MIND AND HEALTH (Part 2) by Dr D B Nugegoda

CONTINUATION FROM PART 1

It is said that three fourths of the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy result from the patient’s negative beliefs, fostered by a destructive kind of hypnosis on the part of the physician (Siegel). In England, a group of men were injected normal saline, but were told it was chemotherapy, upon which 30 % of them had lost their hair (Goleman).

If a doctor tells a patient that he/she has an incurable disease, and the patient believes it, the body will act accordingly. Coleman, has said “I myself know someone who was told that he had lung cancer, following which he lost weight, looked deathly and began to fade fast. Assured later that a mistake had been made, and that he had a treatable infection, he quickly put the weight back on and made a marvelous recovery”. The lesson here is that you should not sentence patients to lifelong misery on pathological reports only. As Siegel has said for many, “you have cancer” are the three most dreadful words. He also has said “I know patients who are literally being killed by their relationship with their doctors”.

If people can give themselves cancer by negative thinking, they also should be able to overcome them by positive thinking. Positive imagination could protect people from illness and enable them to overcome the illness. A doctoral student had placed an advertisement in an Idaho newspaper, requesting anyone within a 300 mile radius who had experienced a remission in their cancers to contact him. Twenty five responded to the advertisement, of whom most were wives of farmers. On interviewing them, it was found that they had a strong faith in their own judgments and not trusting the experts (Siegel). These women with less education and did not believe in everything that the consultant said, which ultimately went in their favor! On the contrary the more educated will believe in everything the consultant says which may seal their fate.