To ask someone who is suffering from a dangerous disease whether he or she really wants to go on living might at first seem like the height of insensitivity, and even stupidity. After all, don't we all want to live long, healthy lives?
No, I don't think that all of us do. Allow me to present the evidence for my standpoint.
If someone wishes to live a long life, would he or she...
− Smoke? Use drugs, both legal and illegal, at the drop of a hat? Drink alcohol to the point of drunkenness, and do so frequently?
− Would any health-minded person totally avoid anything resembling exercise, and eat far too much as well, thus becoming extremely overweight? Would he/she have a diet consisting mostly of junk food, containing far too much sugar and fat?
− Would a health-conscious person easily fall prey to anger, or allow him/herself to regularly become emotionally stressed in other ways? Would they dedicate their time to the mere pursuit of pleasures, instead of dedicating a good amount of time to self-improvement?
And yet, so many of us live in exactly such a fashion.
What would any totally objective observer − for instance, some intelligent alien who has come to Earth to study human behavior − conclude after observing how millions of humans live? Would it (the alien, that is) conclude that "Earthlings do everything they can to lead long, healthy lives"? Would it not rather come to the sad conclusion that "Humans have a very clear tendency to self-destruct by behaving in a manner that is not at all conducive to having a long, healthy life"? (If you – like me – find the subject of how aliens might possibly see us as being humorously entertaining, you might get a laugh from another of my books, entitled: “God, UFOs and the Death of JFK: An Alien Perspective on Belief and Reason”. After all, with all this talk about cancer, a little laughter might lighten things up a bit!). Now, as I was about to say...
This is why I have long believed that many people in fact are subconsciously seeking their own demise. Yes, I realize that you may object here: "But David, people are just trying to enjoy life; it's not that they want to die!"
Whether Sigmund Freud was correct in everything he wrote about our "death wish" ("Todestrieb" in German), I know not. Yet considering the types of behaviors listed above, a very good case can be made for the hypothesis that many of us are in fact acting in ways that will lead to a shortening of our lives.
For this reason, it might not be off the mark to conclude that if a person gets cancer, he or she has actually fallen prey to a subconscious desire to part from this life.
No, I am not saying that this is always the case. I am saying that this is a distinct possibility, and one that should be taken very seriously indeed if we wish to do everything we can to effect a cure. In other words, to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to restore our health, we should never neglect the potential psychological contributors to cancer (or to any other sickness, for that matter).
Sadness, depression, anger, despair, stress, nervousness, tension, the absence of a sense of meaning in life, a lack of fulfillment in relationships, loneliness, envy, spite, resentment, the absence of a healthy sense of humor − all of these factors do not contribute to better health. Quite the opposite: they can, over time, lead to illness.
Back when I lived in Granada, Spain, I was once conversing with a physician, who worked in a local hospital, about the influence of mind on health. She told me the following:
"I've noticed that certain people who had serious, truly life-threatening diseases would sometimes recover fully, whereas others, whose sicknesses weren't really that bad at all, would end up dying. The difference in such cases seemed to be their attitude: those who, despite being gravely ill, nonetheless had a positive attitude combined with a definite will to live, were those who recovered. On the other hand, some people, whose illness wasn't all that terrible, might well end up dying if their attitude was one of depression, despair, and hopelessness. It seems that we can will ourselves to go on living, or the opposite: we can bring on death by the extremely negative attitude that we have towards life."
This subject is quite delicate. If indeed it be true that an individual with cancer has fallen ill at least in part due to certain psychological factors, how can you, as a family member, bring up this topic? Could you ever have a conversation such as this one with a parent?
"Well, dad, now that you have been diagnosed with cancer, maybe we should talk about your emotional life. Are you really happy with mom? I notice you tend to get angry at times: could it be that you have some inner conflicts that keep you from accepting life in a positive way, and instead you react far too negatively?"
I know that I for one could never have had such a talk with either of my parents! Not only would it be treading on far too unpleasant territory; they would have thought that I was a bit crazy, for in their thinking, falling ill was more a result of some external factors, and not of an inner willingness to accept disease. After all, the reigning paradigm of the 20th century was that disease is something that attacks us from without, and thus must be fought using the wonders of modern medicine.
Not that such an attitude is totally off the mark. Modern medicine has saved literally millions of lives; many pharmaceuticals have made amazing contributions to the health of the population (although of course some of them do far more damage than good).
However, the connection between mind and body is a topic that is gaining more and more recognition, even in mainstream medicine. For example, every doctor knows about the so-called "placebo effect": the fact that (for example) if you give a patient a pill that has no medicine at all in it (a sugar pill, for instance), that patient might well feel better, and even recover, simply because he believes that the pill will help.
True, placebos will not cure everyone, but that this effect exists, is clear to physicians both mainstream and alternative.
The opposite is also known: the "nocebo". If you give someone that same sugar pill, yet tell him that it has a number of negative side effects, there is a very good chance that the person will actually experience those side effects, even though there was nothing in that pill that could in fact cause them: it is merely the person's belief in the side effects that causes them to actually occur.
The power of belief over one's well-being can be seen in everyday, practical situations. Many years ago, I was with a girlfriend who couldn't sleep, since she had been bitten by a mosquito, and the itch was keeping her awake.
Knowing about the strength of belief, and the placebo effect, I immediately had a solution.
"Don't worry!" I told her with a smile, "I have the perfect medicine. It is guaranteed to relieve the itch right away. Wait a minute, I'll go get it."
Returning with a daub of simple moisturizing cream, I applied the "wonder ointment" to her bite, and lo and behold! After just a minute, she said it didn't hurt at all anymore!
