Mind/Body Medicine
At St. Mary's Cancer Center, we embrace the philosophy of mind/body medicine. We can collaborate with your physicians and the Hope Resource Center to help you learn and practice various self-healing techniques. While medical treatment must remain your first line of defense, you can become an active partner with the health care team.
Mind/body medicine may soon revolutionize modern health care. Recognized by the profound interconnection of mind and body, the body's innate healing connection and the role of self-responsibility in the healing process, mind/body medicine offers a wide range of modalities, including biofeedback, imagery, meditation, and yoga:
The Mind/Body Connection
In the last thirty years, scientists have begun to explore the complex interconnections between mind and body. "Psychological, sociological, and anthropological studies have confirmed what was clinically obvious-that people who are beset with poverty, job dissatisfaction, prejudice, cultural dislocation, long-term loneliness, or the sudden loss of a loved one are far more vulnerable to illness and death than those who are fulfilled in their social and interpersonal world," states Dr. Gordon.
Mood, attitude, and belief can affect virtually every chronic illness: fear, cynicism, as well as a sense of hopelessness and helplessness can have a detrimental effect on health; whereas courage, good humor, a sense of control, and hopefulness can all be beneficial. Optimistic people are less likely to become ill and, when they do become ill, tend to live longer and suffer less.
Studies at Yale and Rutgers Universities by Ellen Idler, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology at Rutgers, and Stanislav Kasl, Ph.D., Professor of Epidemiology at Yale, indicate that the opinion of one's health status-how well one thinks one is-may be the best predictor of well-being and future health.
The scientific underpinnings for these clinical studies and anecdotal reports may be found in the new and rapidly expanding field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). The fruits of this approach are already being harvested in comprehensive programs of mind/body medicine at Harvard University, the University of Massachusetts, Stanford University, the University of Miami, and the University of California at San Francisco.
There are people with life-threatening and debilitating illness who have changed their habits and attitude, what they eat, when they exercise, and how they think. A number of landmark studies have shown that these men and women are functioning far more effectively, feeling better, and in some particularly striking instances, living longer.
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Psychoneuroimmunology
In the 1970s, great advances in the study of the immune system helped to clarify the relationship between body and mind, which gave rise to the field of psychoneuroimmunology. Researchers found that naturally occurring substances known as peptides or neuropeptides (messenger molecules made up of amino acids), could cause alterations of mood, pain, and pleasure.
Among the first of these substances identified were endorphins, which is shorthand for endogenous morphines, meaning "the brain's own morphine." When endorphins are released, they produce pleasurable responses, similar to those associated with opiates.
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The Chemistry of Emotion
"We have come to theorize that these neuropeptides and their receptors are the biochemical correlates of emotions," says Candace Pert, Ph.D., visiting Professor at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, and former Chief of the Section on Brain Biochemistry of the Clinical Neuroscience Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health.
"It took us fifteen years of research before we dared make that connection," adds Dr. Pert, "but we know that these neuropeptides are released during different emotional states. But the astounding revelation is that these endorphins and other chemicals like them are found not just in the brain, but also in the immune system, the endocrine system, and throughout the body.
"When people discovered that there were endorphins in the brain that caused euphoria and pain relief, everyone could handle that. However, when they discovered they were in the immune system, as well, it just didn't fit, so these findings were denied for years. The original scientists had to repeat their studies many, many times to be believed."
Emotions, previously thought to be purely psychological, could now be linked to specific chemical processes taking place throughout the body, not just in the brain. Likewise, these peptides were seen to affect the functioning of all systems in the body, including the immune system.
"Viruses use the same receptors (as a neuropeptide) to enter into a cell," explains Dr. Pert, "and depending on how much of the natural peptide for that receptor is around, the virus will have an easier or harder time getting into the cell. So our emotional state will affect whether we'll get sick from the same loading dose of a virus."
Statistics have always borne out this relationship between the emotional state of an individual and his or her health, adds Dr. Pert. "You know the data about how people have more heart attacks on Monday mornings, and how death peaks in Christians the day after Christmas and in Chinese people the day after the Chinese New Year. But now science has been able to confirm that 'emotional' fluctuations and emotional status directly influence that probability that the (human) organism will get sick or be well."
