Re: question on a positive attitude and recovery

[Guest guest]

>

> dear catherine,

> i have one more philosophical question please. i hope you don't

mind

> as you answered my other one so beautifully. my (very optimistic)

> husband always tells me that guided imagry and having a positive

> attitude helps the body and brain heal faster. he always tells me

> stories he hears of people who have cancer and other stuff who cure

> themself even without conventional medicine thru their mind. my

> question for you is, how can thinking positively help a person in

> withdrawal heal faster? it just seems like such a unscientical

notion.

> how can a rationally minded person conceive of such a notion. it

makes

> no sense to me how the brain and body can heal just by thinking

> certain thoughts. i would like to understand this concept better

and

> try to work at it if it can help my recover. others might also be

> interested. thank you very much.>>

** That's an easy one! There's no separation between mind and

body. Take, for example, if a person feels depressed. The origin of

it doesn't matter; both the mind and body suffer.

Every thought influences your chemistry. Think about people you

know. Who do you know that has a negative attitude --that believes

things are " unfair " , tragic, and life is just a whole lot of work.

These people are going to look older, have more health problems, and

go through life relatively emotionally alone because no one wants

that energy around them.

People highly practiced in meditation can slow their breathing and

need for oxygen down to where you and I would pass out. This is

altering the chemistry through belief and practice.

Science is extremely limited in what it knows. It only wants to

measure everything. That which it can't measure (most of what we

are) gets dismissed as being invalid or non-existent. I'm reminded

here of when science decoded two strands of the 12 strand DNA we

have. They said the other 10 strands were " junk " . Mind you, they

didn't decode them, they merely dismissed them because they couldn't

decode them. Several years later -- oops! Science reports decoding

a THIRD strand of DNA " but the other 9 are junk. " A short time after

that, the 4th strand of useful DNA was revealed. Did science learn

anything from this? No, they didn't. " The other 8 strands of DNA

are junk, " they say.

Try listening for a full day to people who think life is unfair,

hate most things about their life, and don't hesitate to tell you

this. How do you feel at the end of the day?

Dr. Lee Berk and fellow researcher Dr. Stanley Tan of Loma

University in California have been studying the effects of laughter

on the immune system. To date their published studies have shown that

laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases

muscle flexion, and boosts immune function by raising levels of

infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma-

interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies.

Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural

painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.

Even the American Academy of Family Physicians recognizes the mind-

body connection.

http://familydoctor.org/782.xml

Science doesn't recognize people who are " mediums " or " psychics " .

Yet, if you've ever attended a Message Service at a Spiritualist

Retreat you would see 150 people in the audience and several mediums

come up one at a time and point people out and deliver to them a

message from beyond the Earth plane. Now, those woh want to

discredit this say that these people who are pointed out are planted

in the audience. This is not true. I've had two personal

experiences in this setting. In one, my partner's son was singled

out and told that his great grandmother would be tesching him in his

sleep about herbal medicine. No one there had met this child and his

home was a few hundred miles away. Indeed, his great grandmother,

who had died within the past year, was an herbalist. Science would

tell you this is not possible.

One's beliefs govern the energy one attracts. Wayne Dyer writes

of just this:

-- The Power of Intention by Wayne W. Dyer

Some wonderful books on the mind-body connection are written by

Deepak Chopra. I would highly recommend reading some of his books.

-- Ageless Body, Timeless Mind : The Quantum Alternative to Growing

Old

-- The Path to Love : Spiritual Strategies for Healing

-- Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide, Revised and Updated

Edition

Another helpful book:

-- Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting: The Astonishing Power of

Feelings (Paperback)

by Lynn Grabhorn

An article:

Chronic Stress Can Interfere with Normal Function of the Immune

System

May Increase Susceptibility To Inflammatory Diseases Such As

Allergic, Autoimmune Or Cardiovascular Diseases

WASHINGTON -- Chronic stress not only makes people more vulnerable to

catching illnesses but can also impair their immune system's ability

to respond to its own anti-inflammatory signals that are triggered by

certain hormones, say researchers, possibly altering the course of an

inflammatory disease. This finding is reported on in the November

issue of Health Psychology, published by the American Psychological

Association (APA).

Chronic stress seems to impair the immune system's capacity to

respond to glucocorticoid hormones that normally are responsible for

terminating an inflammatory response following infection and/or

injury, according to researchers E. , Ph.D., of

Washington University and colleagues. To examine what happens to

people's immune systems during on-going stressful situations, the

researchers compared 25 healthy parents with children undergoing

treatment for pediatric cancer with 25 healthy parents with healthy

children on measures of mental health, effects of social support and

certain immune system responses. All the parents had blood drawn at

the initial session and salivary cortisol samples taken at

intermittent times over two days.

