Open Writing

Have you ever stopped to wonder what really causes illness?

Soon after I’d left an unhappy relationship and moved in with Leon, I developed a nasty cold accompanied by the usual coughing, sneezing and spluttering. After it had lasted about a week without sign of improvement, Leon sat with me, quietly asking questions about what I thought I had lost and how I felt about each item.

My first concerns were for my almost-adult children. “But - have you really left them behind?” he asked.

“No, of course not,” I answered, with a degree of tartness. “They know they can come here any time they want to, they supported me in this move, they love me, they visit regularly.”

Next, with prompting, I worked through a list of furniture, appliances, ornaments and pictures, ending with the house which had once been such an unhappy home. As we discussed each item, I came to realise that these were mere physical possessions that could easily be replaced or that I didn’t need. By the end of the conversation, the cold that had plagued me for so long had miraculously cleared. Leon didn’t say – “Ah, well, that’s the cause of your cold.” He merely asked me questions which gently made me examine each individual ‘loss’, thereby neutralising its subconscious effect on me. By dealing with my emotional concerns so effectively, my mind cured my body.

“Aha!” I hear you cry, “A miracle – you’ve found the cure for the common cold!”

Yes, in theory, anyone can heal their own common cold. However, having the patience, time and integrity to recognise one’s irrationalities and the guidance of someone who knows how to ask the appropriate questions are all needed to affect such a recovery.

There is a definite link between one’s emotions and one’s health – often with an appropriate and sometimes humorous connection. When I’m annoyed with circumstances beyond my control, bladder infections develop, which disappear only with the help of antibiotics. Perhaps this, if you’ll pardon the expression, is where the term, “I’m really pissed off,” comes from?

People living in unhappy circumstances develop all kinds of symptoms – from colds and ‘flu to gastric disturbances and others far more serious . Psychologists have found that some cancers develop after prolonged periods of stress, resentment, or repressed anger. Yes, germs, bacteria and viruses do exist; however, being unable to change negative circumstances creates emotional dis-ease, which weakens the body’s resistance to these organisms, predisposing it to physical illness.

The mind and emotions can cure as well as cause illness. A paediatric oncologist’s cure rate among his patients is impressively higher than that of his colleagues. His treatments differ by including a daily hour of play therapy during which he asks his young patients to imagine that the cancer cells are ‘baddies’ which are killed by the ‘super-heroes’ represented by chemo-therapy and radiation. When I mentioned this to an adult friend who has what she terms ‘rogue cells’ in her pituitary gland, she nodded in agreement. “I visualise my medication changing the bad cells into beautiful flowers,” she told me. From the moment of diagnosis, she has been convinced that she will tame the growth in her brain and regain full health. In the short time she has been on the medication her condition has improved remarkably.

Miracles of healing could happen regularly if the medical profession recognised the benefits of communication and working with their patients, rather than imposing negativity and impersonal treatments on them. Miracles of self-healing could happen regularly if people learned to combine the will to heal themselves with the ability to address their negative emotions.

Until next week – ‘here comes Treble!’

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