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Medical Myths You Can Do Without: Myth #3: There is No Mind-Body Connection
Part 3 of a five-part series.
The myth that there is no mind-body connection tends to be perpetuated more than any other amongst physicians. Though if any one of us thought about it for awhile, I’m sure we would agree that the mind has a lot to do with a person’s propensity to get sick and ability to heal.
We tend instead to focus on the biological cause of disease such as the bacteria, the virus, or the cancer. We rarely ask, “yes, but why was this person affected by the organism at this time in their life?” Certainly we are all exposed to cancer cells, viruses, and bacteria on a daily basis, so why do some of them affect us, but not all of them?
Could it be that things we do or think make us more susceptible?
The word disease could also be spelled dis-ease. When the body is at dis-ease, it is more susceptible to outside influences that make it sick. We all know of someone who has gotten sick after being stressed out — or someone who just decided to give up and die after a spouse had died.
Our brain is constantly releasing modulating substances that help control our heart rate, breathing, cortisol levels, adrenaline, etc. It only makes sense that these substances can make us more immune or more susceptible to disease. Only now are we beginning to understand even the names of some of these modulating chemicals, let alone how they work or how they interact with each other.
But despite our lack of knowledge, we do know that a positive self image, good attitude, laughter, marriage (in most cases!), and a myriad of other “emotional” factors affect healing times and the ability to overcome disease.
Most heart attacks occur on Monday morning. Laughter has been shown to improve cancer survival. Loving a pet makes you live longer and happier. It would be naive to think the mind does not control the body. It turns out peace of mind may be as important to your health as anything else you can do.