Having learned hypnosis at an early age, I have long been aware of the power of the human mind to influence the body. I believe that every physician should be required to study hypnosis, not just as a peculiar "aside" during medical school, but rather, to master it, and to employ it to help patients when an occasion presents itself. Of course, it is much easier for a doctor to simply prescribe something, and that of course is what the Pharmaceutical Industry wants them to do (and even bribes them to do), for how will the "Industry" make more money if a physician uses hypnosis, and not drugs, to cure many of his or her patients?
Though placebos can work quite well with ailments such as headaches, insect bites, upset stomach, and many others, to try to rely on them to cure cancer would be foolish. True, the power of belief can (and I'm sure does) help cancer patients to a degree: if the belief in a full recovery is extremely strong, it could well save someone's life. Nonetheless, I think we should keep in mind that which is almost certainly a fact: namely, that cancer, in many, if not most cases, is a result − the result of (most likely) a combination of factors in one's past that have led to this selfdestructive disease.
One of those factors is no doubt often one that is mental/emotional. There are signs that even mainstream medicine is gradually realizing this as well. For instance, I recently found an article in the site of the National Institute of Health on the hypothesis that laughter has a positive effect on the immune system. (View it here.)
In another article at that same mainstream medical site, we read about the "novel" hypothesis that there is a connection between the immune system and the emotions in general. I put the word "novel" in quotations because this idea is truly nothing new: thousands of natural physicians have been saying this for many years. Nonetheless, it is truly refreshing to see that little by little, mainstream doctors are finally coming around and have opened their minds to the point that they are actually considering viewing the issue of health from a total mind/body perspective, instead of merely continuing the practice of treating all illnesses as "foreign invasions" that must be combated using dangerously invasive drugs.
As we have seen, the evidence is mounting that your feelings and thoughts can have a decided impact on your health. Other factors being the same (diet, exercise, etc.), people who think positively, and who have a happy and fulfilling emotional life will generally also have a relatively strong immune system, whereas individuals who are habitually pessimistic, and whose feelings are distinguished by an excess of sadness, guilt, despair, a sense of meaninglessness, etc., will probably have immune systems that are not as strong as they could be, and that may even weaken to the point that they contribute to the onset of a number of illnesses − including cancer.
As you can see, perhaps my opening question − "Do you really want to live?" − no longer seems so silly after all. If you want to be sure that you are doing everything possible to cure cancer, dealing with the patient's thought patterns and feelings should play a vital role in any therapy, whether mainstream or alternative.
Unfortunately, this is only seldom the case. Mainstream medicine is largely dominated by the view that the patient must simply submit to whatever the doctors recommend, which is almost invariably a treatment based on (expensive) drugs, while any possible mental/emotional contributors to the illness are practically totally ignored. And if perchance an observant physician does notice that the patient is (for example) depressed, what will he most likely do? Prescribe yet another drug, an antidepressant, which in turn will have a list of immune-system weakening side effects! This is both ironic, and deeply disturbing.
But don't despair: if you or a loved one have cancer, there is no law that says you must limit your curative efforts to what doctors say. You yourself can play an essential role in the healing process, and indeed, you should actively do everything you possibly can to assure that your immune system is strengthened.
This theme runs throughout this book. Here, as we are focusing on the mental/emotional component in disease formation, I think it is appropriate to give you a number of questions you should ask yourself if you have cancer:
1) Up to now, has my life really been fulfilling, and happy? Have I been able to appreciate being alive? Am I able to find joy even in the routine of everyday life, or have I long felt bored and unsatisfied with what life has been giving me?
2) Have I been able to find humor in life? Can I laugh at myself when I am frustrated or dissatisfied, or do I react instead with anger, depression, and/or bitterness?
3) Am I doing the things in life that I believe will give me the most true happiness and satisfaction, or have I been simply living the way others think I should live?
4) Am I happy in my relationships? If not: am I able to recognize the role I myself have played in these relationships not being so good, or have I commonly simply placed the blame on the others?
5) If I indeed do see where I am to blame, do I perhaps tend to exaggerate my own guilt? Do I think that maybe I'm just a "bad" person? Am I able to forgive − not only others, but also myself, when they, or I, don't live up to my (perhaps unreasonable) expectations?
6) Do I tend to dwell on the past, instead of concentrating on the present?
7) Do I often try to escape from what I know I should be doing by resorting to artificial stimulants, drugs, an excess of TV, or other types of passive entertainment? Do I really try to make the best use of my time here on earth?
8) Do I habitually look towards the future with joyous anticipation, or do I rather spend a lot of time fearing the things that could possibly happen?
These are only meant to be examples of the sorts of questions you should ask yourself in an effort to discover the psychological factors that may well be playing a role in your illness. When pondering these questions, be honest with yourself. After all, there is no need whatsoever to tell others what answers you have come up with. It's only important that you yourself delve into your psyche, and try to come up with an honest assessment of your mental and emotional life.
Please note that I am not implying that everyone will find definite psychological correlations to the physical reality of cancer. I am merely suggesting that such factors can (and probably are) present, at least to a certain degree, and should therefore be recognized, and taken into account. After all, the main message of this book is that we should do everything we can to strengthen our immune system; therefore, we must never neglect those psychological factors that could well be weakening us, both physically as well as mentally.
In case your answers to some of the above questions happened to be of the negative variety, the big question would now be: What can you do about it? In other words, assuming that your life has not been optimal in a number of emotional respects, what concrete steps can you take to improve things? And for that matter, if you already have cancer, is it “too late” to make such fundamental changes? The answer to this last question can only be discovered if you give it a try! And as for “What can you do about it?”, each person’s path will most likely be somewhat different from those of others. However (if only as an example), allow me to give a few suggestions on how you might go about making positive psychological changes – changes that could well decidedly tip the balance in your favor when dealing with cancer.