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Immune System Conditioning
Researchers also discovered that the immune system, like the central nervous system, has a memory and the capacity to learn. Thus, it could be said that the intelligence is located in literally every cell of the body, and that the traditional separation of mind and body no longer applies.
Robert Ader, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Behavior and Psychosocial Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York, conducted several studies that confirmed this belief.
In one study, rats were given an immune-suppressing drug flavored with saccharin. Eventually, they were conditioned to suppress their immune systems in response to the taste of saccharin alone. Another study showed that their immune systems could be similarly enhanced through conditioning. Since the immune systems of the rats are comparable to those of human beings, Dr. Ader suggests that people "can learn to influence the balance that maintains health in relation to the outside world."
"Conditioning is a powerful bridge between mind and body," states Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., for "the body cannot tell the difference between events that are actual threats to survival and events that are present in thought alone."
The implications of this work for human learning are vast, for they strongly suggest that internal and external stimuli (memories, thoughts, emotions, body movements, sounds, smells, tastes, situations, settings) can affect a variety of previously conditioned immune responses.
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The Effect of Consciousness on the Body
The extent by which consciousness can take control over the body is remarkable. Biofeedback research, for example, has shown that individuals can learn to control brainwave activity, affect cardiovascular and respiratory functioning, reduce skin temperature, and voluntarily modify many other autonomic processes of the body.
John Basmajian, M.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Canada, who is a pioneer in biofeedback research, demonstrated that people could learn to consciously control individual neurons and muscle cells. Single cell control through consciousness offers the possibility that one can affect any part of one's body, knowing how this works.
Numerous other studies have demonstrated that consciousness can be used to relieve tension headaches, hypertension, urinary and fecal incontinence, temporo-mandibular joint syndrome, involuntary muscle spasms, muscle paralysis caused by cerebrovascular accident, and dyskinesia. Consciousness can also be directed toward lowering blood pressure, reducing certain malfunctions of the heart, and modifying gastrointestinal secretions that cause ulcers, stomach acidity, and irritable bowel syndrome.
This extension of conscious control over involuntary systems has far-reaching implications for psychology and medicine," adds pioneering researchers Elmer Green, Ph.D., and Alyce Green, founders of the Voluntary Controls Programs at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. "It suggests that human beings are not biological robots, controlled entirely by genes and the conditioning of life experiences."
Steven Fahrion, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Applied Psychophysiology at the Menninger Clinic, recalls one patient, a forty-three year old middle management executive, who came to him for treatment of hypertension and elevated blood pressure. Dr. Fahrion noted that the man talked rapidly, was overscheduled, and felt that he never had enough time.
The patient was given biofeedback exercises so that he could learn to relax by consciously controlling the temperature of his hands and feet. He also learned to meditate and use visualization techniques in order to slow down his racing mind. As the man was able to sit quietly, he also began to have insights into his feelings and the way he managed his life, which he discussed with Dr. Fahrion. After three and a half months the man's blood pressure had returned to normal.
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Principles of Mind/Body Medicine
The new mind/body medicine extends beyond the parameters of psychoneuroimmunology to include the fields of psychology and physics in a new "science of consciousness," a view which sees energy as the underlying pattern of the universe.
This view bears similarities to many Asian philosophies that see human beings as part of an interconnected, universal energy field. These Eastern traditions (Ayurveda, qigong, and yoga) have for centuries believed that consciousness plays an essential role in governing physical and psychological health.
Mind/body medicine encompasses the following basic principles, which are often ignored or unrecognized by contemporary Western medicine.
Principle #1: Each Person Is Unique
No two people are alike, so even if they have the same disease, the paths to recovery may be different. Conversely, the same disease can be the result of different factors with different people. Although these principles have been long recognized in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic Medicine, it is a relatively new concept in Western Medicine.
One person, for example, may contract pneumonia as a result of a serious infection or cold, while someone else may come down with the same disease as a result of psychological stress. Yet a third person could become susceptible due to a nutritional or biochemical imbalance.
Roger Williams, Ph.D., a pioneer in biochemistry, called this phenomenon "biochemical individuality," for he recognized that each person was genetically unique, requiring slight variations in nutrient intake in order to function optimally.
