Harvard Studies: Mental Healing

 

Can your mind control your health? Researchers at Harvard said 75 percent of all disease could be impacted by a better relationship between the mind and body. So if your mind can make you sick, can it also make you better?

John Cressman was 7-years-old when he fell into a fire pit.

"I put my hands in to catch myself. I remember looking down at my hands and seeing the skin almost melted," Cressman said.

Although he was focused on a fast recovery, Cressman never imagined what he would see three weeks later when the bandages were removed.

"The skin, which I still remember them peeling off, had regrown. I know the power of the mind is amazing."

It's that power that psychotherapist Peggy Huddleston tries to capture for thousands of people before surgery.

"No one is going to have positive emotions about surgery. Everyone has negative emotions, so it's taking those negative emotions about whatever the surgery is and finding a way to reframe it so they're welcoming the surgery," Huddleston said.

Huddleston created five steps for patients to use before, during and after surgery. A Harvard study reports the program reduces anxiety and promotes healing. The steps include listening to a relaxation CD twice a day several days before surgery.

Step two is positive healing imagery. That's taking worries and turning them into positive thoughts.

"The third step is my favorite one. They ask their friends and family to think of them wherever they are in the world and to wrap them in a blanket of love," Huddleston said.

Step four is the patient takes healing statements from the book and tapes them to their hospital gowns. The doctor then reads the statements during the surgery.

Gynecological surgeon Nina Carroll has been using the Huddleston technique for several years. Skeptical at first, her patients quickly changed her mind.

"Instead of being in bed, uncomfortable, the frown on the face, distant with the post-operative pain experience, they were like, 'Hi, doc, how are you?' I'm fine. Look at you!"

The last step to healing faster is to meet your anesthesiologist. A Harvard study found that by just meeting your doctor, you'll be calmer.

Another study also shows calmer patients used 50 percent less pain medication and went home 2.7 days earlier than those who didn't meet their doctor.

"It really seemed like my body was listening to the suggestions that I was imagining in my mind," patient Debra Burns said.

Burns used the technique before a biopsy.

"The actual biopsy itself, I felt really no discomfort and no pain," Burns said.

Some say a quick lesson on the positive will not affect your surgery outcome.

"They imply that all you need is to assume a positive attitude, and everything will be ok. That's very different from being characteristically optimistic. There's no evidence you can assume a positive attitude and survive," said Richard Sloan, PhD., professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.

As for Burns, she knows her surgery was different than any other surgeries she's had before, and she is a true believer in mind over medicine.

Expectation is a big part of mind over medicine. A Duke study looked at its role in pain relief. When scientists gave volunteers identical dummy pills before and after an electric shock, they told some the patients the pills cost $2.50 - others only $.10 cents. Eighty-five percent of those getting the more expensive pill reported relief compared to 60 percent of the people who got the less expensive version.

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Medical Breakthroughs Research Summary

Topic:       Mind control
Report:      MB #1642

Background: What if you could heal yourself just by using your mind? Harvard researchers said 75 percent of all disease could be impacted by a better relationship between the mind and body. Many believe that controlling your thoughts could be the key to a healthier, happier life.

Better Surgery Outcomes? Psychotherapist Peggy Huddleston is the author of "Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster."

Huddleston has created a five-step guide for patients to use before, during and after surgery. The idea is to promote positive emotions in the patients during this process. She said the peace patients feel will create the biochemistry of healing and speed up recovery.

These steps include:

1. Listening to a relaxation CD twice a day, several days before surgery.
2. Using positive healing imagery.
3. Asking friends and family to think of them and wrap them in a blanket of love.
4. Taking healing statements from the book and taping them to their hospital gowns. Doctors then read the statements during the surgery.
5. Meeting the anesthesiologist before he/she performs a patient's surgery.

Imagine Yourself Thin? A new technique called the gastric mind band is a way for overweight and obese patients to think themselves thin.

Patients are hypnotized and imagine that they are having gastric lap band surgery. This involves imagining that a band is placed around the upper part of the stomach.

The gastric mind band therapy was developed at a small British CBT and hypnotherapy clinic in southern Spain. The technique originated from a brief conversation with a patient, who said, "I just know that if I had a gastric band and was fitted like my neighbor, the weight would drop off. Couldn't you just hypnotize me and make me believe that I had undergone the procedure and be done with it?"

Over the next year, this unique therapy was developed. It combines cognitive behavior therapy, hypnotherapy and guided imagery. The treatment typically takes place over five sessions. At the final session, the band is fitted, and the client returns for an extra session after 28 days to have the band adjusted.

While some patients have reported impressive results, many experts are skeptical of this technique and others like it that imply just thinking about something can solve a medical problem.