Dr. John Day, Cardiologist

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5 Ways to Heal Yourself with the Power of Your Mind

Did you see the recent worldwide headlines which boldly proclaimed that an “expensive placebo” could reverse the neurologically crippling Parkinson’s Disease?  This was not just an isolated medical study.  Indeed, countless other studies have shown that up to 62% of people can be cured of whatever medical condition they have from just a “dummy pill” or a placebo.

What do these studies teach us?  Namely, that if we can tap into the power of the mind we can literally cure our physical bodies.  In this article we will explore the science behind the power of the mind to cure the body.  I will also share with you five ways to heal yourself with the power of your mind.  These are approaches that I have personally seen transform the lives of my patients in my cardiology practice.

What is the Placebo Effect?

A placebo is a dummy pill or a sham procedure intended to convince the patient that they are receiving treatment for their condition.  The placebo effect occurs when the patient miraculously gets better even though they are not actually receiving any “real” treatment.

This is used all the time in clinical studies.  For example, whenever you test a new medication or medical procedure you must test it against a placebo or a sham procedure.  The reason for this is so that you can know the true healing effects of a medication or a procedure.  As a large percentage of patients “get better” on a dummy pill or by a sham procedure you really have to know what the true effect of the medication or procedure is.

The Nocebo Effect

I recently saw John in my cardiology clinic.  He was experiencing severe headaches, fatigue, and nausea after starting a “new medicine” in a clinical study.  The side effects were so bad that he had to stop the medication.  As soon as he stopped the “new medicine” his side effects immediately went away.

Interestingly, at the end of the study we discovered that John had been randomized to a “dummy pill” in this study.  His headaches, fatigue, and nausea from the “new medicine” were in reality created by the power of his mind.

This is the nocebo effect in action.  The nocebo effect describes a condition where patients have a bad reaction to a dummy pill or a sham procedure.  The nocebo effect can be just as powerful as the placebo effect but just in the opposite direction.

John’s case is not unique.  I have seen many patients who experience severe side effects from a dummy pill while participating in a clinical study.  Fortunately, in clinical studies we see the placebo effect much more commonly than the nocebo effect.  Our mind can really change our reality for the better or for the worse.

If you stop for a moment and think about it, the placebo and nocebo effects are really quite remarkable.  The only explanation is that the mind really can heal or hurt our physical conditions.

Reverse Parkinson’s Disease with an Expensive Placebo

Does the cost of a “placebo” determine just how well the placebo will work?

In this study, researchers told 12 patients with Parkinson’s Disease that they were testing two “new medications.”  The first was a “cheap” new medicine (placebo) and the second was an “expensive” new medicine (the same placebo).

These patients were told that the cheaper new medicine cost $100 per dose and that the expensive new medicine cost $1,500 a dose.  What the patients did not know was that the placebo was in reality the exact same injection of saline or salt water into their veins which really costs just a few pennies.

Parkinson’s Disease is characterized by severe tremors, slow movement, shaking, and ultimately dementia.  Remarkably, these symptoms just seemed to vanish when they were given a placebo (plain saline injection).  Even more astounding is that their functional MRI brain scans also remarkably improved as well.  What set this study apart was that the “expensive placebo” had much more of a healing effect than the “cheap placebo.”

In what seems almost as an act of cruelty, at the end of the study all 12 patients with Parkinson’s Disease were told that they really just received a placebo.  As you can imagine, the patients could not believe this was true.  I suspect that as soon as they were told this news their Parkinson’s Disease likely degenerated and that they lost any clinical benefit from participating in this study.

Redefine What is Possible

I used to get depressed on the long days of being the cardiologist on call at my hospital.  I don’t mind the hard work the problem is that on these days I am generally unable to “exercise” in the traditional sense of the word.  These days are long and as soon as I finish my last surgery and see my last patient I want to hurry home to see my family.

Even though I am not “exercising” on these days, my job as a cardiologist is very physically demanding.  I am on my feet all day long in surgery wearing a 20-30 pound lead suit to shield me from x-ray radiation.  I often walk miles on these days going up and down stairs consulting on patients with cardiac problems throughout the hospital.

Could the reason why I am not getting any of the health benefits from all of this physical activity be because of my definition of what the word exercise means?

The Hotel Maid Study: Placebo Effect in Action

In an equally fascinating study, how we define our lives in our mind can determine our health.  In 2007 the brilliant Harvard psychologist, Ellen Langer, also known as the “Mother of Mindfulness” based on her bestselling book Mindfulness (affiliate link), asked this same question to 84 hotel maids.  The results of this landmark study have had profound effects on our understanding of the mind to heal us.

Langer started the study by asking these hotel maids if they “exercised.”  Most of these hotel maids (67%) reported that they did not exercise.  This response really surprised her as she could see just how physically demanding their jobs really were.