Principle #2: Chronic Stress Contributes to Illness
A basic premise in mind/body medicine is that chronic stress and lack of balance contribute to illness. Likewise, relaxation, positive methods of coping with stress, and restoration of balance lead to health.
More important than the stressors themselves is the person's ability to cope. When stressors are met as a challenge and the individual feels competent to cope effectively, health may be enhanced. On the other hand, stress can also cause people to turn to desperate measures to try to cope, as in the case of substance abuse.
In the general adaptation syndrome model, developed by Hans Selye, a pioneer stress researcher, chronic activation of the fight or flight response adds to strain on an organ system over time, and interferes with its ability to adapt. Ultimately, the system breaks down and illness can set in.
British cardiologist Peter Nixon explains that increased stress and arousal cause numerous changes in body functioning that eventually interfere with immune function, protein syntheses, and cardiac functioning. Repetitive stress also uses up the body's reserves, leading to increased stress on other physiological functions. This, in turn, can result in heart disease, cancer, or depression.
If stress contributes to illness, then stress reduction should promote healing. This is the basis of numerous healing modalities such as progressive relaxation, imagery, and biofeedback.
One such stress reduction method, the relaxation response technique, developed by Herbert Benson, M.D., of Harvard University, is a distillation of basic meditative practice, and has been shown to decrease heart rate and blood pressure, enhance health, and reduce the incidence of illness. These basic stress reduction practices can be learned and practiced by anyone.
Principle #3: Taking Self-Responsibility for Healing
Mind/body medicine supports the view that the patient is an active participant in all stages of treatment, rather than a passive recipient of medical intervention. Lawrence LeShan, Ph.D., a pioneer in mind/body medicine for the treatment of cancer, has documented that cancer patients who took charge of their life directions were more likely to recover than those who passively accepted their diagnosis.
Taking action also decreases the fear and depression that so often accompanies life-threatening illness. By becoming actively involved in self-healing, one shifts from the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness that have been shown to increase depression and the risk of death to a sense of control.
Immune functions are also affected by the experiences of helplessness or control. In one study, rats that were conditioned to experience helplessness were more likely to develop cancer from injected tumor cells and die than other rats. Rats that were trained to have a sense of control were best able to reject the tumor cells.
Principle #4: The Body's Innate Healing Capabilities
The body has a natural, biological tendency to move toward health and balance, a phenomenon that can be observed in the simple healing of a cut in which the body automatically closes the wound and repairs the damage.
The well-known "placebo effect" (in which a neutral substance is found to effectively cure an ailment or disease) also demonstrates the body's capacity to heal itself. Erik Peper, Ph.D., Associate Director of The Institute for Holistic Healing Studies at San Francisco State University, suggests that "the placebo effect can decrease or remove the constraints that are interfering with the body's intrinsic drive toward wholeness." These constraints can include feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, negative beliefs about the illness, and negative self-images.
Jeanne Achterberg, Ph.D., President of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology, adds that the effectiveness of the placebo varies "depending upon how much the patient expects to benefit." In other words, those who think they will get better have a significantly greater recovery rate than those who think that they will not get better, or think they will get worse.
Principle #5: The Importance of the Client-Provider Relationship
The relationship between the client and the physician can strongly influence the healing process. For example, when a physician is perceived as powerful and trustworthy, the client gets better faster, and one study has even shown that physician reassurance and support raises the threshold of pain tolerance in hospital patients.
Mind/body medicine recognizes that the practitioner is constantly communicating (consciously and unconsciously) with the client. Just as the placebo is seen as a way of promoting healing through the patient's belief system, the positive attitude of the doctor can influence the outcome of a given treatment, while discouraging statements or prejudices can evoke what some call a "nocebo" effect by undermining the patient's confidence and hindering the healing process.
Unfortunately, this dimension of the healing process is rarely noticed or addressed. Thus, a doctor who thinks of a patient as hopeless will convey this to the patient even if the thought is unspoken. In the ideal client/provider relationship, the healing process is viewed as a working partnership in which both parties respect the knowledge and intuition of the other. In this respect, the health care provider seeks to convey the potential for wholeness in each client.
