rustymoose54 said:[B...notorious ignorance, of course, essentially implying that people are to blame for their own illnesses...]
Look, you’re more than welcome to have an opinion on these matters, but I don't think you can claim any actual competence regarding how alternative medicine works—unless, of course, you actually practice it or have in the past.
The idea that people are responsible for their own sicknesses is total nonsense, I agree, but whether or not you choose to validate how mindset and mood affect the physical body doesn't change the reality of alternative medicine's application. Your personal take on it doesn't really change anything here.
Alternative medicine, much like what they practice in mainstream hospitals, is a massive money-maker for many. And since it often boils down to how much an (alternative) practitioner can influence a person to shift their mental state, this field is growing, and it’s going to keep growing. Sure, you could argue that when we talk about healing through positive thinking—or things like meditation, visualization, and breathing exercises—we are essentially SELLING SMOKE AND MIRRORS. It's because what you receive is impossible to touch or swallow (aside from those overpriced little trinkets some practitioners give you, like specialty teas or cookies 🙄), and because after a "mental surgery," there isn't a physical scar to show off to your coworkers at the office. Everything happens entirely WITHIN you, so no one but you will ever be able to say exactly how that shift occurred. But they will certainly see that the change happened.