issues (not an uncommon approach) or a sense of complacency or resignation. Instead, the anxiety reduction seems to happen in the service of promoting healthy behavior as well as overall well-being, rather than simply making us feel better in the moment.
Another valuable takeaway is that self-compassion was associated with less self-blame for health problems, but at the same time with a greater motivation to take responsibility for health, suggesting that shame and self-blame are not necessary for promoting healthy health behavior and may in fact hinder it. When it comes to health, being tough on ourselves may seem like a good way to get ourselves moving, but it may instead leave us feeling hopeless and overwhelmed.
References
Terry, M. L., Leary, M. R., Mehta, S., & Henderson, K. (2013). Self-compassionate reactions to health threats. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(7), 911–926.
