The 3 Psychosocial Factors That May Help Lower Inflammation

Inflammation may sound like a purely physical problem, but some of the most powerful tools for lowering it might be in your brain, not your medicine cabinet.

Enter "psychosocial anti-inflammatories," a term coined by psychologist Margie Lachman, Ph.D., and her team to describe mindset shifts that their research has linked to lower levels of inflammation in the body.

In a 2024 study1 published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Lachman and her team used data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) project to examine 1,244 adults between ages 34 and 82. They measured three main psychological factors: sense of control, purpose in life, and social support. She then tracked their inflammation using five separate biomarkers in the blood.

Lachman describes sense of control as "believing that you can bring about the desired outcomes in your life despite the obstacles." According to Lachman, not only do people often maintain their sense of control into midlife, but it actually peaks around that stage of life. It's one of the reasons she pushes back on the midlife crisis narrative.

If you struggle to feel a sense of control over your life, Lachman suggests starting small. She recommends identifying one area of your life, such as your health routine, a work project, or a relationship, where you can make a concrete decision and follow through. Each time you act on something within your control, you will reinforce the belief that your choices matter, which is the core of this mindset. Over time, these small wins will compound into a steadier, more durable sense of agency.

The second factor is having a clear sense of purpose and meaning. Many people think of purpose as an unattainable, grand, singular calling, but even having something as simple as a clear reason to get up and engage with the world every morning can improve health outcomes.

A study following 2,558 older adults2 found that people with a higher sense of purpose in life developed Alzheimer's dementia at a later age than those with a lower sense of purpose. Those with high purpose also lived longer, with an average age at death of about 89 compared to 85 for those with lower purpose.

Social support is the third psychosocial anti-inflammatory, which Lachman describes as "feeling that you can count on other people, that there are people there for you in a crisis or when you need them." She distinguishes this from having a lot of social connections, because social support requires a deeper level of trust and reliability in your relationships.

A study following over 8,000 participants3 over five years found that social support changed how perceived stress related to a key marker of inflammation called C-reactive protein. This suggests that having people to lean on can buffer the biological impact of stress. On the flip side, a separate multi-cohort study4 found that social isolation was consistently linked to higher inflammation markers in adulthood, including C-reactive protein and interleukin-6.

How do these psychosocial factors influence something as physical as inflammation? "You perceive less stress in your life," Lachman explained, and "stress is one of the major fuels for inflammation."

Having a higher sense of control, purpose, and social support appears to lower the amount of stress people feel day to day, which in turns down the stress that fuels the inflammation.

There is a lot we can't control, especially when it comes to our health, which makes the psychosocial anti-inflammatories all the more useful and important. You can work to feel more agency over your choices, find a deeper sense of purpose to guide your days, and lean on the people who care about you, and Lachman's research shows these factors can actually lower inflammation.