by Rob Wyse

And, it is more than your boss. It can be anyone who fills you with negativity.

Last year, I was at a conference where Deepak Chopra was a keynote speaker.

First, let me say I was skeptical I would learn anything at his presentation.

Second, after he spoke, I learned everything.

I learned why your boss, or anyone, can make you sick. Physically sick. For example, why do we have a physical response when a person is mean to us? Why do we have a feeling like we were punched in the gut when a boss ignores us?

Why do we feel good and energized when a boss says good job – or just says “I appreciate you?”

Or, why did House Speaker, Paul Ryan say that he was “sickened” by Donald Trump’s lewd Access Hollywood comments caught on tape. Could Ryan have really felt sick?

The answer is yes. And as Chopra noted, it can be explained by the definition of a nocebo response and placebo response.

A nocebo (Latin for “I shall harm”) is an inert substance, or form of therapy that creates harmful effects in a patient. The nocebo effect is “a detrimental effect on health produced by psychological or psychosomatic factors such as negative expectations of treatment or prognosis.”

Conversely, a placebo is an inert or inactive substance, or form of therapy that creates a beneficial response to a patient. The beneficial response is called the placebo effect.

Both nocebo and placebo effects are presumed to be psychogenic, rather than being caused by a biologically active component of the placebo. These reactions might result from a patient’s expectations and perceptions of how the substance will affect them.

As an aside, there was a recent interesting segment on CBS Sunday Morning about the effectiveness of placebos.

So, these affects play out in our interactions with each other. We are all connected.  We often hear that someone has a negative experience and hear people say, “that was a bitter pill to swallow.” While it was really not a pill, the negative affects can be biological.

Chopra noted that placebo and nocebo responses are biological. As he said, this is consciousness affecting biology. Your brain essentially affects how you feel.

And in life, how you feel, and how those around you make you feel — matters.

And if people “make you feel awful enough, long enough” — well, it can make you sick.

A coward boss who puts you down, can make your stomach churn, or she/he can drive you to tears, to violence, to anger. That boss can zap the life out of you.

It is all consciousness affecting your biological state.

So, we must all be conscious of how we treat and interact with each other. And, if a boss is making you sick – leave as soon as you can. And, if you leave, do it with kindness – no matter how hard that might be.

Chopra noted in two sentences, how we are all connected to each other, to nature, and to the universe. He said:

“You are just a drop in the ocean. You are the ocean in the drop.”