Parents of cancer parents reported more psychological distress than

parents with healthy children, according to the study. The parents of

cancer patients also were found to have diminished glucocorticoid

sensitivity compared to parents of medically healthy children. This

hormone is responsible for turning off the in vitro production of the

pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1B, interleukin-6 and tumor

necrosis factor, said Dr. . The good news found by the

researchers was that social support lessened the immunologic

consequences of caring for a child with cancer, perhaps by helping

the parents deal with the economic, work and family disruptions

caused by the disease and its treatment.

" These findings suggest a novel mechanism through which psychological

stress could influence the onset and/or progression of conditions

that involve excessive inflammation, like allergic, autoimmune,

cardiovascular, infectious and rheumatologic illnesses, " Dr. .

But even though the cancer patient parents reported more depressive

symptoms, depression does not seem to operate as a mediator. It may

be that anxiety, intrusive thoughts, feelings of helplessness or lack

of sleep may be influencing the stress-related reductions in

glucocorticoid sensitivity.

Article: " Chronic Psychological Stress and the Regulation of Pro-

Inflammatory Cytokines: A Glucocorticoid-Resistance Model, "

E. , Ph.D., Washington University; Sheldon Cohen, Ph.D.,

Carnegie Mellon University; A. Kim Ritchey, M.D., Children's Hospital

of Pittsburgh; Health Psychology, Vol 21, No. 6.

Full text of the article is available from at

http://www.apa.org/journals/hea/press_releases/november_2002/hea216531

..html

Regards,

[Guest guest]

WOW, you are amazing!

It is so true, surround yourself by people that moan and think that

the world is unjust and owes them something............I feel

exhausted by such people!!

Thanks for the book titles , I'm going to check them out.

Love ya

[Guest guest]

catherine--- this is related so.....

i started using the relaxation tapes from my anxiety and depression

program a month ago as well as started going through the lessons again.

there was probably no way i was going to be able to stop beating

myself up and being unhealthy towards myself in my condition without

it. i need throughly guided assistance. its too bad it took me so

long to start this, but i was so angry. if anyone cant just motivate

themselves or are dealing with obesessing, anxious, neg. personality

you are probably going to need to get something like this. these

drugs can make life so difficult that you need to be there for

yourself 100 percent.

i just about to totally cut out processed foods, im starting to sleep

better, and handle the stress of family, friends, etc.... which is

hard because im still sensitive from paxil. i also have cut down

watching tv among other things. i havent had a panic attack in about

a week, which is something i have had since i can remember. probably

6 or 7 a day.

do you still think i can heal as well as before? or how does the fact

that i put so much strain on my brain for three years effect me?

with all that good. its still hard to do the program because im not

all there. i forget to do things and miss days im suppose to do

things. its also frustrating because it worked so well when i did it

about 5 years ago before i stopped because of a bad incident for me.

i dont get those same feelings.

jason

>

> WOW, you are amazing!

> It is so true, surround yourself by people that moan and think that

> the world is unjust and owes them something............I feel

> exhausted by such people!!

> Thanks for the book titles , I'm going to check them out.

> Love ya

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

You said:

> i started using the relaxation tapes from my anxiety and depression

> program a month ago as well as started going through the lessons again.

> there was probably no way i was going to be able to stop beating

> myself up and being unhealthy towards myself in my condition without

> it. i need throughly guided assistance. its too bad it took me so

> long to start this, but i was so angry. if anyone cant just motivate

> themselves or are dealing with obesessing, anxious, neg. personality

> you are probably going to need to get something like this. these

> drugs can make life so difficult that you need to be there for

> yourself 100 percent.

>

> i just about to totally cut out processed foods, im starting to sleep

> better, and handle the stress of family, friends, etc.... which is

> hard because im still sensitive from paxil. i also have cut down

> watching tv among other things. i havent had a panic attack in about

> a week, which is something i have had since i can remember. probably

> 6 or 7 a day.

>

> do you still think i can heal as well as before? or how does the fact

> that i put so much strain on my brain for three years effect me?>>

** You'd better hope not. From what you've told me you've had

problems as far back as you can recall. No one ever goes back to how

they were before. This is because time goes on and we all change.

You can't go back to where you were before becauae you were years

younger. Stop worrying about that. Where you were before got you

taking psychotropic drugs. Are you sure you want to go back there?

> with all that good. its still hard to do the program because im not

> all there. i forget to do things and miss days im suppose to do

> things. its also frustrating because it worked so well when i did it

> about 5 years ago before i stopped because of a bad incident for me.