Even though these hotel maids had very physically demanding jobs and clearly exceeded the recommended guidelines for “exercise” you would never know it by looking at them.  These women were not getting any of the health benefits of “exercising” all day long at work every day.  She wondered if the reason why they did not gain any benefit from exercise was because of their perception of what exercise was.

To explore this question, she then took these 84 maids and divided them into two groups.  In the first group she told them how much “exercising” they were doing each day and how many calories they were burning each hour.  For the second group of hotel maids she did not give them any of this information.

Quite unbelievably, for the first group that was told how many calories they were burning and just how much exercising they were doing their health immediately improved.  Even without changing their daily routine or how many calories they ate at all, in just four short weeks their blood pressure dropped and they lost a significant amount of weight.  The second group that was not given any of this information did not experience any beneficial changes.

This study shows us that just having the hotel maids imagine that they were “exercising” during their work day caused their health to dramatically improve.  The same can be true for us.

I personally have tried this approach on my long call days at the hospital with equal success.  By imagining that I am exercising all day long on these grueling physical days has helped me tremendously.  Our mind can really change our reality and our health.

The Mind Cannot Always Heal

Unfortunately, the mind cannot always heal us of everything.  This was certainly the case with the legendary Steve Jobs.

In October of 2003 at the peak of the iPod craze that was sweeping the world, the Apple icon was quite unexpectedly diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. His doctors urged him to have this cancer surgically removed immediately.  For 9 months Jobs rejected this advice instead focussing on diet, alternative therapies, and spiritual healers to rid him of this tumor.

Unfortunately, his cancer surgery was delayed 9 months.  This was a decision that he would regret to his death.  By giving his tumor 9 more months to grow many medical experts publicly stated that this delay caused his early death.

Jobs undoubtedly believed he could be healed.  Unfortunately, the tumor proved to be too powerful for his mind alone.

5 Ways to Heal Yourself with the Power of Your Mind

How can we tap into the healing powers of our minds without having to be tricked from a clinical study?  This is something that each of us can do.  I know these 5 strategies work as I have seen them in action many times in my cardiology practice.

1. Believe that You Can Be Healed

Believing that you will get better is probably the most important step.  You need to be able to visualize a life without the medical conditions you are currently battling.  Tell yourself that you are getting healthier every day.

If you are not full of optimism your future health will suffer and it will be difficult for you to overcome your current physical condition.  Every study I have reviewed has showed the same thing.  Optimists enjoy far better health than the pessimists.  To learn how to become and optimist and live up to 8 years longer according to medical studies, please read my article on the topic.

2. Have a Purpose to Your Life

Do you have a reason that gets you out of bed energized and excited each morning?  Do you know what your mission is in this life?

I have seen in my cardiology practice that those patients who have a mission to their lives rarely seem to be held back by their heart conditions.  They seem to just bounce right back up.

Studies have shown that those people with a strong purpose to their life can avoid heart disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, and many other conditions.  To learn how you can develop a purpose or “why” to your life, please read this article I wrote on having a purpose to your life.

3. Trust Your Care Team

If you are going to tap into your mind’s healing powers it is critical that you trust your care team.  Find a doctor or healthcare provider that you can fully trust.  This may require getting a second opinion.

One of the critical reasons why the Parkinson’s Disease patients got better is because they trusted their physicians “expensive” new treatment even though it was in reality just a saline injection or a placebo.

4. Keep a 5 Minute Gratitude Journal

Why is gratitude on this list?  I have seen time and time again that patients who are grateful for what they do have are more likely to recover from their heart condition.

We all have blessings in our lives that we can be thankful for.  Take just 5 minutes at the first of each morning to quickly record your gratitude thoughts in a notebook or even electronically on your phone.

Gratitude can also allow us to redefine the meaning we attach to life’s events.  For example, redefining what “exercise” means is what allowed the hotel maids to suddenly start enjoying all of the benefits of exercise.

5. Understand Your Body Through Meditation

It is too easy to become frazzled and stressed out with our fast-paced modern life.  Indeed, studies have shown that stress plays a role in more than 70% of doctor visits.

If we truly desire better health we need to be in tune with our bodies.  We need to calm our minds and our anxieties.  I have reviewed countless medical studies which show that meditation in various forms can help to heal us.

Meditation can take on a variety of different forms.  It can be yoga, a walk in nature, prayer, or whatever allows you to calm your mind and listen to your body.

Do you believe in the power of the mind to cure?

Disclaimer

While the mind can help to heal us, we cannot rely entirely on our mind alone.  We must trust our care team, including our physicians and other care providers.  This is likely what caused Steve Jobs to die at such a young age from pancreatic cancer.

Of course, physicians and other care providers are not always correct in their diagnosis or treatment plans.  It is always best to get a second opinion for more serious medical conditions.  Find a physician or care provider that you can trust and stick with them.