Power of the Mind – the Nocebo Effect

The placebo has a lesser known flip side called the “Nocebo”.  Placebo means “I shall please” whereas the nocebo means “I shall harm”.  When the doctor tells you ‘you have an incurable illness’, or that you’ll be on medication for the rest of your life; if you believe it, they are invoking the nocebo effect.  

Nocebo is at least as important as the placebo effect and may be more widespread.—­ Ted Kaptchuk, Program in Placebo Studies, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard University.

In an oft-cited case from 1886, John Mackenzie, a surgeon in Baltimore, obtained an artificial rose of such superb workmanship it was like the original. He exposed a woman with severe rose allergy to the fake flower. Unaware that it was fake, the woman had a full-blown allergic reaction, including a running nose, swollen nostrils, and a tight chest.

The nocebo effect is not confined to clinical trials.  A school in Tennessee was forced to evacuate after a teacher reported smelling gas fumes and became dizzy.  Ultimately, over one hundred people were admitted to the Emergency Room; 38 were so sick they were kept overnight. Later, after an extensive investigation, no evidence was found of a chemical or any problem at the school.

After treating over 1000 melanoma cases at Sydney Hospital, Dr. Milton warned of another form of the nocebo effect.  Upon delivery of a cancer prognosis, many of his patients became so disheartened, they died a premature death before the cancer had developed enough to cause death.

A study showed that “patients about to undergo surgery who were “convinced” of their impending death were compared to another group of patients who were merely “unusually apprehensive” about death. While the apprehensive bunch fared pretty well, those who were convinced they were going to die usually did.”

Other studies have noted that study participants became “addicted” to their placebo and had to be weaned off of it. In a chemo-therapy study, 30% of the participants receiving a placebo lost their hair.

The power of suggestion can have tremendous effects upon the unsuspecting mind. Did you know that our society has even given us a standard time to die? There is a day and a time when it is more likely you will die than any other? 9 AM on Monday morning. Why is that? Possibly, it just seems easier to die than face another week of this horrible job! This is a truly remarkable achieve­ment of our species. Presumably no other species recognizes which day Monday is. 

The power of the mind is everything.

Beliefs hold sway over our lives only as long as we give them power.  But through a regular practice of Ishayas’ Ascension these faulty belief systems begin to collapse.  By redirecting the mind with this practice, to perfect statements of Truth, one is lead to the Source of Everything.  Through choice, one can break up these belief patterns and restructure the mind back to an innocence, back to its original design of perfection.

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