MIND AND HEALTH (Part 3) by Dr D B Nugegoda

CONTINUATION FROM Part 2……..

A study of almost 7,000 depressed Americans found placebos (something which resembles the drug but has no medicinal properties), to be as effective as antidepressants in 80 % of the cases, as these patients believed in the placebos (Reader’s Digest, Feb. 2004). It has been found that the effect of placebos depends on the person who offers them.

Coleman has reported that a placebo offered by an unenthusiastic nurse had only a 25 % response, while the same placebo when offered by an enthusiastic doctor had a 70 % success rate!

It had been found that patients with chest pain (angina) who had undergone chest operations and were later told that they had by-pass surgery (which was not correct), made marvelous improvement in their heart condition (Coleman).

Among women with early breast cancer, the five year and ten year recurrence free survival rate was significantly more among those who reacted with a fighting spirit, than those who responded with stoic acceptance, with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness (Siegel). Researchers at UCLA, found HIV positive men who were optimists to have a stronger immune system, compared to the pessimists (Benson et. al.).

When you accept the disease as a “challenge and a gift”, through the discovery of your hidden strength, inner healing is said to occur. It has been established that the messages given to the mind (both to the conscious and the subconscious mind), whether they are positive or negative, have a profound effect on the health and wellbeing of the person. Hope and confidence promote health and wellbeing.