A way to health through psycho-immunological wellbeing : Example of Indigenous People of Russian North

Abstract

The research was carried out into the changes within psychic and immune domains ofthe Russian Nenets people migrating from the traditional northern habitat (tundra) to urbanenvironment. It is noted that in the process of significantly changing lifestyle supposedlysingle ethnic group can be clearly sub-divided according to the differences in adaptationdynamics. This division reflects sociological differences and is connected to the psychoimmunologicalaspects. Thus, with the adaptation of forest Nenets to the new conditions ofexistence (from the tundra to the urban centers), we found a division of a whole ethnic groupinto two groups according to a social attribute, which is fixed at the psychophysiologicallevel. First, psychic and immune domains are not only sharing a number of commonfeatures but also can have deep evolutionary connections and can be governed by similarlaws. Second, the psyche and the immune system show the most important functions andproperties that ensure an effective existence, generalizing the values of adaptation, protectionand vitality into a single structure. Such a concept is closed to “wholeness” and “integrity” showing that the distribution of vital forces or body resources can adjust the condition orcope with the pre-illness or even disease