The Power of Words
By Will Horne
“Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words never hurt us.” The cornerstone quote of every parent after their elementary school kid got their feelings hurt. As kids we are taught that “words are just words” and they can’t hurt us. I mean they are just words, they cannot actually hurt us...right? Wrong. Words are powerful. And I don’t just mean in a metaphorical or spiritual sense. I don’t even mean in the emotional or mental sense, because these are already obvious. No, I want to take it one step further: words affect our physical health.
Penn State University researchers conducted a study on how the health of couples varied depending on the words they chose to use in arguments. They sat 42 couples down--in two separate settings weeks apart--and asked them to discuss fights they had previously had, their results were astonishing. The researchers discovered that couples who used words such as “think”, “because”, “reason” and “why” when arguing with each other had lower levels of the proinflammatory cytokines Interleukin-6 (Il-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. An increase in these cytokines has been closely linked with cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and some cancers. Essentially, the better the couples could thoughtfully communicate with one another the healthier they were. Choosing the correct words to express themselves actually influenced their physical health.
Furthermore, positive words can be powerful in even more situations than just forming thoughtful arguments. Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman published a book in 2012 titled Words Can Change Your Brain and in their book they discuss the tremendous power of positive words. Through extensive research they discovered that, “positive words can, if focused on for ten or twenty minutes per day, influence genetic expression in the brain” (Pg. 32). This work was also supported by Dr. Herbert Benson, who discovered that the repetition of personally meaningful words actually led to the activation of stress-reducing genes within the brain. Just hearing positive words was able to decrease stress and the negative effects associated with it.
Today, more than ever before, people are concerned about health and how they can eliminate health risks while improving their own health. We try to exercise more, eat healthier, and avoid genetic predispositions. But we overlook one of the simplest and most effective methods of increasing our physical health: word choice. By changing the words we use in a day and choosing to focus on saying positive words we can dramatically decrease our stress, the likelihood of heart disease, and even the chance of getting certain cancers. These results don’t just stop with the person who is saying them. When we say positive things to others they feel physically better too.
The most controversial, but fascinating, example of the way words can change the physical world is Dr. Emoto’s water experiment. Dr. Emoto placed the same water in different glasses and then expressed a series of different words to each. Glass 1 was told, “You make me sick, I will kill you”; while glass 2 was told it was, “loved and appreciated”. The test was repeated with a variety of different phrases and the words were even expressed in different ways. Dr. Emoto discovered that under microscopic investigation the water now had different crystalline structures. The words literally changed the water’s form. This is a contested idea and many argue it is faked, but if the findings are real, they are pretty powerful. We are made up of 70% water. Imagine what the study could mean for us.
Glass 1
Glass 2
Mother Teresa once said “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” She understood the importance of powerful words even before science had proved it. She understood that it only takes one positive word to change someone’s day or even their life. And now we know that not only can a positive word change a person’s outlook on life, it can actually change their physical health. Just one positive word and you can help reduce someone’s stress and increase their well-being. We can change lives, so why not? Why not say hello to that person frowning in Mason Hall? Why not stop to say good luck to the kids on campus day? Why not love others? A positive word costs little, but can change everything. Words can create and they can destroy. Please choose yours wisely.
