Thursday, December 18, 2008

PERSONAL MUSINGS 3 - Sickness, Illness and the trouble with support Groups.

Many people get sick, many don’t get sick. Some get sick and quickly recover, some don’t. The subject has been discussed here before and we will discuss it much more in the future articles. But in these short musings I will sometimes comment on current events, thoughts and other relevant subject material that I intend to discuss in more detail at some future date.
Many people, especially those with serious illness such as cancer, attend support groups to aid in their recovery. Of course the theory behind this approach is that you will learn what others are doing to cure their affliction and recover. I almost cringe saying this but in a way it’s like the saying “misery loves company”. Groups of sick people finding mutual comfort and sometimes helpful suggestions about their sickness.

In theory, it sounds like a great idea, getting together with others who are in the same boat, so to speak. In practice there can be inherent problems with such an approach. Any time you think about an illness, you unconsciously lend it your energy and strengthen the impetus behind the illness. In practice, it would be better if you did not think about it at all. That is very difficult. What you ignore will begin to fade as you withdraw your energy. What you concentrate your attention on, you will strengthen. If you look for cancers, worry about cancers and explore your body in a search for cancers, your body will not disappoint you; it will give you the cancer you expect. Fear is one of the most important accelerators to help illness achieve reality.

Would you go to see a stock broker for investment advice who always loses money? Would you go to a doctor who has a bad track record with patient survival after surgery? Well of course, the answer is no. Then why would you be found associating with groups of people who obviously know how to get sick? I am not trying to be funny here, but this is a serious subject and it needs to be addressed. Illness, sickness and other afflictions that you were not born with, all have something to do with mental conditions preceding the emergence of the illness. If you want to learn how to be well, make it a habit to associate with people who know how to be well, not people who know how to be sick. You do not ordinarily find healthy, well people in support groups, but that type of group would make more sense than a gathering of sick people.

It is like the idiocy of placing expectant healthy mothers who are usually in excellent physical condition and expecting healthy vibrant babies, in a hospital in the midst of hundreds of sick people, where the air is full of countless viruses and other pesky, harmful critters. Expectant mothers are not sick! Hospitals are not even a good place for people who are sick and we all know that hospitals are the unhealthiest places you can be, exacerbating any existing illnesses. Doctors and hospital staff are usually carriers of discordant beliefs about illness and for that reason; they are per capita, the most likely to get sick.

Anyway, if you are a member of a support group, be very careful that you are not learning sickness by osmosis. It would be better to create and then once a day, repeat a simple affirmation stating your improving health and then drop it for the day. Spend more of your time with people who know how to be healthy and prove it every day by living in a state of wellness..

Sickness is not a normal condition of the human body. The body seeks a natural equilibrium and left alone it will usually, in time, cure itself and recover its balance and its health.

2 comments:

Suzanne Kiraly said...

The suggestions here remind me of something I heard some time ago about the Queen Mother in England. She said if you ignore your illnesses long enough, they'll go away by themselves. And she did live to be over 100, didn't she! skm

W. Allan said...

Suzanne,
What a great comment and a great truth. It's good to remember that the smallest cells in your body know more about healing than the most highly educated physician. The very nature of the cells lean toward health, not sickness, so it is usually advantageous to get out of the way of the healing process and let them do what they do best.
William