In the body cancer manifests as a collection of cells that are growing in disregard to the health of the overall body, they take on a lifetime of their own and use up the resources of the body or intervene with the functioning of the body, until the body dies.
In the mind, cancer becomes a fearful identity that takes on a lifetime of its own; it absorbs out concentration, saps our enthusiasm and takes over our normal thoughts and attitudes, I call it the cancer victim identity.
So cancer starts off as a physical manifestation: one presents at a hospital and goes through the investigative medical process which culminates in a diagnosis of cancer. At that moment when you are told that you have caner you turn into infected with a mental belief disease.
Being told you have cancer is a shock to the core; its a mental blow that leaves you reeling in confusion, disbelief and denial that can last for months. You suddenly turn into a cancer victim. Your plans are no longer possible, a normal life is denied you and your future looks bleak and painful. If you are told that your condition is terminal, the shock is even worse.
When I was told that I had brain cancer (glioma multiforme blastoma stage 4) and that I only had 24 months to live, by someone I trusted, someone who had operated on my brain, then that prediction turn into a message that got into my mind --- It was hard to ignore. I knew it was backed up by statistical and clinical evidence. I knew that the doctor knew more about cancer than I. I knew that he was doing his best to help me, so it was very difficult to discount the prediction that I would die from the disease.
In fact I would appear to be acting stupidly irrational and unreasonable to claim that I could experience a various outcome to that predicted by statistics.
When I told the surgeon that it was my intention to survive the cancer a hundred% he informed me that he didnt wish to give me false hope at this point I realised that my hope was my responsibility and that It was up to me to find one way to change my expectation of a short life.
I assume you have all heard of the placebo effect? The Placebo effect is where a patient experiences a positive therapeutic outcome from taking a drugs or procedure that they expect will cure them, even though it may have no active ingredient or not be a real medical care at all, for example fake knee surgical procedure. The placebo effect is evidence that a persons positive expectations, or beliefs, can influence their experience of, or recovery from, a physical disease.
Related to the placebo effect is the nocebo effect; this is where a patient has, or receives, a negative expectation which results in the experience of a negative outcome.
Being told that you have caner or being given a terminal diagnosis is a nocebo.
My belief is that a diagnosis of cancer or a terminal diagnosis is like being infected with a mental disorder which is as potentially fatal as the physical disorder one already has. Its the modern day equivalent of the witchdoctors curse or the pointing of the bone. It becomes a nocebo and a self fulfilling prophesy but only if you believe it!
I have met and heard of folk who entirely believe in their terminal prognosis and have no doubt that their illness will kill them within a defined time limit. I know of one lady who was given two years and she went home and wrote the date on her calendar, she died within a week of the predicted date.
When it comes to the future, really, no one knows what is going to happen: I might die of cancer within my use-by date, or, anything could happen: medical science could come up with a miracle cure, I might find an alternative therapy that is successful at treating glioma. I could be one of those those who inexplicably survive for no known reason. I might get run over by a bus tomorrow or I might create self-healing through managing my beliefs. Any one of these is possible and I am free to choose to believe in whichever I wish.
Medical science does have treatments for the physical facets of cancer; some are effective towards some cancers and some don't seem to be. Alternative or complementary medical modalities also have treatments that are effective and some that don't seem to be. Some people survive and some dont.
I believe that just treating the body and ignoring the mind isn't the best overall approach. If one has a healthy mind and a positive expectation of a cure, (even if medical science doesnt currently have a cure) then ones experience and possible outcome has to be more advantageous than if one goes through medical care with the expectancy of failure and immanent death!
Managing the mind and lifting the fear of cancer and the curse of a terminal diagnosis is an vital step to a positive healing outcome. But just how do you keep a healthy and positive outlook in such dire circumstances?
Resistance and denial dont work for long you can are attempting to pretend that you dont have cancer or that you havent been given a terminal diagnosis but the pretence is hard to keep up in the face of worsening signals.
Many people are attempting affirmations but have disappointing or mixed results, they affirm that they are confident but they feel frightened, they are attempting to stick a veneer of positivity over a well or anxiety. Below I outline a number of steps that are vital to creating a healthy mind in the face of cancer.
First you'll need to be conscious of what is going on in your consciousness and recognise when you are acting through a cancer victim identity.
Second, you'll need to be able to completely appreciate this identity; you see the method it is serving you.
Third, you realise that you have the strength to decide whether or not you pay it any concentration; its in your mind and you can decide to stop making a choice on with it, i.e you can decide to stop feeding it with your concentration.
And finally you put your concentration on a positive attitude or outlook that can make you feel more advantageous and will also inspire your body to heal itself.
I was fortunate that I was already a trained Avatar Master when i was diagnosed (Avatar is a system of tools for exploring and altering consciousness). I already knew how to change my beliefs effectively it hasnt been easy but I have managed to lift the curse of a terminal diagnosis. I might still die by my use-by-date but its not something thats preying on my mind, I dont think of myself as a cancer victim or that my disease is necessarily terminal. I feel that in healing the mental disease, I am encouraging my body to more effectively create healing itself
You might think that I am in denial but that isn't the case. I completely acknowledge that I had a critical and life threatening disease, I have felt the fear and the grief and the hopelessness and have progressed through them.
I have considered three of my fellow glioma patients die and I have considered the suffering that cancer brings. But I know that in this moment I am alive and well and that the future is as unpredictable for me as it is for someone without a terminal prognosis.
Currently, we devote millions of dollars and countless research hours on healing the physical manifestations of cancer, directing some of this concentration and effort towards understanding the role of the mind in creating both illness and health could reveal many benefits for cancer patients, especially those with incurable conditions.
David Elliot
Author of You Dont Have to Die When Your Doctor Says
www.youdonthavetodiewhenyourdoctorsays.com
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