The purpose of this study was to delineate those variables which are indicative of the patient whose health may be adversely affected by sensitivity to chemicals. In stage One analysis, the files of 10 chemically sensitive and 10 non-chemically sensitive patients were used to establish criterion variables as previously defined by legal proceedings prior to the study. Chemically sensitive and non-chemically sensitive patients were compared on all variables included in the study to empirically determine those variables which demonstrated significant differences by chi square analysis.

Whether an individual's state of mind can influence the body's immune system has been studied for several decades. Historical notions of a homeostatic, self-contained, and self-monitored system have been discarded. Studies have explored conditioning effects and cognitive behavioral methods to affect the immune response. This study is based on the assumption that relaxation imagery can be used as an endogenous means to produce specific physiological change in the immune function. Subjects were instructed to make a directional change in the absolute number of peripheral lymphocytes using relaxation imagery.

Evidence linking the development of chronic alcoholism with endogenous opioid peptides is reviewed. Particular emphasis is placed on enkephalin metabolism with respect to its involvement in the development of addiction and stress-related psychophysiological changes. The study was concerned with enkephalin hydrolysing activity (EHA) in chronic alcoholism as well as the mood changes that reportedly accompany alcoholism. Also of interest was the relationship of enkephalin degradation to voluntary relaxation.