Principle #6: A Systems Approach
Mind/body medicine is based upon a systems perspective that recognizes that human lives are influenced by many interrelated factors, including genetics, family and socioeconomic background, diet, exercise, social support, risk-taking behaviors, attitudes, and spiritual practices. An illness may be only a manifestation of imbalance on the physical level but the imbalance may also originate in other aspects of the self, such as the mental or emotional state.
Any movement toward health mobilizes the other healing potentials of the body. As a person makes a change in one area, other areas tend to change as well. For example, if a person begins to exercise, the person may feel more socially confident and might spontaneously change his or her eating habits, thus improving overall physical and emotional health. While any disease may be a problem in but a small part of the total person, the factors that influence its manifestation and subsequent healing can be extraordinarily complex.
Principle #7: The Energy Field Perspective
Each of us has various fields of energy that can be measured instrumentally with an EKG (electrocardiograph), an EEG (electroencephalograph), or electroacupuncture biofeedback testing, a method of testing based on measurement of the electrical properties of acupuncture points. These energy fields are continuously affected by changes in physical or psychological health, and can even be influenced by the energy fields of others.
Dr. Robert Becker, M.D., a pioneer in the study of the effects of electromagnetism on health, found that small electric currents can stimulate cells to regenerate, fractures to heal faster, and tissue to repair itself. Research in neuropsychiatry over the past few decades has also shown that small electric currents between specific points in the brain give rise to the same behavioral changes that are observed with the injection of certain brain-stimulating chemicals.
The energy field perspective can even be applied to hospital settings. Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N., a former Professor of Nursing at New York University, has developed a technique known as Therapeutic Touch, or healing touch, which has been proven to be effective in treating a variety of medical conditions.
According to Dr. Krieger, Therapeutic Touch, or healing touch, "is a contemporary interpretation of several ancient healing practices in which the practitioner consciously directs or sensitively modulates human energies."
The proper use of Therapeutic Touch, or healing touch, can increase hemoglobin and decrease anxiety, reduce pain, accelerate the healing of surgical wounds, and help correct dysfunctions of the automatic nervous system. This technique has been taught to more than 37,000 nurses, doctors, and health practitioners.
The importance of human touch is greatly emphasized in mind/body medicine, especially for children. "In a child, absence of touch can cause the pituitary gland not to secrete enough growth hormone," says Dr. Borysenko. "The child will dwarf, developing what is called 'failure to thrive' syndrome. The child can't assimilate nutrients and may actually sicken and die."
Handling and physical affection have been shown to increase the survival rate of infants, improve psychological skills and functioning, promote physical growth and immune function, and, most importantly, enable a person to respond effectively to stress. Also, autopsies on rats that were given extra handling and care showed much less damage to their cardiovascular and intestinal systems than those whom were not handled.
Principle #8: Illness as Message, Not Enemy
In many ways, contemporary medicine conveys the notion of all-out war against disease, in which illness is seen as an enemy and death as a failure. From a mind/body perspective, illness is seen as a communication from the body, a warning signal that something needs attention. People can use this "message" to review the entire mind/body system and see how it is functioning as a whole. If a person experiences back pain, he or she might ask, "Am I carrying too much emotional weight? Am I under too much stress? Am I using my body properly or exercising it well?"
In mind/body medicine, one looks beyond the immediate problem to include a larger dimension of one's life. For example, a heart attack may signal a person to become less competitive at work and give more attention to relaxation, hobbies, family, and the enjoyment of life. In this process a person's heart will heal literally and symbolically. The highly successful program for healing heart disease conducted by Dean Ornish, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor at San Francisco, utilizes these components.
Principle #9: A Variety of Ways to Heal
Ultimately people do not know how healing occurs. The best people can do is to support and encourage the body's intrinsic healing mechanisms. Mind/body medicine often begins by promoting physical and mental relaxation, and developing better ways of coping with stress.
Various techniques include meditation, biofeedback, hypnotherapy, imagery, hypnosis, neuro-lingustic programming, qigong, massage, bodywork, exercise, yoga, breathwork, and progressive relaxation techniques. Even herbal remedies and acupuncture may be used to promote relaxation. Lifestyle changes may also be required in this holistic approach to health.
