Chapter 3
Don't
Try This at Home!
What We Don't Like about the Mind-Body Approach
The list of what we don't like about the mind-body approach is so long it's little wonder we can't bring ourselves to get serious about it. To start with, there's the assumption that only simple, foolish, and gullible people respond strongly to "mental suggestion." If the mind-body approach works for us, we're labeled "highly suggestible," or it is assumed, damningly, that we weren't really sick in the first place. The rest of us think we’re too sophisticated and adult—or too genuinely sick—to be so easily influenced by such hocus-pocus.
The truth is the only thing we really like about the idea of the mind-body approach is that it sounds like magic. Just "think positive," picture the disease disappearing and miracles will happen—no more unpleasant trips to the doctor, no gruesome hospital visits, and no disease and death on the horizon.
This approach to health is not as simple as might seem, though, and we won’t be able to take it seriously until we become aware of all the ways we find it scary, hard, dangerous, uncomfortable, and threatening.
This chapter looks at the barriers to fully embracing the mind-body approach to health, from lack of clarity about what it is and how it works, to the scientific resistance fed by lack of social support for this approach. In addition to the fact that using mind-body practices seems like way too much work for a society that believes progress means health care will become effortless, there are also angry accusations that this orientation is cruel, unfair, and burdensome to sick people. A major component of the mind-body approach—self-responsibility—is unappealing because of the assumption that responsibility equals guilt. Since illness is a guaranteed, guilt-free way to avoid things we don’t want to deal with, it's no surprise that we are reluctant to accept a point of view that seems to eliminate this socially acceptable escape hatch.
Topics in this chapter:
Science says, "This isn't scientific"
"We don’t know how this works." Science dismisses the mind-body connection because it is not understandable from the current scientific worldview.
"It’s unquantifiable." Science says it’s too hard to measure the results of the mind-body connection, making it impossible to advise health institutions whether they might benefit from using it.
"What is consciousness?" According to science, the mind is the brain, and if it’s not, they don’t know how to think about it. Scientists can’t define consciousness, therefore they can't discuss it.
"The plural of anecdote is not data!" The mind-body approach is not objective; therefore it’s not scientific, according to the guys making the rules about such things. If it’s not scientific, it has nothing to do with anything that counts.
"Only an gullible idiot would believe this nonsense!" Science
defines the topic of healing and the mind out of the picture. According
to this perspective, it is nothing a thinking person could take
seriously.
Patients say, "I don't think so!"
It seems as though we aren’t in control when using this method. We understand pills and surgery, but applying the mind-body connection seems too mysterious.
In order to make conscious use of the mind-body approach, you have to change things that seem hard to change, like what you believe is true and how you react to things that happen in your life. It seems easier to just take pills.
Many believe it’s too hard to use the mind-body approach to figure out why you’re sick. Conventional medicine’s "a cold is a cold is a cold" approach seems much easier to deal with than trying to understand what beliefs led to your particular set of symptoms.
It seems too scary to try this approach because there is no social support for it. People are sympathetic if you’re sick, but they may not be if they think you're just not dealing well with something upsetting in your life. Because there’s no encouragement for using mind-body approaches to health, where can you turn for advice or comfort?
If the way you react to life got you into this health mess, how can you trust yourself to get out of it? If you can’t figure out how your beliefs made you sick, how will you know if you’ve changed enough to get well?
It seems easier to buy your way out of health problems. You’re too busy to figure out what’s wrong with you. You just want to feel better fast and get on with your life.
You need to prove you’re really sick to collect on the benefits of illness. Who will help you if they believe "it’s all in your head"? How can you take time off from work if "it’s all in your head"? How can you get your insurance to pick up the tab if "it’s all in your head"?
Physical problems are taken seriously. We think having psychological
problems means you need to pull up your socks, get a grip, and snap out
of it. There’s nothing nice
about having psychological problems, while there’s plenty of use to be gotten
from physical problems.
Society says, "Better watch out!"
We fear being lulled into a false sense of security about health in what we see as a dangerous world. The mind-body approach sounds too good to be true—like wishful thinking. It goes completely counter to the assumption that eternal vigilance is the price of health.
We worry that the mind-body approach will keep people from "real" medical care. We assume that conventional medicine is the only way to treat "real" illness.
We fear that the using the mind-body approach can be hazardous to your health—what if you do it wrong and die? Even though conventional medicine doesn’t work all the time on every condition, and even though conventional medical treatments are directly implicated in thousands of deaths each year, we have convinced ourselves that it works all the time, that it’s not only safe and good, but practically foolproof. It's not surprising that health care methods we don’t understand are considered unsafe and bad.
Who can you blame if the mind-body approach doesn’t work? When you make others responsible for your health, it means getting to sue them if things go wrong. If you become responsible for your health, you lose the ability to punish others for your problems.
We believe those who are sick have enough problems without being burdened with responsibility for their health when they’re suffering. And being a victim is a socially powerful role. Victim advocates fear that more would be lost than gained from the self-responsible expectations of the mind-body approach.
This social equation makes responsibility unappealing because being responsible means you’re at fault. As long as your illness is "real," you are an innocent victim. If you become responsible for your health, the assumption is you are to blame for it and therefore, not deserving of kindness, care, attention, help, and insurance reimbursements.