False Psychological Bullshit Hurts People
How Quackery Harms Cancer Patients
However, moralistic approaches that blamed victims for their diseases were prevalent until Pasteur proved the existence of germs that can strike the innocent and immoral alike.
Pasteur's discovery was made more than a century ago. But even today, many people perceive cancer as a modern-day "leprosy" and consider it "a curse by God." The notion of a cancer-prone personality -- capable of self-healing with psychological gymnastics that include visualization, laughter and excessive optimism -- is unproven and may represent nothing more than elaboration of the old folklore. Unfortunately, cancer sufferers who believe this and fail to cure themselves may wind up with the added psychological burden of thinking that for some mysterious reason, they really don't want to be cured.
Another example of why the psychological construct of disease just sucks. It is a lie perpetuated by people who have no real answers as to why something has happened, and then they blame people for a bunch of stuff THAT SOMEBODY FREUDIAN MADE UP and it serves no purpose other than to make money or avoid paying money out, like in insurance company situations. If you think better you will be better. Nuh Uh.
Last year I was felled by a nasty ass case of C Diff. Nothing was helping get rid of the pain/diarrhea that would come out of nowhere. I was stressed out, but I have been stressed out before and been able to get better from whatever was ailing me. So what was the problem? Well, it turned out that for some time I had an iron deficiency which affects immunity. Add to that a hospital stay and broad spectrum antibiotics and the subsequent infection.......and it was and is a recipe for disaster. It took a LONG time to feel human again. Luckily, I had a dr. that took me off antibiotics right away, because the consequences could have been worse. And then I could have been in that hell called colitis which tends to be blamed on patients.
Anyone who wants to should pick up a book called WHEN THE BODY SAYS NO by Gabor Mate. I have fought with that book for close to two years. In it he posits that people get sick because of personality- too stoic, too emotionally repressed, etc...In it are a collection of stories about patients he has met that get all sorts of diseases. He blames their disease on ther psychological state. Apparently there is a field called psychoneuroimmunology that says emotions affect the immune system. What if the immune system affects emotions? Like, what if a small infection sends out pro-inflammatory cytokines, and they cause low grade depression (which then is interpreted by these folks as being the other way around.) Google the article called SLACKER OR SICK because in it it says that small injuries can lead to this in lab animals.
In regards to my hubby, with his injury, he had what was diagnosed as low grade depression for 8 years before his injury. In the meantime he would have flare-ups of back pain which eventually turned into a prolapsed disc. What caused what? I would hazard a guess that the pain caused the depression, and not the other way around. I would also say that treating THAT depression with SSRIs was probably useless and stupid, as it never helped in any real way. On or off he was pretty much the same guy.
On or off he was still dealing with constant back pain.
He liked his job. Was it stressful and stupid- yes. Were the hours long- yes. But he liked it, did it excellently, and had the least amount of problems in his department comparitive to the other people who did his job in other locations. He trained many people- between 12 and 15, in his years in management. He rarely took a sick day. He would shift his schedule around to accomodate others.
Because his pain will not go away, all of that is forgotten and he is seen as a faker AND a liability. His insurance payments have been cut to 350 dollars a month. He has subjected himself to numerous physicians, psychologists OTs PTs and ETs, who have found his range of motion fine, and have blamed his psychology for his distress. His coping skills are lacking- pardon me?
These people have no clue. He has coped with something that no-one can imagine until they have been there. Going from fast to a dead stop may affect ones psyche, but only in the sense that they want to go again.
I am sure I can rant again and some more, but I need sleep.
However, moralistic approaches that blamed victims for their diseases were prevalent until Pasteur proved the existence of germs that can strike the innocent and immoral alike.
Pasteur's discovery was made more than a century ago. But even today, many people perceive cancer as a modern-day "leprosy" and consider it "a curse by God." The notion of a cancer-prone personality -- capable of self-healing with psychological gymnastics that include visualization, laughter and excessive optimism -- is unproven and may represent nothing more than elaboration of the old folklore. Unfortunately, cancer sufferers who believe this and fail to cure themselves may wind up with the added psychological burden of thinking that for some mysterious reason, they really don't want to be cured.
Another example of why the psychological construct of disease just sucks. It is a lie perpetuated by people who have no real answers as to why something has happened, and then they blame people for a bunch of stuff THAT SOMEBODY FREUDIAN MADE UP and it serves no purpose other than to make money or avoid paying money out, like in insurance company situations. If you think better you will be better. Nuh Uh.
Last year I was felled by a nasty ass case of C Diff. Nothing was helping get rid of the pain/diarrhea that would come out of nowhere. I was stressed out, but I have been stressed out before and been able to get better from whatever was ailing me. So what was the problem? Well, it turned out that for some time I had an iron deficiency which affects immunity. Add to that a hospital stay and broad spectrum antibiotics and the subsequent infection.......and it was and is a recipe for disaster. It took a LONG time to feel human again. Luckily, I had a dr. that took me off antibiotics right away, because the consequences could have been worse. And then I could have been in that hell called colitis which tends to be blamed on patients.
Anyone who wants to should pick up a book called WHEN THE BODY SAYS NO by Gabor Mate. I have fought with that book for close to two years. In it he posits that people get sick because of personality- too stoic, too emotionally repressed, etc...In it are a collection of stories about patients he has met that get all sorts of diseases. He blames their disease on ther psychological state. Apparently there is a field called psychoneuroimmunology that says emotions affect the immune system. What if the immune system affects emotions? Like, what if a small infection sends out pro-inflammatory cytokines, and they cause low grade depression (which then is interpreted by these folks as being the other way around.) Google the article called SLACKER OR SICK because in it it says that small injuries can lead to this in lab animals.
In regards to my hubby, with his injury, he had what was diagnosed as low grade depression for 8 years before his injury. In the meantime he would have flare-ups of back pain which eventually turned into a prolapsed disc. What caused what? I would hazard a guess that the pain caused the depression, and not the other way around. I would also say that treating THAT depression with SSRIs was probably useless and stupid, as it never helped in any real way. On or off he was pretty much the same guy.
On or off he was still dealing with constant back pain.
He liked his job. Was it stressful and stupid- yes. Were the hours long- yes. But he liked it, did it excellently, and had the least amount of problems in his department comparitive to the other people who did his job in other locations. He trained many people- between 12 and 15, in his years in management. He rarely took a sick day. He would shift his schedule around to accomodate others.
Because his pain will not go away, all of that is forgotten and he is seen as a faker AND a liability. His insurance payments have been cut to 350 dollars a month. He has subjected himself to numerous physicians, psychologists OTs PTs and ETs, who have found his range of motion fine, and have blamed his psychology for his distress. His coping skills are lacking- pardon me?
These people have no clue. He has coped with something that no-one can imagine until they have been there. Going from fast to a dead stop may affect ones psyche, but only in the sense that they want to go again.
I am sure I can rant again and some more, but I need sleep.
posted by Impatient Patient at Sunday, January 29, 2006
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