Hi all
The link below is to a recent article in the Guardian newspaper.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/02/cancer-positive-thinking-barbara-ehrenreich?INTCMP=SRCH
H
Very interesting and refreshing.And reflective of what many of us have experienced. While reading it I thought of my 2 friends who were constantly sure that they would beat their cancer but didn't make it. I also think that here I am, dealing with depression and anxiety but still here and going strong.
Sure, a positive attitude can make our day-to-day living experience much beter but the science is very cloudy. We all deal with this experience differently and to deny what we are feeling - anger, despair,fear is idiotic and only leads to further possible emotional difficulties down the track.
The psoitives - hmmm
- initial weightloss - put back on, with more, through steroids
- different attitude to life - but everyone around me didn't change
- better attitude to diet - but constant guilt and frustration when I fall of the wagon
I think that I will now go to the beach. No sugar coating - merely makes me feel better.
thanks for bringing it to our attention Harker.
S
This was an interesting read and yet? I always remember the story of the indigenous australian who was hospitalised after having had the 'bone' pointed at him. There was nothing actually wrong with him yet he still died and modern medicine could not keep him alive. Plus I think how we deal/think after treatment impacts on our quality of life. Just my thoughts and of course I am not a professional.
Julie
G'day
Yes an interesting read - I didn't think that Penelope Schofield's work was as long ago as 2004. She did the original study at the Peter Mac that showed there was no link between being positive and survival. I remember being invited to a meeting she was addressing and hearing about the hate mail she got when she talked about her results to the media - it was all rather shocking that some people would put so much belief in positive thinking that they would send hate mail. To me it was a huge relief, I didn't have to live in what oncology psychologist Jan Fletcher has referred to as the 'prison of the positive'. What did I do - I went out and read a whole lot on the importance of lament.
Cheers
Sailor
He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast. Leonardo da Vinci
whoa ... hate mail is a tad over the top for a belief system. Each to his/her own really.
I think we have discussed a number of times how onerous and what a heavy burden "being positive" is on a cancer patient. People must be allowed to address the sad and angry and more yucko bits along the way.
Julie