> i dont get those same feelings.>>

** Give it time.

--

Regards,

[Guest guest]

i do want to go back to where i was in regards to capabilities--

memory, feelings, sensitivity level, etc....

i always had problems with anxiety since i can remember. but, i was

functional and now i deal with things in a more productive way

because im not so caught up on being perfect, having everyone like

me, worried about every thought or thing i do, etc..... i think

everybody becomes better at these things as they get older like you

said.

it hurts with the feelings not being there with the program. but,

there are little moments that give me hope and then i become more

optomistic. which, you need to be for the program to work.

i also have to try and concentrate. i lose focus so easily. i know

others have talked about this as well. i will being doing a good

job and then i will play 2 hours of video games or eat a big bowl of

ice cream and afterwards go why did i do that. it is still weird

for me to be this way because i was such a focused person before.

i also want to restate that it is important for anyone dealing with

issues of self-esteem, anxiety, etc.. to deal with those issues now

and not wait until you feel better if you have been effected neg. by

the drugs. you wont be strong enough or competent enough to do

that. and will make poor decision because your brain is screwed up

and if you were like me are in a ton of pain.

jason

>

> Dear ,

>

>

>

> You said:

>

>

> > i started using the relaxation tapes from my anxiety and

depression

> > program a month ago as well as started going through the lessons

again.

> > there was probably no way i was going to be able to stop beating

> > myself up and being unhealthy towards myself in my condition

without

> > it. i need throughly guided assistance. its too bad it took me

so

> > long to start this, but i was so angry. if anyone cant just

motivate

> > themselves or are dealing with obesessing, anxious, neg.

personality

> > you are probably going to need to get something like this. these

> > drugs can make life so difficult that you need to be there for

> > yourself 100 percent.

> >

> > i just about to totally cut out processed foods, im starting to

sleep

> > better, and handle the stress of family, friends, etc.... which

is

> > hard because im still sensitive from paxil. i also have cut down

> > watching tv among other things. i havent had a panic attack in

about

> > a week, which is something i have had since i can remember.

probably

> > 6 or 7 a day.

> >

> > do you still think i can heal as well as before? or how does

the fact

> > that i put so much strain on my brain for three years effect me?

>>

>

>

> ** You'd better hope not. From what you've told me you've had

> problems as far back as you can recall. No one ever goes back to

how

> they were before. This is because time goes on and we all change.

> You can't go back to where you were before becauae you were years

> younger. Stop worrying about that. Where you were before got you

> taking psychotropic drugs. Are you sure you want to go back there?

>

> > with all that good. its still hard to do the program because im

not

> > all there. i forget to do things and miss days im suppose to do

> > things. its also frustrating because it worked so well when i

did it

> > about 5 years ago before i stopped because of a bad incident for

me.

> > i dont get those same feelings.>>

>

> ** Give it time.

> --

> Regards,

>

>

[Guest guest]

also, catherine have you seen this before with the withdrawl where

someone couldnt pull themselves together or do most of things you

suggested for a long time like did? it took me a while- almost 3

years or until i felt somewhat decent.

jason

>

> Dear ,

>

>

>

> You said:

>

>

> > i started using the relaxation tapes from my anxiety and

depression

> > program a month ago as well as started going through the lessons

again.

> > there was probably no way i was going to be able to stop beating

> > myself up and being unhealthy towards myself in my condition

without

> > it. i need throughly guided assistance. its too bad it took me

so

> > long to start this, but i was so angry. if anyone cant just

motivate

> > themselves or are dealing with obesessing, anxious, neg.

personality

> > you are probably going to need to get something like this. these

> > drugs can make life so difficult that you need to be there for

> > yourself 100 percent.

> >

> > i just about to totally cut out processed foods, im starting to

sleep

> > better, and handle the stress of family, friends, etc.... which

is

> > hard because im still sensitive from paxil. i also have cut down

> > watching tv among other things. i havent had a panic attack in

about

> > a week, which is something i have had since i can remember.

probably

> > 6 or 7 a day.

> >

> > do you still think i can heal as well as before? or how does

the fact

> > that i put so much strain on my brain for three years effect me?

>>

>

>

> ** You'd better hope not. From what you've told me you've had

> problems as far back as you can recall. No one ever goes back to

how

> they were before. This is because time goes on and we all change.

> You can't go back to where you were before becauae you were years

> younger. Stop worrying about that. Where you were before got you

> taking psychotropic drugs. Are you sure you want to go back there?

>

> > with all that good. its still hard to do the program because im

not

> > all there. i forget to do things and miss days im suppose to do

> > things. its also frustrating because it worked so well when i

did it

> > about 5 years ago before i stopped because of a bad incident for

me.

> > i dont get those same feelings.>>

>

> ** Give it time.

> --

> Regards,

>

>