By taking time to relax, one becomes more mindful of one's condition, grows more aware of the body's subtle signals, and responds to stress long before its destructive effects can take hold. One's depleted energy reserves can by rebuilt by:
incorporating many short relaxation practices throughout the day, and
continuing to relax instead of tensing when encountering a source of stress.
How a person frames or perceives experiences may also have a direct impact on the immune system. Symbolic threats produce real psychological consequences, as every good worrier knows. Perception of meaning, and the language used, may also be an essential element of healing.
Principle #10: Health Requires Emotional Balance
Grief, bereavement, depression, fear, and panic have been shown to suppress the immune response, while laughter, play, love, faith, hope, and self-acceptance help to stimulate and balance immune function.
Part of healing, then, involves the recognition and release of negative emotions such as resentment, guilt, anger, self-hatred, and the fostering of feelings of well being, adequacy, and self-control. Studies have shown that having a sense of control, commitment, and connectedness-along with viewing change as a challenge rather than a threat-promotes the maintenance of good health even when under stress.
Principle #11: Sharing and Support
Satisfaction in relationships and work are also essential to one's happiness and health. Healthy relationships are characterized by a mutual flow of giving and receiving, mutual support and respect, and the ability to work out conflicts and difficulties.
To be able to share feelings and pain with one another is an essential component to healing, for it shows us that people are not alone and that they have something to offer. This can be accomplished in therapy, in social groups, and through the development of friends or close family relationships.
David Spiegel, a psychiatrist at Stanford University, demonstrated that women with breast cancer who participated in a weekly support group lived twice as long as those who did not.
"There is overwhelming evidence that people who have few social contacts are more likely to get sick and less likely to recover from an illness," says Dr. Peper.
One long-term study found that people with the lowest amount of social ties were two to three times more likely to die of all causes than those with the most social connectedness. "Isolation and loneliness have also been shown to result in immune problems in bereaved individuals who have recently lost their loved ones," adds Dr. Fahrion.
Principle #12: Imagery in Healing
Imagery is an important tool for healing. Dr. Achterberg suggests that every image a person has in the mind can affect immune function, blood flow, and heart rate. Other studies have shown that Imagery can decrease chronic nightmares, reduce substance abuse, and alleviate many other psychological problems.
For more information on imagery, click here.
Principle #13: Breath
Regulation of breathing plays an important role in mind/body medicine, because it is capable of bringing about a state of relaxation. Shallow chest breathing and hyperventilation, for example, are part of the body's response to stress. These dysfunctional breathing patterns can cause increased heart rate, blood vessel constriction, and muscle tension, as well as chains of negative thoughts.
A person who suppresses unpleasant feelings and thoughts may also unknowingly restrict his or her breathing. Thus, it is important to express and release these emotions in order to maintain proper breathing. Likewise, proper breathing can help facilitate an emotional release. Many psycho-oriented therapies such as Reichian therapy emphasize emotional release through deliberate alteration of breathing patterns.
Slow, conscious, diaphragmatic breathing is a powerful tool for promoting relaxation and awareness. It is an essential component of many therapeutic approaches to the body and the mind, and is utilized in most forms of meditation as well as in the practice of yoga and qigong. When cardiac patients, who are usually shallow chest breathers, learn slow diaphragmatic breathing, there is a 50 percent drop in recurrence of coronary events. It can also be used to reduce panic attacks, headache, chest pain, and other symptoms.
In a study at San Francisco State University, Dr. Peper, along with his student Vicci Tibbets, worked with a group of asthmatics to help them learn self-regulation approaches. Participants met in a group for sixteen weeks, utilizing the power of group support. They were given slow diaphragmatic breathing and biofeedback training for calming the upper body muscles.
Once breathing techniques were mastered, the participants learned to use them in increasingly stressful situations. As they began to feel in control, their fears decreased, and a sense of hope emerged. Those participants who took charge of their lives and continued with their training were found to be in better shape at the fifteen-month follow-up, showing that self-responsibility contributed to the enhancement of their health.
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Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide
Complied by The Burton Group
Future Medicine Publishing, 1997
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