Can Dream Therapy Boost Physical Healthy?

The research literature has linked distress directly to the immune system. That is, studies in psychoneuroimmunology have found that distress (the physical response to stress) can lead to immuno-suppresion. This means that people experiencing stress may get more colds and flu due to the negative impact on the immune system. Furthermore, individuals with diseases such as cancer may decrease their immune system's ability to fight the disease if any distress is experienced. So how does this relate to dream therapy?

It has been found in the literature that dream therapy can decease distress from illness, life-threatening situations, and transition. This begs the question; can dream therapy boost the immune system and therefore, increase physical health? Theoretically, this should certainly be the case and research directly investigating this is in order. Since we know that dream therapy will decrease distress, and, methods such as Meditative Dream Re-entry decrease negative emotions directly, then dream therapy may be a pathway for increasing physical health.