Overview:

Mind/Body medicine is the exploration of the complex interactions between mind and body. Mood, attitude, and belief affect virtually ever chronic illness. Fear, cynicism, sense of hopelessness and helplessness can have a detrimental effect on health, whereas courage, good humor, sense of control, and hopefulness can be beneficial.

Description:

Studies at Yale and Rutgers Universities by Ellen Idler, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology at Rutgers, and Stanislav Kasl, Ph.D., Professor of Epidemiology at Yale revealed that the opinion of one's health status-how well one thinks one is-may be the best predictor of well-being and future health.

During the 1970's, great advances in the study of the immune system helped clarify the relationship between mind and body, giving rise to the new an rapidly expanding field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). Subsequently, mind/body programs were establishd at Harvard University, UMASS, Stanford University, Univrsity of Miami, and the University of California at San Francisco. Dr. Robert Ader, Ph.D. is considered the father of PNI. He engaged in studies which helped enhance rats' immune systems through conditioning with saccharin.

Researchers have found that naturally occurring substances known as peptides or neuropeptides (messenger molecules composed of amino acids) can cause alterations of mood, pain, and pleasure. The first of these substances to be identified were endorphins (a.k.a. endogenous morphines): the brain's natural opiate-like substances which produce pleasurable responses when released. Contrary to popular belief, endorphins are not found solely in the brain, but also in the immune system, endocrine system, and throughout the body. Emotions (previosly thought to be purely psychological) are now linked to specific chemical processes taking place throughout the body-not just in the brain! In addition, researchers have discovered that the immune system, like the central nervous system, has memory and the capacity to learn. Intelligence is thus located in literally every cell of the body, and the traditional separation of mind and body no longer applies.

Mind/body medicine extends beyond the parameters of PNI to include the fields of psychology and physics in a new "science of consciousness," where energy is seen as the underlying pattern of the universe.

The mind/body alternative medicine technique stresses the effect of consciousness on the body. John Basmajin, M.D., Professor Emeritus, has demonstrated that people can learn to consciously control their own individual neurons and muscle cells.

Mind/body medicine is built around several genuine principles which help to explain its approach, method, and function.Mind/body medicine advocates the patient taking self-responsibility for his/her own healing. The patient is considered an active partner in all stages of treatment, rather than a passive recipient of medical intervention. By becoming actively involved in self-healing, one shifts from feelings of helplessness and hopelessness that have been shown to increase depression and the risk of death to a newfound sense of control. In a study, rats conditioned to experience helplessness were more likely to develop cancer from injected tumor cells and die tha other rats. Rats trained to have a sense of control were the best able to reject tumor cells.

According to mind/body medicine, the body has its own innate healing capabilities. The body has a natural tendency to move toward health and balance. The "placebo effect" (in which a neutral substance is found to effectively cure an ailment of disease) demonstrates the body's capacity to heal itself. People have a positive outlook (prognosis) when given a placebo because they feel they are being treated effectively or cured.

Mind/body medicine also emphasizes the importance of the client-provider relationship. Mind/body medicine recognizes that the practitioner is constantly communicating (consciously and unconsciously) with the client. The positive attitude of the doctor can influence the outcome of a given treatment, while discouraging statements or prejudices can evoke a "nocebo effect" by undermining the patients' confidence and hindering healing processes. Unfortunately, this dimension of the healing process is rarely addressed. Mind/body medicine is based upon a systems approach (perspective) that recognizes that human lives are influenced by interrelated factors: genetics, family and socioeconomic background, diet, exercise, social support, attitudes, spiritual practices, and risk-taking behaviors among others. Any movement toward health mobilizes other healing potentials of the body. A change in one area often causes changes in other areas as well. For instance, if a person begins to exercise, he may feel more socially confident might spontaneously change his eating habits, thus improving his overall physical and emotional health.

The energy field perspective of mind/body medicine is one of its outstanding features. The mind/body belief is that each of us has various fields of energy that can be measured instrumentally with an EKG (electrocardiograph), an EEG (electroencephalograph), or electroacupuncture biofeedback testing. These energy fields are affected by changes in physical or psychological health, ad can be influenced by the energy fields of others. Dr. Robert Becker,M.D., studying the effects of electromagnetism on health, found that small electric currents can stimulate cells to regenerate, fractures to heal faster, and tissue to repair itself. But most important to mind/body method is the idea that illness is seen as a message, rather than an enemy.

Dr. O. Carl Simonton and Stephanie Matthews-Simonton have developed a visualization technique to help patients increase the effectiveness of their immune systems.

Mind-body medicine utilizes various alternative medicine techniques such as meditation, biofeeback, hypnotherapy, guided imagery, hypnosis, neuro-linguistic programming, qigong, massage, bodywork, exercise, yoga, breathwork, and progressive relaxation techniques, herbal medicine, acupuncture. This holistic therapy may even employ lifestyle changes to help people heal themselves.

Biofeedback research has shown that individuals can learn to control brainwave activity, cardiovascular and respiratory functioning, reduce skin temperature, and voluntarily modify many autonomic processes.

Modern medicine's perspective:

Over the last 300 years, Western Civilization has been shaped by a rational, scientific, mechanistic world view. The current biomedical model narrows human perspective over time-all illness is viewed as a malfunction of mechanical parts. Furthermore, physicians ae regarded as technicians responsible for the body's repair. With the recent introduction of mind/body medicine (cognitive therapy) this backward view of medicine, its goals, and its proper methods, is beginning to change.

Prescription for Nutritional Healing Second Edition by James f. Balch,M.D. and Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C.

Mind Body Connection-Spring 1998 (news from the center for Mind-Body Medicine)

James S. Gordon, M.D., Director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine 5225 Conecticut Avenue,NW Suite 414 Washington, DC 20015 Tel: 202-966-7338 Fax: 202-966-2589 ( The Spirit of Self-Regulation Mind-Body Medicine Training Program). <http://www.healthy.net/cmbm>. <http://www.mind-body.com>.

Nancy Harazduk, MS, LGSW, Center for Mind-Body Medicne

Naional Institutes of Health's (NIH) Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM)